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I need to run Windows, macOS, and Linux for testing purposes. I've had the luxury of having a different machine for each OS through work, but I'm moving to free

by japhyr 8y ago

I need to run Windows, macOS, and Linux for testing purposes. I've had the luxury of having a different machine for each OS through work, but I'm moving to freelance work soon and won't have that luxury anymore. I'd like to use a mac as my primary machine. Right now I have an 8GB 13" macbook pro, and when I tried running Windows and Ubuntu in Virtualbox, it was pretty laggy. I wasn't sure if that was because of issues with Virtualbox, or whether my system didn't have enough resources to run virtual machines efficiently. I haven't tried either yet, but I'd be happy to go with Parallels or VMWare Fusion if they run better than Virtualbox. I'd really like to stay with a 13" macbook if possible. Does anyone know if a maxed-out 13" macbook pro will handle multiple OSes well, or do I need to get a 15" to handle this load?

0xferruccio 8y ago
Macbooks are so sticky! Plus there’s always the risk you’ll have to build some iOS app. Maybe for Ubuntu, unless you develop apps with GUIs you can just use a VPS?
- svennek 8y ago
  Yes, they are. Many/some Mac users regret their switch. Personally I tried it the opposite way. I love Linux, windows is okay - but OsX was the reason I gladly took a 1000 USD loss after three months for getting rid of a fully specced PowerBook. All longtime Mac Users tell me that 10.4 was near the high point...
xfitm3 8y ago
I have vmware fusion on macos and it runs everything I need for testing.
- japhyr 8y ago
  Does it run well on 16GB of ram, or do I need the 32GB 15" version? I tend to work on a few projects at a time, and I'd like to be able to run a VM without having to shut everything else down. I'm fine to power down a VM when I'm not using it, but I'd rather not have to shut everything else down when I turn the VM back on.
  - xfitm3 8y ago
    It depends on what your VM needs. I have 16GB and I allocate 2G to a VM. It's fine for me. The CPU fan is annoying, but I think you'll have that on both 13" and 15".
ageitgey 8y ago
Virtualbox is much slower than VMware on Mac. Get VMware and it will be much better. The only possible issue is the relatively small amount of RAM you have for two OSes.

by japhyr 8y ago

0xferruccio 8y ago

Macbooks are so sticky! Plus there’s always the risk you’ll have to build some iOS app. Maybe for Ubuntu, unless you develop apps with GUIs you can just use a VPS?

svennek 8y ago
Yes, they are. Many/some Mac users regret their switch. Personally I tried it the opposite way. I love Linux, windows is okay - but OsX was the reason I gladly took a 1000 USD loss after three months for getting rid of a fully specced PowerBook. All longtime Mac Users tell me that 10.4 was near the high point...

xfitm3 8y ago

I have vmware fusion on macos and it runs everything I need for testing.

japhyr 8y ago
Does it run well on 16GB of ram, or do I need the 32GB 15" version? I tend to work on a few projects at a time, and I'd like to be able to run a VM without having to shut everything else down. I'm fine to power down a VM when I'm not using it, but I'd rather not have to shut everything else down when I turn the VM back on.
- xfitm3 8y ago
  It depends on what your VM needs. I have 16GB and I allocate 2G to a VM. It's fine for me. The CPU fan is annoying, but I think you'll have that on both 13" and 15".

ageitgey 8y ago

Virtualbox is much slower than VMware on Mac. Get VMware and it will be much better. The only possible issue is the relatively small amount of RAM you have for two OSes.