Is Windows CS2 slower on a Mac?

PM
Posted By
Phil_Marion
Apr 24, 2007
Views
354
Replies
12
Status
Closed
I recently bought a new PC for my digital photo processing. My wife is looking for a new computer as well. She can’t be bothered to learn about internet debris, spyware or drivers so I have convinced her to get a 24" iMac. My new PC is in the basement. I’d like to be able to do some digital processing on her new machine upstairs once in a while so that we can still have some semblance of a relationship -LOL.
What should I do? She will buy the Parallels software as much of her professional software (she’s a Chartered Accountant – internal audit – fraud investigator and has a Real Estate licence) only runs on Windows.
Will I be able to install my copy of CS2 on her Mac? Will it run with Parallel or must I also install XP Pro on top of that? Is this wise to run PhotoShop off of XP, off of Parallel, off of OSX?
Should I even bother? I have 4 GBs RAM, E6600 CPU on a Intel Badaxe2 D975XBX2. Processing my Canon 30D RAWs is fast, quick and stable on my PC. I did ‘convince’ her to get 2 GBs of RAM on her iMac. How fast would processing 30D RAW files on ACR and CS2 be on the iMac with less RAM?
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Bob Levine
Apr 24, 2007
Parallels is designed to run a different operating system. You need to buy a copy of Windows and run that in either Parallels or through bootcamp.

But you still need to protect it with antivirus and anti spyware software so I fail to see the benefit of buying that Mac.

Bob
P
Phosphor
Apr 24, 2007
Besides…even if you have that Mac, and Windows OS and Parallels, you’re skating on thin legal ice loading your current Windows version of Photoshop on that system when it’s quite likely and possible that both copies can and will be used at the same time. The "2 installations are allowed" part of the Photoshop user agreement is meant to be limited to 2 systems—say a desktop and a laptop—used by one person, and that won’t be operated at the same time.

If you get the Mac, just get a Mac version of Photoshop and be done with it.

The media files that Photoshop generates from either OS are fully platform-agnostic. And as a plus, Macs can load, parse and use any special Windows-format TrueType fonts you may already own.
BL
Bob Levine
Apr 24, 2007
And as a plus, Macs can load, parse and use any special Windows-format TrueType fonts you may already own.

And as a super plus, you can place any Windows Type 1 fonts in the Adobe fonts folder and they will be accessable by any Adobe Apps.

Note: please check the EULA on the fonts before doing this.

Bob
JO
Jim_Oblak
Apr 24, 2007
She can’t be bothered to learn about internet debris, spyware or drivers so I have convinced her to get a 24" iMac.

What logic is there in buying a Mac for these reasons if you are putting Microsoft Windows on it?
WG
Welles_Goodrich
Apr 24, 2007
One problem with running PS Windows on Mac via Parallels is that the entire virtual machine is limited to 1.5GB RAM. That includes the OS.

You could always install Windows XP via BootCamp and boot into XP on the iMac and then run Windows. That would be a preferred strategy as all your system’s resources would be available to XP and PS that way.

I have a Mac Pro with XP on a separate hard drive and also Parallels with XP. Parallels with XP is good for modest applications of lesser performance but not adequate, in my opinion for major graphic or 3D applications.
WG
Welles_Goodrich
Apr 24, 2007
Jim,

If you use the Mac side for internet access and just use the Windows side for running specific programs you don’t need to worry about and of the adware/spyware/virus possibliites.
B
babaloo
Apr 24, 2007
If the choice is Vista or a Mac: get the Mac.
JO
Jim_Oblak
Apr 24, 2007
How do you pull off that?

How do you update Windows and applications without internet access? How do you isolate files carrying viruses and spyware that may be copied from removable media or from the Mac OS drive?

As you add more operating systems to a machine, you lessen the ease of maintenance and the level of security.

And by the way, you still need to worry about vulnerabilities in Mac. Here’s the latest unpatched security hole <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/04/20/pwn-2-own_winner/>. Macs may have less security vulnerabilities than Windows but it only takes one to give you a bad day.
WG
Welles_Goodrich
Apr 24, 2007
Jim,

I won’t dispute any of your assertions. However, my experience has been using a Mac Pro with both Windows as a boot drive and via Parallels and the Mac OS without any malware incident or maintenance problems since last summer. Prior to that, I’ve run a Windows XP box with two distros of Linux as well for over three years without ever once having a virus or any other piece of malware.

How, you wonder? For starters, I’m behind a hardware firewall. While XP has access to the internet, it is only used for updates from known software vendors. Everything else comes down via my Mac and gets transferred. I also only use software for Windows which comes with a guarantee of no spyware. I’m not nearly so careful on the Mac side, having tried thousands of applications. I also never open any attachment unless I know what it is. Discretion is greater than curiosity in my computer use habits.

In spite of that contest you reference where no one was able to break into a Mac until the rules were relaxed and they found a vulnerability in the QuickTime relationship to Safari, I’m not worried about Mac security. Why? Pundits have been stressing over and over that this trojan horse could do horrible things or that vulnerability is disastrous. Of course there are potential vulnerabilities but in six years of using Mac OS X I’ve never encountered a single one in the wild and have only heard of three, none of which affected more than a handful of machines and all of those were ‘proof of concept.’

When there is a problem, I’ll deal with it. Until then the Amish Virus is the worst out there. Hah! You’ve just been given the Amish Virus. It works on the honor principal. Go home and erase your hard drive.
JO
Jim_Oblak
Apr 25, 2007
Welles, if you can run Windows securely on a Mac, you can also run it on cheaper PC hardware. I’m simply confused how Phil is trying to convince his wife to get a Mac for the purpose of not being bothered to learn about internet debris, spyware or drivers if it is going to run Windows anyway.

There is no need to defend any OS; I use them all too.
PM
Phil_Marion
Apr 27, 2007
The ONLY reason her iMac MIGHT run Windows is because I wanted to be able to occassionally run CS2 on it. I have a 4 GB E6600 Conroe PC that I use for CS2. Her iMac would be upstairs and I envision there would be times that I’d prefer to be upstairs doing my digital photography rather than in the basement where my PC is. There are times I’d like to be upstairs closer to her rather than sequestered in the basement.

We certainly wouldn’t be web surfing with Windows on the iMac. The only time I’d boot in to Windows is for CS2. I have 2 PCs downstairs – one is dedicated to web browsing – the other is CS2 dedicated and runs no firewall, AV or anti-spyware programs.
JO
Jim_Oblak
Apr 27, 2007
The ONLY reason her iMac MIGHT run Windows is because I wanted to be able to occassionally run CS2 on it.

Phil, have you short term memory? 🙂

She will buy the Parallels software as much of her professional software (she’s a Chartered Accountant – internal audit – fraud investigator and has a Real Estate licence) only runs on Windows.

It does not matter if you use Windows only for Notepad. Installing it on your Mac negates the perceived security you think you have on Mac. Even if you do not open an internet connection through Windows, you still need to move files back and forth between the Mac side. Those files can contain viruses and spyware that the Mac OS ignores.

I got more viruses on my computers years ago before I ever had internet access. Just because your computer may be offline does not make it immune.

Mac is a great platform but don’t try to convince yourself you are being any more secure by adding Windows to it.

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