Important Macbook Pro 15inch questions.

1.) Will the Macbook Pro be able to run Windows Vista?

2.) Will I be able to play Counter Strike Source with fairly decent FPS on the Macbook Pro, using Windows?

3.) Are there any disadvantages of using Windows on the Macbook Pro over a regular Windows PC?

4.) Would you recommend a Macbook Pro for a college student who will mostly be using Windows, but will try to learn the Mac OS along the way?

5.) Will a XP Pro CD with Service Pack 2 that I got with my Delll laptop work to install XP on the Macbook Pro?

6.) Will I be able to upgrade the current Macbook Pro to the Merom processor myself?

7.) When using the Windows portion of the Macbook pro, will the wireless internet and all of the other drivers except the iSight work?

8.) After installing Windows on the Macbook pro, where do I get the drivers needed for the laptop to function properly?

Those are all the questions I have for now. I want the Macbook Pro becase it looks SOO nice. It has everything I need in a laptop, except for the fact that it is not solely Windows. Still though, I want this machine. Will the Macbook Pro run Windows flawlessly? Will it run it just as if I was running from a windows pc? I will try to learn the Mac OS, but will still need the Windows portion for a lot of my personal needs. Please help.

 

I'll answer what I can.

1. I have heard that people have successfully installed the Vista Beta 2 successfully on the MBP.

2. I believe so.

3. No windows keys and the you'll need a two button mouse for right click.

4. I'm going to college next year and I have one enroute. Go through the student developer connection and buy a Student membership for $100 and then anjoy the $500 off MBP pricing available.

5. Might have issues registering it if it is already registered to the dell, but the install CD should be good.

6. The processor is soldered in, so unless you have alot of balls and skill, no. My plan is to sell off my MBP when the Santa Rosa MBP platform comes out eventually. My loss shouldn't be bad at all either due to the student pricing.

 

I had similar questions and will answer what I know now that I have a MacBook Pro 17". Here goes...

1. I have installed Vista on my MacBook Pro but ran into initial issues during setup. Primarily due to the use of EFI instead of Bios that is needed by Windows. I ended up having to delete my EFI partition in order to get Vista to install but I think there might be better options out there now. I would search Google, Apple Support Forums and ofcourse here. I am hoping that the final release (if there is one) for Boot Camp will have the ability to support Vista.

2. I have been playing HalfLife 2 on my MacBook Pro without any issues so I am assuming that CS will play just as nice. Gameplay seems smooth, but I don't run it any higher than 1024 x 768.

3. To be honest, I have not found any. I am enjoying Mac OS X so much that I don't really care to go into Windows that much and I am a Windows Admin by profession.

4. I can't really answer that since I am not a college student and haven't been for a while but I recently read an article where Time magazine said that students should get a Mac for college.

5. I don't think the CD from Dell will work because it looks for a Dell bios when trying to install on to the machine.

6. From what I have read that the current processors are soldered on so that you can't just pop them out. I am too nervous to open mine up and void my warranty on a $2700 machine.

7. Everything works with the drivers CD that bootcamp creates except the following:
a. iSight
b. Back-lit keyboard
c. Function keys, for example, increasing screen brightness, volume
control etc.
d. Wireless, Bluetooth, and Ethernet work well.
Here's hoping that the final release of Boot Camp will incorporate these drivers.

8. The drivers for Windows XP are created when you install Boot Camp in Mac OS X. It will prompt you to insert a blank CD and will create it for you. After you have finished installing XP, insert the CD and run one executable. The drivers will install and ask you to reboot the PC.

Hope I have been able to help. If you have any questions, you can contact me.

 

Correction on my previous post about Time Magazine. It was Business Week and here is the link to the article...
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jun2006/tc20060614_650605.htm?sub=techmaven

 

All the questions seem well answered. I doubt the Dell CD will work because it is likely a restore disc, which is not the same as a full version. Also, it will look for the "Dell" partition in the hard drive and won't find it.

I would not buy an Apple solely to run Windows for a few reasons:
1. Boot Camp is beta and will be beta until Leopard(Jan?) Once that happens you will HAVE to buy Leopard in order to run Windows, another $100.
2. More on the beta issue. Last I checked things like power management have not been worked out. If you use it all the time you will have lots of little annoyances because the computer is a Mac, not a PC.
3. Why in the world would you use Windows full time, when you have OSX right at your fingertips. It is easy to learn and well worth the effort.

**EDIT** FWIW, 2 different Apple Stores I was at said that most returns of the MBP have been people trying to run Boot Camp exclusively.

 

That would make sense. So many people are trying to use them as a PC, when they are not. I would think twice, maybe thrice, before using a Mac as a Windows machine.

 

I think that boot camp is a great idea for people like me who love OS X but still need XP for a few programs for school (visio, onenote, etc) but would rather use OS X full time. This way I can still use OS X for all my exeryday stuff and most school stuff, but then go into XP to game... uhh, I mean do school work

 

windows bootcamp crashes enough on me to not use when using data sensitive programs... fyi for anyone thinking it is a good idea to only use windows on a mac