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Re: Osx and Windows split

(Sorry for the resend, this one is in plain text)

I don't have any specific experiences using VSTs from a virtualized
copy of windows, but I have a lot of experience with VMware Fusion.

It's a fantastic app (considerably better than parallels desktop,
which I used from beta through 3.0, and found that vmware exceeded
parallels the moment it left beta and has only gained more of a lead),
and runs windows xp amazingly well with a puny 256mb of ram (assuming
a clean install with no antivirus and such, since I see no point in
having that in a vm where I can do a true rollback at any time). I'd
say it's 90% as fast as running it natively via boot camp for
everything that doesn't rely on graphics acceleration. For graphics
accelerated things, it's getting better, but 3d rendering and gaming
are still pretty poor (usable but slow). For music, however, I see no
reason why you would see any slowdown in your VSTs.

However, I'm not sure about VSTs being usable in ableton via vmware
fusion. I'd download a demo and give it a try. If that doesn't work,
from a technology perspective it seems to me that WINE might work a
lot better, so try out a demo of the excellent (though hit-or-miss)
crossover. It's a commercially backed program that uses WINE (a tool
to run windows code in os x/linux) to run windows programs in os x a
lot more seamlessly than via VMware Fusion. The huge down side is,
while there's a certainty apps will work in virtualized windows,
there's no gaurantee they'll work in crossover, so I'd test all your
favorite VSTs in it before you decide which to consider buying.

Crossover is available at www.codeweavers.com. Disclaimer: I'm not
affiliated with either company, and I use both their products weekly.


>
> On Sat, Nov 1, 2008 at 3:07 AM, Byron Howell <howell.byron@gmail.com> 
>wrote:
>>
>> Has anyone got any opinions on this software for integrating osx and 
>windows?
>>
>> http://www.vmware.com/products/fusion/
>>
>> seems it would save dual booting. would this make windows vst's
>> operable from the  mac side in a host like Ableton?
>>
>> Byron
>>
>