MacBook: Does partitioning btwn Windows & Mac cause latency? Boot Camp vs. Parallels

[Mitch Manger]

I'm about to buy a MacBook Pro so that I can have both OSX and WinXP-Pro on the same laptop.. I have been a Windows user for a long time, and it never gave me much trouble, but am going for a mac because my Dell laptop will no longer turn on.

I have a few questions:
1) Does splitting the hardrive 50/50 between Mac partition and WinXP partition slow down the speed of one or both of the partitions/OSs?

2) Can DAWs like Pro Tools LE, Reaper, and Ableton run well in Parallels, or will I need to run them on the Windows partition with Boot Camp in order to avoid latency or incompatibility issues? I use these three programs frequently, but only have Windows copies.

3) Can Mac DAWs like Pro Tools LE run well in Windows using the program MacDrive?

4) How do programs like VMWare or Crossover compare to Parallels for audio program work?

[andsonic]

I have a MacPro with Windows XP installed using bootcamp. It works great. Fastest Windows computer I've ever used. I would stay away from Parrallels & vmware. Not quite ready for primetime in the DAW world.

[avenir]

Will bootcamp make it possible to use pc based plugins in logic pro?

[Reptil]

no.

[avenir]

nor parallels i presume

[DannyMac]

Pro Tools Le runs native on Windows.

[avenir]

what about using a vst wrapper for something like a waves product being opened with parallels?

[aussie_techie]

usually there is nothing wrong with running a virtual machine on any system and it and isolating potential problem apps in a VM can prevent them from causing problems with the DAW systems. that said ive had issues with VMware server on windows but that's another story.

anyway running any intensive apps in a VM on top of another OS isnt usually a good idea as it just introduces to much processing overhead. ontop of that the usage of certain ports is often restricted. native and speedy USB/firewire support can be a question.

if your wanting to keep OS and use windows daw apps then use boot camp and WMware as (at least in theory) you can run the windows partition as a VM when in OS X and boot in windows for any serious work.

personally i dont like the idea of paying for something just to use it on OS X when its free on every other OS. if anyone wants a free VM system check out virtual box, its still got a way to go on OS X but it seems to be coming along.

[PlatinumSamples]

Running Pro Tools under Parallels caused a catastrophic crash and required Windows XP to have to be reinstalled... I wouldn't recommend it (I had to try it once).

Rail

[avenir]

This is all new to me so let me get my head around it....i can use boot camp to access my window partition containing vst pluggins that are pc based then wrap them so that logic 8 will see them as au's?

[sardi]

Originally Posted by avenir

This is all new to me so let me get my head around it....i can use boot camp to access my window partition containing vst pluggins that are pc based then wrap them so that logic 8 will see them as au's?

NO.

It's already been answered.

Bootcamp IS your Windows partition. It's just like running XP/Vista on a normal PC. No emulation, separate boot.

You CAN NOT run Windows plugs by means of a wrapper in OS X. You are going to have run the AU versions of said plugins (if they exist) in Logic.

[avenir]

I thought parallels could run windows and osx at the same time. Are they interactive?

[Fredrik]

Originally Posted by avenir

I thought parallels could run windows and osx at the same time. Are they interactive?

Parallels can run os x and windows at the same time.

Yes they are interactive to a degree, you can share the same desktop etc.

[avenir]

to what degree? could logic in osx read a pc plugin in windows with the help of a vst to au wrapper?

[noah330]

I have a MBP setup to run XP and OSX

Here is what you get:

1- Ability to carry around one machine instead of two
2- Ability to drop files onto your Windows machine when you're booted up in OSX. Like you have access to files on your PC partition while under OSX - you don't have ability to access OSX from the PC though.
3- Ability to run Mac apps when running OSX
4- Ability to run PC apps when running XP
5- You do not get to run Windows apps when you're in OSX (example, you can't run Sonar while booted into OSX, nor could you run DP when you're running XP)
6- Ability to hit on hot looking Barrak Obama supporting Mac chick at Starbucks when your secretly booted into XP and emailing Mr. O'Reily your pithy comments on the PC.

It basically me the ability to carry one small, cool looking, uber-fast box that allows me to work on both platforms.

[avenir]

Thanks for spelling it out for me. Sounds like a cool setup still even though it won't do my original plan.