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Mac Experts

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607.
Posts: 521 - Karma: 35
I recently bought a vinyl plotter to make some stickers for me and for my dads business. My only problem is that it needs to run on windows and I would much rather use my Macbook Pro. If i use something like bootcamp virtualbox or parallels will i be able to run the plotter with my mac? If yes can someone compare and contrast the three to help me decide which one is the best? Thanks in advance, all answers get +k
Mar 22 2012 10:26AM
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StreetsOfRage
Posts: 1180 - Karma: 4
Just use bootcamp. you will have windows on a new partition and you will get all the power from the computer rather than with a virtual machine which has to share the power with both. Yes it will run the program BTW.
Mar 22 2012 10:36AM
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1337
Posts: 31054 - Karma: 29,234
bootcamp
Mar 22 2012 10:44AM
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Lucas
Posts: 4881 - Karma: 1,575
Camp of boots
Mar 22 2012 10:46AM
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howlongcanausern
Posts: 4982 - Karma: 1,737
i have used all 3 (systems admin by profession) and all are good however i feel that virtual box is the best...i use it damn near every day to screw around with linux and works fine.

just curious, how is the vinyl cutter attached to the computer? serial? usb?
Mar 22 2012 10:53AM
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607.
Posts: 521 - Karma: 35
thanks for the reply, usb
Mar 22 2012 10:56AM
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Benji.
Posts: 1146 - Karma: 88
I've used Bootcamp, Parallels and VMware Fusion.

VMware sucks.

Bootcamp is the dopest but takes time to switch between the two.

Parallels is pretty dope and works great in unison with OSX (coherence mode) but its a true virtual machine and sometimes runs slow when running more power intensive programs (SolidWorks and MATLab for example)

I currently run parallels due to ease of switching between Mac apps and Windows apps.
I personally hate Microsoft on Mac, (and I think a lot of people do) its just ridiculous so I use the entire Microsoft package thru parallels and its great.

I also use SolidWorks every now and then so being able to run it sufficiently is great when I need it.

I don't know how intensive that program you want to run is, but I would imagine its not too gnarly so I would suggest Parallels.

Bootcamp is free though.....

good luck

Mar 22 2012 1:38PM
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607.
Posts: 521 - Karma: 35
This might be a dumb question but if i want to use bootcamp its free but i still would need to buy windows 7 right?
+k to everyone that already replied
Mar 22 2012 8:25PM
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Grobot
Posts: 115 - Karma: 13
Click for larger image
Mar 22 2012 8:26PM
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607.
Posts: 521 - Karma: 35
?
Mar 22 2012 8:34PM
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607.
Posts: 521 - Karma: 35
?
Mar 23 2012 4:26PM
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X-REY
Posts: 996 - Karma: 387
yes, you would need to buy windows 7
unless you want to get it illegally through a torrent download
Mar 23 2012 5:34PM
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[evan]
Posts: 5628 - Karma: 117
OP good luck on this one. Just save yourself the time and buy it.
Mar 23 2012 5:37PM
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Lolocaust.
Posts: 1716 - Karma: 512
Unzipping a folder and ctrl+v'ing a serial isn't rocket science.
Mar 23 2012 5:46PM
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X-REY
Posts: 996 - Karma: 387
finding a working serial is
Don't use keygens either, they are usually just viruses
Mar 23 2012 5:51PM
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SpaghettiWizard
Posts: 2825 - Karma: 166
make a diecut of my face itll sell like hot cakes
Mar 23 2012 5:52PM
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ski93
Posts: 1280 - Karma: 84
if you haven't re-formated your drive recently there's a good chance it will be fragmented and bootcamp won't work. This means backing up all your stuff and doing a fresh install of OSX. I guess if you have a company you'll be using it a lot though so it would be worth it in your case.

If you don't wanna go through the hassle a VM will still work + you can choose how much RAM and HDD space you dedicate to it
Mar 23 2012 6:17PM
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ski93
Posts: 1280 - Karma: 84
there's a windows 7 repository on "my digital life". I won't post the link so I don't get banned. You can use a loader to activate it and if you're paranoid about spyware you can verify the MD5 hash easily..
Mar 23 2012 8:16PM
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