Bootcamp, Parallel or VM ?

Whether you use Bootcamp or virtualisation via Parallels or VMware Fusion to run Windows depends on the resources required to run your PC software.

For general computing tasks, Parallels or Fusion is sufficient.

For CPU intensive tasks and gaming, Bootcamp is best.

Get as much RAM as you can afford. 8GB is a good start if you plan to run Parallels or Fusion.

Btw, if you install Windows under Bootcamp, both Parallels and Fusion can access your Bootcamp partition and run the same Windows installation.

You can share your Windows partition between Bootcamp and Parallels/Fusion.

For 3D CAD work, you'll want to run Windows via Boot Camp, not virtualization. This is because you'll want the CAD software to have the full, exclusive use of all your computer's hardware for best performance, instead of sharing the hardware with OS X and other software running concurrently.

And I agree with samberl that you'd be likely to benefit from 8GB of RAM.

I've the MBP with 8GB of ram and I've tested both VM and Parallels.

In my opininion Parallels is much better.......

🙂

You'll probably find that you are happiest using BootCamp with CAD software, particulary if you are trying to render 3D representations. However, I do know of people who have used CAD software with virtualization. Since Parallels has a trial period, download it and see. One nice option of Parallels is that it can use your BootCamp installtion of Windows so you can have the best of both worlds. And 8GB of RAM will be a very good idea, especially if you go with virtualization.