NVMUG eNews 11/10/2007
Last updated 11/11/2007
Running Windows on Intel Macs
Geof Gonter gave an excellent presentation on Running Windows on an Intel Macintosh. We talked about creating newsletters in Pages and other topics. The Non-Designer's Design & Type Books by Robin Williams was added to out library thanks to Peachpit Press.
Warren Walker brought in his new 2008 Vermont wildflower calendar.
1. Running Windows on Intel Macs
Geof distributed the following outline of his talk on Running Windows on an Intel Macintosh:
1. Boot Camp
Future in doubt outside of Leopard.
Requires a copy of Windows XP SP2 or Vista
Runs fastest of all the ways to run Windows
Requires a restart
Requires a separate disc with the computer's drivers for installation
Will take the size of partition, set aside to run Windows, away from your hard drive space
2. Crossover
Does not require a copy of Windows XP SP2 or Vista
Limited in what applications it can run - List provided by developer on site
Some windows application look very different
Does not support some peripherals, like a USB floppy
Takes only the hard drive space it requires to run the application (in what they call bottles) and data it creates
3. WMWare
Requires a copy of whatever flavor of OS you want to run
Makes backing up the whole partition a breeze
Runs slower as it is running in emulation
Partition increases in size as you add applications and data
Can use a shared data file with the Mac data that it can exchange
Uses the Mac network connections when set properly
Can run multiple OSs
Easy to clone the VMWare partition to another computer, but will require the additional key for activation after 30 days
4. Parallels
Requires a copy of Windows SP2 or Vista
Makes backing up the whole partition a breeze
Runs slower as it is running in emulation
Partition increases in size as you add applications and data
Can use a shared data file with the Mac data that it can exchange
Easy to install updates
Can cut and paste between the Mac and Windows environments (Coherence)
Geof Gonter in front making his presentation. Midge Lubot is on the left, Mary Killian in the middle, and Barry Hayes behind Geof.
Geof said that Apple is a hardware company first and in all facets. The only reason they sell software is Steve Jobs wants to use it, or they feel they can compete. He talked about each of the applications.
Boot Camp is included with Leopard so it is free on new Macintosh computers. It is the fastest way to run Windows. It requires a restart to change operating systems You cannot drag information between the Mac window and Windows window. Geof said a school uses it to run AutoCAD which does not run well under emulation.
For more information go to
"http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/bootcamp.html
Crossover runs some Widows applications without the Windows operating system. It uses what they call Bottles to contain different Windows environments so you can have multiple versions in different Bottles. The Crossover web lists the programs it will run and tells you how well they will run.
It was used in one of the schools until they started charging for it. The 2003 Office version does not work as well as some other versions.
The applications that do run, run a little faster than Parallels. They look a little different. They looked like they may be running under X-11 on Geof's machine. Microsoft 3 looks like Open Office in Crossover.
The only thing Geof would use Crossover for is Microsoft Access. Until this year the schools had to send a report to the state on a floppy disk because Access was originally set up to save to a floppy. This year the state has changed-over to require sending the information online. Supposedly it works only with Explorer, but in some schools it does not work in Explorer even on a PC, but works in Firefox.
Crossover works. It does not require a partition. It is an option if you have only one or two Windows applications and if they work under Crossover. If you buy Windows XP for use in the home it costs $150. If you have an application you want to run that is not listed, download the 30 day trial version and try it. If it runs, let them know so they can add it to their list.
For more information go to
http://www.codeweavers.com/products
=======------=====------=======----VMware can run other operating systems, not just Windows. You can have three operating systems running concurrently. Some schools have it because it costs $20 less than Parallels if you buy in quantity. If you have a virus, trash that operating system and open up a new one. VMware requires extra memory. You can change the size of space available on your hard drive as you need it.
The Lake Region High School used it to run the GIS ArcView mapping program which runs only on PCs. They received ArcView under some special program. ArcView is the standard GIS mapping program, but costs $1,500 for use by one individual.
Geof said that VMware works easy. Some people have switched from Parallels to VMware. Geof is not sure why.
Parallels has been having more updates to improve it than VMware. Geof likes Parallels. It has a feature called coherence which allows it to work between operating systems. You can drag files between operating systems as long as the file type is recognized by both systems. Parallels has a shared folder which can be used to share back and forth between the Mac and Windows. Goef does not use it, he just drags between the two desktops.
Parallels works in a multi-platform environment in schools. If a student cannot get an application or a file to work on their machine, Geof can check it out in Parallels on his machine. Quickbooks is back, and there are versions that are free only on Windows.
GEOF Commented that Microsoft thinks you are too dumb and they have to remind you how to run your computer. You can be trying to work on something, for example, when you get a message from the Clean Up Wizardd that there are unused icons on your desktop.
Geof uses SuperDuper to do his backups. (I do too.) When he was unexpectedly running out of space on his hard drive, he used TinkerTool to find the hidden files that were causing the problem.
For new Intel based Macintosh computers you need to format a GUID partition to use as a startup drive instead of Apple Partition Map. Geof said he knows people who use Excel for everything, including their word processing. Geof said that a new update OS X 4.11 is due out next week. Leopard OS X 5.1 is in the works.
2. Pages
I distributed two draft versions of newsletters created in Pages.
One was created in Pages Word Processing. This format is best for in depth articles which flow from one page to the next, as this newsletter does, or for books. It can have different numbers of columns, even on the same page. You can insert pictures or other objects to fit within columns or to float over columns. The text moves out of the way of floating pictures which can cross columns. Pictures inserted within a column are automatically sized to fit the column width. You can use a Text Box or another object containing type as pull-out items or to hold an index to your articles on the first page.
The other was created in Pages Layout. This format links Text Boxes so that text flows from one to the next no matter on which page the Text Boxes are located. It is useful for more complex layouts, with multiple articles that are often shorter such as a newspaper or magazine. Using the Pages Layout you can have different articles starting in different locations on one page linked to the rest of the articles in different locations on different pages. If you change what is in the first part of a layout article, the change flows to its linked Text Boxes. Midge Lubot Killian used Text Box in Pages to create a Kiwanis raffle ticket. The she just pasted the Text Box down the page to print multiple tickets.
Midge Lubot showing Mary Killian her work in Pages.
Midge showed Mary her newsletter work in Pages and explained how she did it. She produces the local and regional Kiwanis newsletters. She creates them in the Word Processing portion of Pages. She adds pictures and moves them around using free floating with wrap, wrapping the text with a square (rectangle) border. Her newsletters are very professional. She is entering them in a competition.
Mary has been working on a newsletter. There is not much help available where she lives in Morgan.
We actually had two special interest groups going in one room. I am not sure what the other group was talking about.
