Hey Scotty,

I just recently signed on to sell life insurance for a company. I needed to download their software to my laptop, but apparently it's not compatible with a Mac. I called their tech guy and he said I needed to get what he called a windows partition? Ever heard of this? What is it? What does it do? Cost? Hard drive space? Other potential benefits and/or drawbacks?

Thanks,

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There are two ways to have Windows run on your mac. One is using the software Apple provides called “Bootcamp”. It take a part of your hard drive and “partitions” it so that you can then reboot your computer and install and use Windows. The other (and more popular way) is to use virtualization. Programs like VMware will allow you to install and run Windows without having to shut down the Mac. You will have to purchase Windows for either way. Bootcamp is free but awkward whereas VMware costs around $50 with rebate. If you use VMware, you can use the insurance program as just another program. It’s much more convenient. You will need a good bit of free hard drive space for either choice. I’d say around 30 free gigs. I’ve talked a lot about virtualization on the site here so be sure to check out questions others have asked here: Answers Bootcamp here: Answers