Macbook with windows

Just spoke to one of the guys in the shop, and am now interested in a mac book. Apparently any programs I need off windows I should find for mac. If not they do a dule-boot system where the mac will just load up with xp. What do you think?

 

That's true. Most programs have mac versions or at least mac counterparts, and if there doesn't exist one you can dual boot or use a virtual machine.

We wont be able to tell you if it's right for you, unless we know more information.

There's an entire thread dedicated to running Windows on mac here.

 

There's significant cost to dual booting (i.e. time). While it takes only 10-15 seconds for OSX to boot up, it takes nearly a full minute, if not more for Vista to load up. Even starting Windows in Fusion takes a good 20-30 seconds. In any case, rebooting over and over again is not something you'd want to get into the habit of - if for no other reason than because it's so inconvenient and time-consuming. In today's pace, spending anywhere from 20-60+ seconds to load up one specific application is simply unacceptable, not to mention the wasted battery life doing so.

In other words, although dual boot is a viable option, if you find yourself switching back and forth often or spending most of your time in Windows, you might consider PC laptops instead.

As far as software equivalents go, there are Mac alternatives for most common-use applications, but there are also software specific to Windows that you cannot find on Macs. The more specific and proprietary the type of software you need, the more likely you'll run into problems finding a direct equivalent.

For example, OSX software has all the basics covered - project management, multimedia design of all types, office software, etc. etc. However, if you need an OSX equivalent that can run files from some proprietary software that, for example, was custom-written specifically to monitor and calibrate that newly patented engineering thingymajig designed in your research lab, you're out of luck.

 

I have a MBP 17" and I dual boot Vista Home Prem. It has worked flawlessely for the last couple months. I am very impressed the performance of both OS's. My mac takes less than 30 seconds to boot in to Vista. 90% of the time I use the unit in the windows environment so I am not really switching back and forth.

One alternative which I also have experience with is using Parallels. I ran XP Home on Parallels when I had my iMac and it worked great. As long as you have enough computing power parallels runs great too. It shouldn't take any longer than 20-30 seconds for XP etc. to boot up in parallels. Another thing is, once you have a parallels window open don't close it until you are finished. Then you are not wasting time starting and restarting the VM. If you go the parallels route, I would definately recommend at least 2gigs of ram. Then you can allocate enough ram the Parallels to run smoothly.

 

Eh, is it even possible to get a cold boot of Vista under 30 seconds (even with everything from startup removed, UAC turned off, and the boot process optimized)? Maybe it's because I'm using edition of Vista?

Also check out VMWare Fusion as an alternative to Parallels suggested above. If you don't need to use DX8+ graphics, Fusion actually runs a bit more efficiently, and you can allocate more cores to it if necessary. Considering the MacBook doesn't have any graphics-intensive uses to speak of anyway, Fusion might be a better choice for you. It's still unbearably slow IMO however (not to mention it starts taking up valuable resources if you tend to do processor and ram-intensive stuff).

Having either Parallels or VMWare Fusion is a good idea in any case though - inevitably you'll run into some horribly outdated website that with tons of ActiveX stuff and limitations that you can only use MSIE 5.0+ or some such nonsense (certain government websites and biometrics registration sites for example). There are also a number of online journals and databases in the academic and legal professions that used to be quite heavily dependent on MSIE. You don't want to reboot into XP just to view a single website - so paying the $80 base price for one of the virtual software is a good idea.

 

How do you like the 2.33 Ghz 17" MBP? I was thinking of getting it because it is alot cheaper than the 2.4 Ghz and the ONLY difference is the video card and memory, I believe.

tahnks

 

Yes, they are right.

A ton of software is available for the Mac now, and it is still not on par with Windows but there is a surprisingly large wealth of software for the Mac nowadays.

And if you still want to be able to run Windows, there are several ways to do so. You can run Windows natively, so that your MacBook actually boots into Windows and OS X is turned "off", or you can run it virtually, so you can have Windows and OS X running at the same time.

If you have any other questions related to a switch to Mac, please read the Common Switcher Questions section of the Mac Switcher's Guide. To learn more about the different ways of running Windows on a Mac, and its advantages/disadvantages and differences, read the Windows on a Mac Guide.