Boot Camp Or Parallels ?

parallels is a virtual machine it's easier to work with and faster to switch between osx and windows which you can even run in a window if you wish or on a second monitor there are free alternative to parallels such as virtualbox from oracle

installing windows in a virtual machine is easier for most people

pros for bootcamp

if one wish to play games one needs bootcamp virtual machines does not give access to fancy 3d video card features

cons for bootcamp

switching require a full reboot to change between osx and windows

and as the other posts in this forum would suggest some people have problems getting it installed

czvet wrote:

I plan to switch to Mac in the near future but have Windows Programs like Quicken Deluxe 2014 that I would like to run on a Mac. I understand that I have to install Windows on a Mac using Boot-camp in order to run any Windows applications. I am unclear if this is also the case with Parallels, which I would have to purchase. I have Windows 8 on a disk so I don't have to purchase it again, so I could use either Boot-camp or Parallels. My Question is, does Parallels also require a full Windows installation and if so why should I buy Parallels when Boot-camp is free?

Because they are different things?

Don't buy Parallels, VirtualBox is equally good, and is free.

A full copy of Windows is required for either of them.

Consider using Quicken 2007 for Mac (Intel) which is available for $15 by download from Intuit. You would have to export QIFs of each account from your Windows data version and import then into the Mac version one time only. They you would be up and running on a Mac with no cost for purchasing Windows, and no cost for a VM.

http://quicken.intuit.com/personal-finance-software/quicken-2007-osx-lion.jsp

Ah, the Mac version does not sync with the iPad app, as far as I know, at this point.

We are all waiting for Quicken 2015 for Mac, but with Intuit's past performance on the Mac platform as any guide, we are not holding our collective breathes! 😁

czvet wrote:

... and can tell you how much I spent at an interstate rest stop vending machine in Georgia in 2004..."

Thank goodness, I found someone more obsessive about home finance tracking than ME! hahahaha 😁

I purchased my original Apple ][+ in 1979 primarily to use the program Home Accountant (and then later Time is Money)! Recently my ex-wife needed a compilation of expenses from our mid 1980's house remodel (to help establish her basis) and I used Virtual ][ (a Mac Apple ][ emulator) with digitized versions of the Time is Money floppies to convert the data to reports that I then imported into Microsoft Excel and was able to properly sort and print.