Beyond Vs iMac - Possible???

[Jem]

Hi all

I fear it's time to buy a new computer, i've been using the same Dell Windows Vista laptop for the past 6 years and it's starting to groan under the strain

The thing is that I bought a new Macbook for my music collection a few months ago and I absolutely love it, everything just seems to work smoothly and i've not had a single hiccup since I got it. It also syncs with my iPhone and iPad, backs up to iCloud etc etc, all without me having to think about it.

This makes me want to consider getting an iMac and moving away from Windoze altogether for my main computer. The problem is that I have lots of extremely useful windows programs that I still use a lot. Also, I would want to run my laser software (Beyond, QS, LD2000, Showtime etc etc). Now, I know there are some programs that will allow you to run Windows on a Mac, Parallels being one of them and I believe VM Fusion is the other?.

However, will I hit any problems running the Pangolin programs and the hardware (QM2000.net and FB3 QS). This is going to be the deal breaker, because if these programs won't run correctly i'll stick with a PC.

Anyone got any experience of running all their laser kit on a Mac, if you have please post here with your experiences/problems etc. iMacs are a lot of money and I don't want to make an expensive mistake.

Thanks

Jem

[swamidog]

you should be fine using vmware, parallels, or bootcamp.

i'm also a mac user, although i mostly use LSX, but i've used pangolin with both vmware and bootcamp without issue.

Hi all

I fear it's time to buy a new computer, i've been using the same Dell Windows Vista laptop for the past 6 years and it's starting to groan under the strain

The thing is that I bought a new Macbook for my music collection a few months ago and I absolutely love it, everything just seems to work smoothly and i've not had a single hiccup since I got it. It also syncs with my iPhone and iPad, backs up to iCloud etc etc, all without me having to think about it.

This makes me want to consider getting an iMac and moving away from Windoze altogether for my main computer. The problem is that I have lots of extremely useful windows programs that I still use a lot. Also, I would want to run my laser software (Beyond, QS, LD2000, Showtime etc etc). Now, I know there are some programs that will allow you to run Windows on a Mac, Parallels being one of them and I believe VM Fusion is the other?.

However, will I hit any problems running the Pangolin programs and the hardware (QM2000.net and FB3 QS). This is going to be the deal breaker, because if these programs won't run correctly i'll stick with a PC.

Anyone got any experience of running all their laser kit on a Mac, if you have please post here with your experiences/problems etc. iMacs are a lot of money and I don't want to make an expensive mistake.

Thanks

Jem

[taggalucci]

I have no issues with running my QM2000.net from my Mac using VMWare Fusion. Even if there were, or you preferred not to run Windows in a virtualised situation, as mentioned above, you can run Windows natively (and in many cases more stable than on other x86/x64 platforms) using Bootcamp. So you really have the best of both worlds! Plus the new iMacs are drop dead awesome!

I suspect most Pangolin staff run the software on their Macs.

[m0f]

I use vmware fusion when I'm at home, have no troubles running any of the Pangolin software. Though I do notice a difference in performance vs native windows. One thing I couldn't get working under vmware (at least with my hardware) was Lightconverse.

I do find stability a bit better under native windows, so if requiring maximum stability for show use, native windows probably still is the way to go.

[FutureDesign]

I have moved away from Windows a long time ago and now live a headache free life. Thank you Ubuntu!
Unfortunately I can't avoid Windows completely as some software only run under native Windows (LD2000 as an example). For that I uses a virtualized Windows using the superb and free VM from Oracle (Virtual Box).
My host is ubuntu, and even though windows runs virtualized it's still possible to run LD2000 and even access my PCI QM2000 hardware. The VM simply believes that the PCI card is installed local. (When properly configured of cause)
With the tools we have today, the host platform and OS is more or less irrelevant. Just virtualize the required OS.
Performance is of cause not the same as running native, however, I run heavy 3D cad programs in VM without problems.

If you like Apple hardware, then go for that. Bootcamp or VM will get you through the day.

[Jem]

Thanks Guys. It's a big leap of faith as I have a good understanding of Windows having had PC's since the very early days of MSDos and the GEM operating systems, i've sorta grown up with it. I'll pretty much be starting again from scratch with a MAC and this is a little daunting as i'm a good few years older now

Since I got my Macbook around 6 months ago all I use it for is music software and I haven't really delved into the deeper recesses of the operating system. I just like that it all seems so simple and it just works. I also like how i'm not being pestered to update this, that or the other every day.

Keep posting your experiences, the more I read that everything will be ok the more my confidence will grow

Cheers

Jem

[kitatit]

Hi Jem,

go for it!

Six years! nice going. I managed to ring 7years out of a Sharp laptop. I definitely got some value out of it.

I use Pangolin software and a few Windows only applications on my 2008 MBP 15". I was using WinXP 32bit up until around a year ago on it via Bootcamp.
Now I'm using Win7 64bit via Bootcamp. I used VMware fusion for a while but I decided to go back to Bootcamp. Fusion was good but I like the simplicity of Bootcamp, not that the virtualisation options are complicated its was just my preference.

Be prepare to get a long life out of it. My nearly 5year old Mac has got a lot of useful life in it yet.

When you are choosing which options to buy, think about there cost over at least 5 years as they should be very usable for a very long time.

I think the 1499GBP 27" model has the balance of value. You can upgrade the RAM yourself later and they will take 32gig but the 21.5" version aren't upgradable and Apple are a rip off for ram when you choose to upgrade it when you buy it. The hard drive isn't "user upgradable" on either model, well it is but it involves some blood curdling open heart surgery.

Which MBP did you get? Another option is to save some money and just buy the thunderbolt 27' screen and use it with you MBP. They make some beautiful screens but can be pricey. I've been using a 30"Dell monitor with mine via Display port (Same socket as the Thunderbolt) port and it is a great combo. Not quiet as slick as the Apple ones but they have a lot of different inputs to choose from.

Did you buy the One to One support? It allows you to book a 1hr one on one session at an Apple store up to 52 times in one year for 79GBP,e.g the hourly rate would be 1 Pound fifty/hour if you booked every session. You can ask them anything and bring you Mac and they will show you how to do what ever you want. Some things are so simple and obvious that they aren't obvious, if you know what I mean. Often you will be looking for the difficult way to do something and there is a much easier way. I only use a fraction of the efficient tricks MacOS has. If you are interested in being able to fly through different software and the OS, get One to One. You can only get it when buying a mac at an Apple store or the online Apple store though.

Good luck and welcome to the best of both worlds
Kit

[Jem]

Hi Kit

Thanks for the detailed info. I have the 15" (middle sized) MacBook Pro. I got it just as the Retina display models were coming out, mine doesn't have the retina display so i got a good deal on it . I only use it for my music collection and run iTunes/Traktor Pro & Virtual DJ, nothing else. This means it's kept really basic but clean and I don't really want to be putting other software on there that might risk screwing up my music playback.

As for the iMac, i'll probably be going for the 21" model as the 27" is just too big for my desk. I'll definitely get the 16Gb RAM model and will also opt for the higher speed i7 upgrade.

Is it better to run Windows from startup or is it ok to run it within a window from the MAC OS? From a preference point of view i'd probably prefer to run it in a window then I don't have to choose which OS to boot into, i'd just have it there all the time. Any preference for Parallels or VM Fusion?

Cheers

Jem

[m0f]

Unless they fixed it, I used to get bad memory leaks with parallels, would have to reboot every few days as a result. Switched to vmware about a year ago and never looked back, have 2 linux server vm's running 24/7 along with often a windows xp and a windows 7 vm. Get at much memory as possible as running vm's will make use of it. For me even upgrading the hackintosh from 12GB to 24GB made a huge difference, OSX seems to be able to make good use of it whereas with windows tends to be a waste.

[JStewart]

Hi Jeremy,

Yes it's definitely doable. I run Win7/64 on its own Bootcamp partition, just making the choice at startup as to if I want OSX of Windows to boot. (If you don't hold down the Alt key when turning the machine on it just simply jumps straight into OSX).

One really cool thing about VMWare's Fusion is that it can share the Bootcamp partition with OSX, meaning that if you are in OSX, and want to run Win7 as a virtual machine, you can actually boot into the native Bootcamp version of Windows from the Mac, having the very same Windows running instead as VM. - So you get the best of both worlds; native Windows power when in bootcamp, and the ability to use that same partition as a VM in OSX. You can of course install as many OS's or multiple versions of Windows etc as your hard drive will permit.

Performance in the VM is actually quite good, and if you run some Geekbench tests, the numbers come out quite high still. For most applications, you'll hardly notice any difference in speed or performance, especially if you are able to go for machine with a SSD.

I have great praise for Microsoft's Vista, is it made we switch from PC to Mac back in 2008, and I have never looked back. My first iMac is still going strong. Yes, there are the haters, but that's life. Each to their own.

Unless you need the new Mac in a hurry wait until June as Haswell is likely to come to a refreshed line up of Macs after the WWDC. Especially if you're looking at portable computers, for it promises great gains in power consumption. That said, you can play the waiting game forever, as there will always be something new on the horizon.

James