08-01-2011, 02:57 PM
Ol,
I've used Fusion with Win XP Pro on my office's imac. Windows ran reasonably well. However, I found printing to be an issue. Other annoyances came into play, too. End result: after my wife replaced her aging IBM/Lenovo laptop, I grabbed it and now use it for Windows tasks at my office. She didn't need the machine anymore and it was nice to see it not go to waste in storage. I was glad I could put it back to use again. So, if you already have a old Windows machine on hand, I'd be inclined to use it rather than go with Fusion or Bootcamp.
Another option might be to get an external drive and use it for Windows. No bootcamp. No virtual Windows machine. Boot off the external, do a standard installation of Windows on it. Use your mac normally. Boot off the Windows drive as necessary. I like the idea that it separates the Windows installation from the Mac installation. Not sure if this is feasible without using Bootcamp. Haven't tried it. Hopefully others will chime in with their experiences. I have an aging 160 gig drive which lacks the capacity for backing up the imac. It may be great for creating and playing with a Windows installation for the imac. I'll give it a try if time and circumstances allow.
My other question is, can you do without the bank software for depositing check? My office's bank is practically around the corner. It's easy enough to take a walk or drive over to do our daily deposit. If all you're doing is handling deposits with the Windows machine, it may be time to switch to the old fashioned method. I'd feel differently if you used the Windows configuration for other stuff but that doesn't appear to be the case.
Robert
I've used Fusion with Win XP Pro on my office's imac. Windows ran reasonably well. However, I found printing to be an issue. Other annoyances came into play, too. End result: after my wife replaced her aging IBM/Lenovo laptop, I grabbed it and now use it for Windows tasks at my office. She didn't need the machine anymore and it was nice to see it not go to waste in storage. I was glad I could put it back to use again. So, if you already have a old Windows machine on hand, I'd be inclined to use it rather than go with Fusion or Bootcamp.
Another option might be to get an external drive and use it for Windows. No bootcamp. No virtual Windows machine. Boot off the external, do a standard installation of Windows on it. Use your mac normally. Boot off the Windows drive as necessary. I like the idea that it separates the Windows installation from the Mac installation. Not sure if this is feasible without using Bootcamp. Haven't tried it. Hopefully others will chime in with their experiences. I have an aging 160 gig drive which lacks the capacity for backing up the imac. It may be great for creating and playing with a Windows installation for the imac. I'll give it a try if time and circumstances allow.
My other question is, can you do without the bank software for depositing check? My office's bank is practically around the corner. It's easy enough to take a walk or drive over to do our daily deposit. If all you're doing is handling deposits with the Windows machine, it may be time to switch to the old fashioned method. I'd feel differently if you used the Windows configuration for other stuff but that doesn't appear to be the case.
Robert