I use Parallels + Windows 10 and a while back I switched to an SSD drive - wow what a difference that made, especially boot up time. I could never go back to using a virtual machine on a standard hard drive.
Marty > On Oct 4, 2019, at 9:33 AM, Richard Gaskin via use-livecode > <use-livecode@lists.runrev.com> wrote: > > Martin Koob wrote: > > I have been developing the application on on a Mac to this point but > > need to have the PC for testing and debugging in a Windows > > environment. > > > > Being a Mac guy I am not sure what I should look for in a PC— > > processor, speed, RAM, etc. > > Running Windows on metal is nice, but not very convenient compared to a VM > and rarely actually needed. > > I keep a couple machines here with Windows installed as boot (Win7 and > Win10), and I can't recall the last time I needed to test with them, even for > a project I've been working on writing an interface for a client's custom > USB-driven hardware. > > If you go metal, go cheap. You won't be using it often anyway, and a machine > at or below average consumer specs helps inspire lean code that delights your > customers, while keeping a little extra money in your pocket for important > things like a nice dinner out. CPUs a generation or two behind will still > give you plenty of useful lifespan, yet are often discounted as most folks > clamor for the Latest and Greatest. > > 4GB RAM is a reasonable minimum for a testing machine. Almost nothing worth > using ships with less these days. > > If you do use a separate physical machine, I can't say enough good things > about the value of having your work files and LC Plugins folder synced via > Nextcloud or other folder syncing system (Dropbox et al). This will automate > transfers between machines, saving a lot of the annoyance of manual copies. > And for my Plugins folder it's been awesome - no matter where I'm working I > always know I have my latest toolkit. > > > All that said, I've enjoyed the convenience of VMs for decades, and a few > years ago Mark Wieder suggested I try VirtualBox - never used anything else > since. It's free and open source, and when I last used Parallels I found > VirtualBox was able to restore sessions in a fraction of the time. > > With a VM you can share the Clipboard across OSes, as well as folders, > hardware, and more. Being able to copy code from my dev OS into the test OS > has been a godsend of a convenience more times than I can count. > > Running a second OS within your main OS will eat some RAM; Min. 8 GB, 16 GB > feels luxurious. > > Whether virtual or physical, the OS choice is no choice: Windows 10 is the > present and future of Windows. What I personally prefer doesn't matter for > testing. I need what my customers use, and while it can be useful to spin up > VMs with older Windows versions, Win10 is where the action is today, and > tomorrow. > > -- > Richard Gaskin > Fourth World Systems > Software Design and Development for the Desktop, Mobile, and the Web > ____________________________________________________________________ > ambassa...@fourthworld.com http://www.FourthWorld.com > > _______________________________________________ > use-livecode mailing list > use-livecode@lists.runrev.com > Please visit this url to subscribe, unsubscribe and manage your subscription > preferences: > http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/use-livecode _______________________________________________ use-livecode mailing list use-livecode@lists.runrev.com Please visit this url to subscribe, unsubscribe and manage your subscription preferences: http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/use-livecode
