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Is there any difference between Windows XP running in Boot Camp and running in VMware Fusion 5 on my MBP with regard to protection from malware? In other words, am I better protected by one rather than the other?
MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.5)
It's completely the same, and here's why.
In Boot Camp, Windows is installed in a second volume of your hard drive. If you get malware and it tries to copy to another volume, it won't be able to do that, because Windows can't write in the OS X volume, so you are safe. Also, OS X isn't affected by Windows viruses. In a virtual machine, the Windows hard drive is a file stored in Documents folder that acts as a virtual hard drive, but Windows can't copy to the OS X partition even if you install the drivers that VMware Fusion provides.
Apart from that, as you want to run Windows XP, you won't get a big difference if you run it in Boot Camp, so you may want to use it in a virtual machine
With the fact that you want to see about putting it on your big screen TV. You can do so with Mt Lion's AirPlaymirroring. That is if you have the proper Mac.
Requirements for AirPlay Mirroring in OS X Mountain Lion
An Apple TV
Apple TV (2nd or 3rd generation) with software update v5.0 or later. See How to update Apple TV software.
Supported MacsAirPlay Mirroring in OS X Mountain Lion takes advantage of the hardware video encoding capabilities of 2nd and 3rd Generation Intel Core processors. Hardware video encoding allows AirPlay Mirroring to efficiently deliver high frame rates while maintaining optimal system performance. The following Mac models have processors that support AirPlay Mirroring:
If you have the above, then you can do AirPlay Mirroring with Mt Lion. I personally have WMware running Windows XP and Windows 7. I only really needed XP for some software that is old, ProntoEdit to be exact. This is the only reason for me to use Windows OS. I am able to connect the remote right up, a dialog box comes up asking if I want to connect to Mac OS or Windows OS. So that works no problem, of course WMware has to be running with Win XP.
To add to the other folks on here. I have changed the default settings on the VMware for what and how many Apple hardware resources are used. You can even do Win XP one way and Win 7 a different way. I have a 2011 Mac Mini, so I have 4 cores of CPU and 16GB of ram. With Win XP I have it set up to use 1 Processor core and 1,112MB of ram with 10GB of "hard drive" space. While Windows 7 I have it set up to use 2 processor cores and 3,000MB of ram with 10GB of "hard drive" space. I can only run one Windows at a time though, no biggieanyways. But with WMware, I am running Mac OS and one of the Windows at the same time. These can be changed when Windows is shut down.
I am also able to AirPlay Mirror what is on my Mac Mini on to my 2nd gen Apple TV. So if I put VMware in full screen mode, I'll have a full screen of Windows on my plasma. But it is whatever that is on your monitor that you normally use. In other words it doesn't extend your desktop. However, if you have the ability to output to two different monitors. Like my Mac Mini does, you can have Mac OS on one screen and Windows OS on the other. You'll be able to move your mouse onto which ever screen you want to control at the moment. You also get to choose which speakers will have the audio. Your desktop or big screen.
I just tested this, which I didn't know that it could be done. But I just highlighted and copy some text above, while on Mt Lion OS. Moved over to Windows 7 and was able to paste it into a blank page over there. That's pretty neat. And it works from Windows OS to Mac OS.
There are two ways of installing Windows into VMware. One is having them isolated and another is to have them seamless. I have mine on isolated. Basically if I MS Office on both OS's I can't modify the same file and have it saved with out me having to do a little effort. But if I had it set up to be more seamless, then I would be able to modify one file and MS Office on either Mac or Win will be able to save the modifications with out any problem. But VMware recommends having an anti-virus on Windows for that set up. This can only be set up when you first install Windows. You'll be ask which one you want.
KOT
If you're willing to sacrifice a bit of your hard drive to the Windoze God, you can have the best of both worlds. Set up Boot Camp, then tell Fusion about it. That way, you can boot into BC's Windows partition when max performance is indispensable, or just fire up Fusion and run the same Windows installation as a VM when not.
Thanks, Courcoul, I think this is the way that I am going to go. I like the idea of running my application at native speed whenever I can. The set-up you mention will allow me to do this, yet yet boot into VM if the necessity arises.
Again, thanks.
Boot Camp vs VMware Fusion 5
