Configuring Mac for various AutoDesk products

[Anonymous]

'm trying to decide the best way to configure a MacBook Pro for using the AutoDesk products my daughter needs for school. She will be using AutoCad, Revit, Impression, and Sketchbook. I realize that all of these except Revit are available in Mac, but the class is run in PC and she's not really experienced enough to try to make the conversion, if it would work for the class in the first place. I'm trying to determine whether there is a benefit to running a dual boot over VM, and if not, whether there is a difference/preference to running Parallels over Fusion. Thanks for any ideas.

[maxim_k]

Welcome to Autodesk Forums!

At first I have to say that Impression is not available on Mac. So only one way to learn all of Autodesk products you mentioned together is to install them in Windows OS.
You have a choice to install Windows on Mac on Boot Camp partition (for dual boot) or run Windows inside Virtual Machine (you don't need to reboot your Mac when you want to run Windows).
Which virtualization software is better? - It is hard to say. I have both: Parallels Desktop and VMware Fusion and it seem that both applications allow to run Autodesk products with the same quality and speed. It also depend of course on MacBook Pro model you have (which one you have? Is it an old model or one of the modern)
Now about my experience and preference. I prefer to run Windows in Virtual Machine (mostly using VMware). I have not tried to use Revit, but AutoCAD runs fast enough, especially if it is installed in Windows XP virtual machine.
It is want to say that with both virtualization applications you will be able to run Windows installed on Boot Camp partition in virtual machine. Yes, you can create virtual machine that will start Windows from Boot Camp or use the same Windows installation if you boot your Mac from Boot Camp partition if something goes wrong in virtual machine, for example if you are not satisfied with performance.
If you have additional questions, you can ask here. I'll try to answer.

Maxim

[dgorsman]

Revit is a whole other beast of a program, even with simplified learning models.  Anything less than 12 GB RAM will be dicey, especially with VM.  VM could throw in extra bugs that aren't anticipated, and if they are expecting students to be on Windows they may not be offering technical support for those using a Mac OS (good idea for the OP to ask the school what technical support they offer to students in such cases).