Parallels Desktop 3.0 for Mac - 3D Graphics

2007-06-15T22:11:00.001-07:00

Unity in VMware Fusion for Mac OS X

2007-06-15T22:08:00.001-07:00

Bootcamp 1.2

2007-04-01T22:39:00.000-07:00

Bootcamp is the software provided by Apple to allow users to run either Windows Xp Service pack 2 or Vista (32 bit). On my mac mini, I have been running Server 2003 in Parallels Desktop with pretty decent performance. Since I have been predominantly using Windows Server 2003, it seems like a waste to have OS X Tiger running at the same time. Don't get me wrong now, I love OS X Tiger, but if I am going to be using Windows 90 - 95 % of the time, it doesnt make sense wasting Memory and CPU running 2 Operating Systems at the same time.

I have a Mac Mini Duo 1.6 Ghz with 1.25 GB of Memory and 60 GB hard drive. Boot camp refused to partition my drive previously, saying that there wasn't enough contiguous space. Hence I had to reformat and reinstall Tiger. This is the first time I have installed an Apple operating system so it was a pleasant change. After installation, Partitioning the drive was a breeze. I dedicated about 13 GB for Tiger and the remaining 47 GB or so for the Windows Partition.

Server 2003 is not supported by Apple using Bootcamp, but this article proved very useful in installing the drivers. Although not trivial, it is possible to use the drivers provided by Apple. They need to be done manually, which is a little tricky figuring out which device needs which driver. The driver CD is the same for all intel macs, so some hardware drivers are extraneous.

As of right now, I have Sound, Video, Wireless, Ethernet, Chipset and Apple remote drivers working.

I am still trying to get Bluetooth working. The issue here is with Windows 2003 Server not supporting Bluetooth. There is a workaround as pointed out by this article, I simply have not been able to get it working yet.

In terms of Performance, Server 2003 is really singing on my Mac mini.

A big difference between running Server 2003 in Parallels and natively using Bootcamp is the fact that windows is now dual processor aware:

Over the next few days, I plan to try Vmware Workstation in terms of performance and stability on the mini.

Welcome to the Apple Beginner Blog

2007-03-29T19:54:00.000-07:00

Hi, my name is Mansoor and I am an Apple Beginner. I recently brought home a new Intel Mac Mini. I have worked with PCs for over 10 years, so I am definitely not new to computing. I will be posting my experiences with OS X.