Reply With QuoteMy brother uses a Macbook pro and runs 7 on it using boot camp. It has no problems.
I've been looking for a new laptop for at least a year, and after trying out Dells, HPs, etc... I've had it! Can't find a good PC, with good parts, good screen, etc... anymore. So I'm thinking about buying a Macbook Pro, but I'm not a Mac guy whatsoever. And I have a ton of custom programs that only run on Windows. So what I want to know is if it's easy get Windows running on a Mac. Anyone?
"You miss too much these days if you stop to think."
-Bono
My brother uses a Macbook pro and runs 7 on it using boot camp. It has no problems.
Originally Posted by Ben
u gotta get a custom pc build if u want something more reliable. also it would be cheaper and more powerful than a mac.
sorry I meant if you wanted a desktop pc not a laptop.
I wouldn't buy a Mac as just a Windows machine, but if you need or want to run both OSes there are two approaches. Both seem to be easy enough.
Running Bootcamp (Apple's own dual boot software that's included with your Mac) you're creating a partition with Windows on it and rebooting your Mac into Windows just as you would a PC. By most accounts this is the most bulletproof of the options.
The second approach is to use virtualization software to boot Windows using a 'virtual machine' environment, so that the Mac OS and Windows are running side by side and you can jump from one to the other.
The technology has come a long way, to the point where you can do things like double click on a Windows document that's on the Mac desktop and it will open seamlessly in Windows in the appropriate application. Nowdays you can even run games decently using virtualization, with support for DirectX and surround sound. You're not going to go this route for a hardcore gaming rig, but it's not bad.
Here's an article on the current crop of virtualization software. Parallels and Fusion are the two most well known apps right now.
If you can get your hands on a copy of the November issue of MacTech magazine, issue 27.11, they have an in depth, propellorhead comparison of Parallels and Fusion.
Last edited by Twelvecents; 01-25-2012 at 05:13 AM.
Creeped out by Foolish Mortal's coke spider since 2012.
I've got a MacBook Prod that I have an XP Bootcamp partition on, to run the design programs I "borrowed" from work. Under Bootcamp, Windows runs just fine.
For a while I was using Fusion to run Windows on the Mac. It seems like that's broken now which is annoying, but that's probably due to me running the version from 2 years ago and having just upgraded to Lion. My main complaint about the vitalization programs is that it would always take about 20 minutes to get a PC program up and running, but maybe that's just my experience.
That's great to hear. I want to use Windows for work, but I also want to get into the Mac world (OS) so this should do the trick. But do I need a huge hard drive to run both?
"You miss too much these days if you stop to think."
-Bono
I'm hoping to get a new set up soon and I'm going to try and get at least a 750GB drive; 500GB for the Mac and 250GB for Windows. I'm a huge pack rat though. New Macbooks come with either 500GB or 750GB drives, so you'll probably be okay. Even if you buy an older Macbook and have to replace the drive that comes with it, you can get a 500GB drive for about $100.00. Bumping the RAM to 8GB wouldn't be a bad idea either. On a newer Macbook that would run about $50.00.
Creeped out by Foolish Mortal's coke spider since 2012.
You are probably going to 120-140 for a 500 GB drive right now. The flooding in Thailand put a real backlog in hard drive manufacturing. stock is low, and prices have jumped.
I was expecting to see a spike too, but so far it's not too bad. 7200RPM drives are in that range. New Egg still has 500GB 5400RPM drives in the $100.00 range. Samsungs, Western Digitals, Seagates, Hitachis. $89.00 - $109.00.
Creeped out by Foolish Mortal's coke spider since 2012.
Posting Permissions
Bookmarks