Virtual PC on a macmini

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Virtual PC on a macmini

Hi everyone!
I am thinking about buying a new macmini with Intel Core Duo processor, to be able to use it with both mac-os and win xp(vista in the nearest future). I believe this is possible to do with a built in feature that makes it possible to boot in either system. My question is if anyone did try to use Microsoft Virtual pc or Vmware and ran server parallely in it?? I know it is much to ask for but i've asked around a bit and people say that it can be possible. I am thinking about the fastest processor, with 2 GB of RAM, biggest harddrive and with an external drive as well. That would cover the hardware needs but is there any limitations or problems with this solution?
I am intending to use it only for lab-purpose at home and i have a very small apartment so that would be very nice for me.

Kind regards,
Chris

Posted on Nov 9, 2006 6:45 AM

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Answer 1

Nov 9, 2006 7:09 AM in response to Chrissma

You are correct in saying that the mini has a built in system allowing you to dual boot. It is greatly enhanced by Boot Camp which will non-destructively repartition the drive for you and allow you to burn a Macintosh Driver CD to help you get almost all of its built in hardware working.

Regarding virtual machines...

Assuming that you want to run Mac OS X as the Host operating system, you can not use Virtual PC on an Intel Mac. See Microsoft's FAQ here: http://www.microsoft.com/mac/default.aspx?pid=macIntelQA.

VMware does not currently have a virtual machine for Mac OS X but one is expected soon and you can sign up to receive notifications of the products availability and to test the beta when it becomes available at VMware's Mac Website.

A popular alternative is Parallels which allows you to run Microsoft Windows in a window, with minimal emulation and providing near native speeds, with the notable exception of graphics.

If you plan to use Windows as the host operating system, the Mac mini will act like any other PC and will allow you to use whatever virtual machine system you see fit, including Virtual PC and VMware systems for Windows.

Hope that helps.

Jason.

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