How feasible is it to run mainly Ubuntu and Vista on MBP?

I figure since this is a "Notebook Manufacturers" forum, it's a reasonable hardware related question . Basically, I would still want to have OSX partition in there for driver updates and such, but would mainly use Vista/XP and Ubuntu/Fedora.

I kind of don't want to deal with working out kinks in making required apps work in OSX right now, but love the hardware and need a laptop. Before people start jumping on me, here are the reasons to get MBP:

1. Lightest and possibly best designed 15" laptop out there. IBM Thinkpad T61p and HP come close, but HP does not have as good GPU, both are quite a bit heavier and not as well designed, and T61p is simply not shipping for a while. Asus V1 could have been a "contender" but it's apparently about 6.5 lbs and has DDR2 VRAM.
2. Great GPU that is well suited for gaming. 8600 GT 256MB on higher end MBP with DDR3 is simply best mid-range video card on the market.
3. Good battery life. Yes, you could do better with HP or Thinkpad if using a bay battery, but still good.

So, how well does MBP behave in Vista and Ubuntu? How is power management and driver support? I read some previous reports that battery life was simply not as good in Vista. What about XP and Linux distros? How about that touchpad, can you still do multi-touch click in Vista/XP/Ubuntu/etc...?

 

My buddy ended up selling his MBP because windows drivers for the Macs still aren't what they could be. He had a hard time with his wireless card, among other things. So unless things have changed...

 

From what I have read it runs Vista just fine with bootcamp drivers.

And Ubuntu has a wiki page up that goes through a Ubuntu (and triple boot setup) https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MacBookPro.

Speed wise you will not see any difference using a Intel Mac. They are pretty much using the same parts, so basically the same speed. Drivers are your only enemy, and it seems like both Vista and Ubuntu will run.

 

Bootcamp is still in BETA so it's not perfect. I believe they are releasing the full version with Leopard?

 

i have a question that kina fits in here so ill pop it in. when i upgrade my drive in my macbook i will want to be able to do something with the drive so i figured if i bought an enclosure for it i could use it to run ubuntu. my question is how well would it run on an external drive and if i had the drive plugged in b4 startup would it automatically boot off the external or would i have to do it manually?

 

Not sure how an Ubuntu partition on an external hd would be viewed actually.

I have a backup OS X partition on an external hd that is always connected to my MBP when I am at my desk, whenever I restart and hold down Alt to boot between OS X and Windows it will also show the OS X partition on the external drive (because it is bootable). If your Ubuntu partition is readable by the firmware as bootable, chances are good this will work.

 

heres the thing:

windows runs perfectly. there is no flaw or emulation or virtualization or anything like that. you know that, though.

the drivers are really the only thing that could be a problem. and they most likely will be. the drivers are DEFINITELY beta drivers. you will immediately be able to tell. the software itself is very nice and polished, but the drivers behind it are really all that matters.

keep in mind you have 160 gigs of hard drive space to split across 3 operating systems, also.

driver situation in windows:

power management is not implemented yet. that means that you only get 3 hours of battery life in windows (trying hard), vs 5 in osx. it also runs warmer, but not uncomfortably so.
there is no software fan access, so your fans won't incrementally speed up based on heat and processor load like they would in osx. if the hardware is overheating the fans do kick in.
the trackpad driver is poorly implemented. very simple left and right clicking (done entirely on the trackpad, with one or two fingers, respectively) is not implemented at all. use the button for a left click. there are several ways to do a right click and none of them are good.
two finger scrolling in osx is great. you can do it in any direction. in windows, you can only go up and down and it is not accurate and is often very frustrating. it tends to be either unresponsive or exaggerate the response.
the trackpad recognizes accidental input in osx. if you rest your hands on the keyboard and your palm touches the trackpad, it knows that it is your palm and ignores it. its very simple and effective. in windows you will get accidental scrolling / mouse movement when you are typing. its somewhat annoying.

as far as linux goes, you would have to come up with a bunch of drivers. its possible that you could do it but its almost certain that a bunch of components won't work properly. i don't think apple provides drivers for anything other than 32 bit windows (xp / vista)...

other things do seem to work. backlit keyboard, webcam, wifi, bluetooth, cd drive...

my two cents.

 

So.... I could actually put the OSX partition on external drive only and leave the internal for Windows/Ubuntu?

Also, thanks for the link above guys, that is a comprehensive link... however, it does not have any Vista instructions. Does having Vista change "triple-boot" scenario?

 

Hmm... so there is no Windows fan control software that would run on MBP then? That, no battery life, and the lack of right click is a bit of a downer, I must say.

The Linux stuff is even more complex it seems. Looked over some docs posted in this thread, and they are not too bad, but no Vista guidelines for triple boot. Thank you for the help guys, going to keep looking I guess, since I don't think I want to deal with driver situation. Maybe with Boot Camp going final this will improve.

 

I'd say even 3 hours battery life isn't bad for a 15.4" laptop with dedicated graphics.

 

Externally booting any OS can be .. hard.

And no, I think the OS/X needs to be on the physical drive. Out of curiosity, what are you using each OS for? It'll help me come up with an intelligent suggestion.