Be Excellent To Each Other

Can you virtualise Windows 2008 Server (Standard edition for preference) on Mac OS X? VM technology is open to suggestion, but I'm used to Parallels for Desktop, having put several XP/Win7 machines under that.

Reason I ask is that I'm getting a new dev machine for home working, being a SharePoint developer I'm used to a physical Win 2008 server running 2 x Hyper-V, one virtual machine is Win 2008 with SharePoint, Visual Studio etc. The other VM is Windows 7 for Office apps, Outlook etc.

Pricing up the exact spec I am running at work for home comes out at about £2700 + VAT (Dell Precision T3500). An sort-of equivalent 27" iMac comes to £2900 inc VAT (before education discount of about 8%). (Very approximate on the spec, the Dell would be 2 x 22" monitors, the iMac a single 27", the Dell a 256Kb SSD + 512Gb HDD, the iMac 256 + 1Tb, 12Gb vs 16Gb, Xeon vs i7. So, give a little, take a little.)

I figure if I got the iMac, I could run the development Windows 2008 in a Parallels VM and use OS X for Office apps but I can't tell if Parallels will take 2008. Boot Camping into Win 2K8 isn't really an option, neither is using the Mac as bare metal - I want both running at the same time, on one screen.

Can it be done. Remember this is a dev machine, so as long as I can install it, shove the basics and SharePoint on it, I'll be a happy bunny.

Oooh, scrap that question. Finally, finally I found a page on Parallels site that says it will run Windows 2008.

So does Fusion, so I just need to weigh up the benefits of VMWare vs Parallels.

And ask myself in the morning whether using an iMac to host a VM dev machine for SharePoint and .NET programming is not, actually, a completely insane idea.

I think you'd be fine with either software. They both review very well and (they say) there's not much to choose between them. I use Parallels, myself, and I'm very happy with it.

You can save a good chunk of cash on the iMac if you shop in the refurb store -- £250 or so. Http://refurb.me can give you email notifications of stock changes. You can save even more if you skip the Apple SSD, which is outrageously overpriced, and fit a (faster) OEM one but it's rather involved and not for the faint hearted.

The SSD is there because the work machine is that setup and I'm trying to match like with like. Post-purchase installation - at least by me - isn't an option because I Don't Do Hardware*. Although I was going for it on the PC side, because a huge priority is that the thing has to be bloody quiet. Experience with Mrs Ps iMac says they are naturally quiet anyway, so maybe save on the SSD and get a 2Tb HDD.

Refurb is an option, but this thing has to last me five years, and the business is paying for it. Price includes 3 years of AppleCare anyway. I'm willing to pay money to ensure that if it breaks, someone at the factory gets shot.**





*Want your machine blowing up? Ask me to fit something to it.
** Not shot. But a telling off. And no cake at lunchtime in the canteen. I'm harsh, but fair.

Don't skip the SSD. It's the single best upgrade you can apply to a system today. If you can't do it yourself, pay for an Apple one. My new iMac doesn't have an SSD yet and it's murderously slow compared to the ageing SSD-equipped MacBook it replaced.

Don't buy Apple's RAM either. To upgrade an iMac from 4 GB to 12 GB is £35 via crucial.com. To go from 4 GB to 8 GB is £180 on apple.com. RAM is fitted via a little slot on the side. It takes literal seconds to do the upgrade. You can manage that, I promise you

Refurbs from Apple get identical warranty support to normal Macs. The only differences are a) a plain box and b) the machine has been through extra rounds of QA to make sure it's pristine.

Oh, and you can also get 3% cash back via quidco.com.

Can't buy it online via Quidco and get the Educational discount. Very annoying. (I'm a online student at University of Liverpool through Laureate, so no access to the Uni network. Although I am now next door to the Uni and could probably get to a machine on their network, but don't actually have a login...hmm...)

Good tip on the memory. I did do the fitting for the other iMac - slot at the bottom. About my level of expertise. Annoying not to jump to 16Gb, though, but worth saving the best part of £400 to go to "just" 12Gb.

[quote="Plissken"]slot at the bottom. /quote]

There's another thread for that.

If you really want 16 GB, Crucial will sell you that for £70ish, and you'll be left with the 4 GB the machine comes with to recycle or give away or something.

As long as I don't have to do things like take the back off it to get at the RAM.

Coincidentally, a new dev started today. He's got SharePoint running within VMWare on a 2011 MacBook Pro with 8Gb. He says the SSD makes up for the smaller RAM, so 12Gb on an i7 would be more than adequate. A lunchtime trip to the University Library beckons.