Office is not a particularly taxing application with respect to resources.Īn SSD gives a nice boost in performance. Windows 7 will run fine as a virtual machine on the dual core i7 as it has 4 virtual cores. However, if you're talking about getting certified, you should be using the version you are getting certified on (Office 2010 for Windows).

Office 2011 for Mac is much closer to the PC version than in the past. but you could possible save some money with the SSD on OWC also. I run Parallels and I can confirm it does allow sharing of documents etc. Good luck with your purchase and I think you will enjoy it immensely! Can't comment on the SSD, however, as I've ordered the Seagate Momentus 2.5 SATA w/16mg cache 750g 7200 rpm kit from OWC, they have excellent lifetime warranty on their ram and 3 year on the HHD. I see that even with the VM, I still have 2.7gig free when not using VM. just waiting for the new 8gig to come in. The 8gig of ram will definitely be a plus, but it works fine with the 4gig for now. Comparing both VMWare and Parallels I found that VM suited my needs better.Īlso, VMWare allows for sharing documents between Windows/Mac OSX system - not sure about Parallels. I also have Windows 7 Home Premium, but use the 64 bit version, and Office 2007 installed. When installation is complete, Windows restarts and may open the New Hardware Wizard to update your drivers.I have the 2011 13' MacBook Pro and use VMWare Fusion for my virtual machine. Because your MacBook is running from its Windows partition, the disk prompts you to install the Boot Camp drivers, which provide support for your MacBook's features in Windows XP. If you want a more reliable Windows partition or it's larger than 32 GB, format it as NTFS.ĭo not create or delete any partition during this process if you don't see the correct partition or want to change it, cancel the installation and run Boot Camp Assistant again to re-create your Windows partition.Ĭomplete your Windows XP installation and setup, eject the Windows disk and insert your Mac OS X install disk. If you want to read and write files on your Windows partition from OS X, and your partition is smaller than 32 GB in size, partition it as FAT. Select the drive named 'C: Partition3 ' and format it again during the XP installation process. Boot Camp requires a full XP install disk including Service Pack 2 or later according to Apple you can't install an earlier version of XP and upgrade to Service Pack 2. Install Windows XP by inserting your XP install disk and clicking 'Start Installation' in the Boot Camp Assistant.

Windows 7 on macbook pro 2011 parallels