Dual-boot macbook...partition type for windows?

[tlunnuk]

I'm helping my girlfriend setup a dual-boot macbook. She's going to keep music and photos on the apple side and run her architecture programs on the windows side (cad, sketch-up, revit, adobe).

 

My first instinct is to partition the windows side with an NTFS partition type (more stable and can exceed the 32 GB limitation of the FAT32), except the Apple side will not be able to write to the Windows side without a special plug-in.

 

I'm betting other people have a similar setup....what configuration works best for you?

 

maximize a FAT32 windows partition so that you can pass information back and forth between the apple and windows side with ease.

 

or

 

just run an NTFS partition on the windows side and make due.

 

right now we are just running bootcamp, but in the future we may put fusion on so that we can run both simultaneously.

 

thanks for the help.

[AJLynn]

I have this working on mine using an NTFS partition that OSX can read/write. I read this article then used the MacFuse solution. It's slightly complicated because you need to instal both MacFuse and MacFuse's NTFS module.

 

I think I had to use NTFS to install the Windows 7 beta.

 

Also, there is Windows software such as Macdisk (I don't know if there's free software for this) that lets Windows mount the Mac partition as read/write, so you can use only one directory for photos, music, etc., and not duplicate the space used.

 

Also, if you install Fusion you can have Fusion run your Bootcamp partition in a virtual machine, so you get maximum flexibility. Beware that doing this you can mess up some of your software's licensing.

[AJLynn]

FYI, just got an email on this - there's currently a sale on MacMall.com - VMWare 1.1 for $20 after some rebates. The current version (2.whatever) can be downloaded from the VMWare web site and can be registered using a 1.1 serial number because it was a free upgrade.