PanoTools:
PTGUI on Macbook
Roger Howard 2006-Jun-06 01:22:07
If you're a Mac user running an Intel-based Mac, like me (on my new
Macbook) I can't say enough how great it is to be able to run PTGUI
side by side with my Mac apps. To this end, there are two major
options that are both worth considering, and both have their ups and
downs.
Bootcamp: this is a set of tools provided by Apple that helps you
install Windows XP SP2 on any Intel-based Mac, along with all the
video and other device drivers you'll need. Once installed you're
able to dual boot into Mac OSX (Tiger) and Windows (XP SP2) back and
forth. There is essentially no difference, when booted into Windows,
in this configuration with running Windows on any other PC laptop -
everything works as normal, since it ultimately is just a PC laptop.
Benefits: Windows can take full advantage of your hardware, including
access to all of your RAM, native video performance, and native disk
performance. For no-compromise Windows performance on an Intel Mac,
this is the way to go.
Drawbacks: have to reboot back and forth. Since Windows can't
natively read HFS+ volumes, and Mac OSX has limited support for
Windows volume types, shared filesystems are not perfect. Supports
only XP SP2. Requires partitioning of your drive, setting aside space
for Windows. Oh, and Bootcamp is free.
Parallels Workstation: this is a third-party product that provides
one or more virtual machines, within which you can run virtually any
Intel-compatible operating system. This is not an emulator, and does
take advantage of the virtualization features of the Intel CoreDuo
chips that Intel Macs are based on, so performance is phenomenally
better than the VirtualPC-type emulators you may have used in the past.
Benefits: supports almost any Intel-based OS you have. Works great
for developers too, who need to run multiple OSes for testing. No
rebooting, Parallels runs within the Mac OSX environment. Can be
fullscreen, or run within a window on your desktop. Virtual
environments are maintained within disk image files on your Mac's HFS
+ volumes, making backing up and restoring environments trivial. Disk
images can dynamically grow, so you don't have to decide up front how
much space you want Windows to have - this allows you to make the
best use of your available storage (always scarce on a portable).
Copy/paste works across Mac OS and Windows, something you'd hope for
but surprises you the first time it just works! Has a shared folders
feature that enables easy file sharing between virtual and host
environments.
Drawbacks: does not perform as well as the same system booted into
Windows natively. Video is not hardware accelerated, so forget
gaming! More expensive than Bootcamp, though still cheap at $40 (pre-
order) or about $80 when it ships. Shares memory resources with Mac
OSX, so I'd consider the baseline memory to be as much as you can
afford - I'm running 2GB, with about 1GB dedicated to Parallels and
the rest up for grabs by Mac OSX.
Comments: for my money, Parallel's is the best overall solution. I've
long drooled at the possibility of running PTGUI on my Mac, as I do
most of my work within the Mac OSX environment. I'm comfortable with
the tools I have there, including my favorite text editors, scripting
tools, OmniGraffle, and all the rest; but I've been maintaining a
separate box at home just to run PTGUI. Now I can have a single,
fast, fully-loaded portable that allows me to get all of my
professional and personal work done on a single box.
Also, while I'm sure PTGUI would be even faster under BootCamp, it is
simply more than fast enough on my new Macbook - a dual core 1.83Ghz
model with 2GB of RAM and stock 5400rpm drive. In this configuration
PTGUI is objectively faster than my loud, ugly desktop PC (a 1.7Ghz
P4 with 1GB RAM). Certainly one can build a faster PC than what I'm
used to, but the Macbook still screams through control point
generation and handles my typical render specs without flinching.
Here's to best of all possible worlds! Mac OSX environment, niche
Windows apps!
PS, this is not intended as a platform comparison at all, and I don't
want to spark any religious wars. In fact, this is intended to show
that the OS matters much less than the choice of applications, and
being able to run all of my choice apps - Mac OSX and Windows - side
by side on the same hardware is just too cool not to mention.
Best,
Roger
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