Using a MacBook for a business major in college

Hi Guys,

I am planning to go into either Business or Computer Science. I'll be an incoming Freshman this year.

I have been a Windows user for about 10-12 years and would like to finally get a Mac. Now, for comp sci, a Mac is fine at my school since the comp sci professors all use Macs themselves (or so I am told). I even spoke with a student who was studying that and used a Mac.

Now, for business things are a little different. My school obviously recommends a PC for business. They said that programs like Access, SPSS, and Excel are the main ones that have problems on macs.

I have went back and forth with deciding to buy a PC, then a mac, etc. I was set on buying a PC until I received an email from a student who was taking business at my school with a mac and said he has had zero problems. This got me thinking about the Mac again.

The person I emailed (staff) said that students have used Macs but have experienced difficulties. I think he is full of it, because can't you just use VMWare/parrallels to run Windows stuff that you'll need?

So, do you think I could get by with a Mac? Are there any of you out there who are currently (or have) majored in Business with a Mac.

Any suggestions or tips would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!

 

I definitely don't think you'll run into any issues with a Mac, especially since you're already aware of the fact that you can run Windows on it as well natively or virtually ! Once you're willing to run Windows virtually or natively on the Mac, anything that runs on Windows runs on Windows on the Mac.

The only question you have to ask yourself (although I think you've already answered it) is whether you would use Mac OS X and would prefer a Mac, and since I think you do want to, then definitely a good choice!

 

Awesome, thanks Sam. That is encouraging.

I see you have a MacBook. Do you run Windows in any form on it? I am just wondering about the performance of apps when virtualized?

 

No, I don't run Windows on my MacBook (ironic that I wrote the Windows guide), but I can tell you as long as you 2 GB or more of RAM, and the applications you're running aren't too tough on the resources, it'll be fine! Like Microsoft Office will be fine, gaming will be a lot harder!

 

You should seriously consider accessing Windows through Bootcamp and virtualized. The more flexibility the better. Boot Camp comes with OS X and is free so it really wouldn't cost you anyhing... besides the few minutes it takes to set up.

 

Well, what I was planning on doing was installing Windows via Bootcamp and then occasionally accessing the Windows partition with Parallels or VMware. Is that what you meant?

 

I'm using a Mac for College and it works wonderfully! I do not use Bootcamp, I prefer using VMWare instead because it's easier to access the Windows partition whenever I need it. Office for Mac works great!!

Good luck with your studies!

 

Awesome! Thanks!

What is your major?

 

I am tempted to recommend a mac because I love mine so much, but Thinkpads are better for business and they are very good computers. I don't think it would be worth it to be running vm ware or parallels much less booting into bootcamp. Trust me, switching to windows in order to use an app gets VERY old VERY fast.

I narrowed the best computers down to thinkpads and macbook pros. I didnt pick the thinkpad simply because I disliked windows and felt that there werent any apps that compelled to run it. In your case there are essential apps that are not available on a mac.

I would recommend a thinkpad (throwing away mac fanboyism in favor of rational thoughts)

 

Thanks for the tips. However, if you use VMware, can't you run the Windows App like as if it were running in OSX with convergence mode or whatever it is called?

 

How is a Thinkpad better for his business class? Furthermore how it "better" for business? That makes absolutely no sense. It's a machine, it doesn't do anything more than any other PC notebook or a Mac notebook in terms of business.

 

I'm and engineering grad student with a mbp. I'm having no issues running some windows only programs using parallels. And yes you can run Windows apps like as if it were osx with the coherence mode, similar thing in vmware. I don't see how it really gets tiring running windows apps with parallels/vmware, as long as you have a decent amount of ram to allocate for windows.

I'd go for it if you want a mac especially with the ability to use boot camp or parallels/vmware.

 

This is what I have been arguing. I agree a Thinkpad has a better business look, but how is it better than any other computer for business? The thing that the business worlds revolves around is Windows, not a certain computer.

@liuman51086

How much RAM are you running?

 

I am also torn. Stuck between getting a Mac or a Lenovo T61. I'm going to be doing graduate work in Comsci. The mac has everything I need for 75% of the time. But I'm worried about its ability to do DirectX render work through Bootcamp. I've lost faith with Winblows ever after Vista came out.

 

I'm running 4gb, so I can give windows 2gb to play with.

 

The MacBook not so well, but the MBP does DirectX just fine in Windows Boot Camp. Just like any other PC!

 

I'm a recent business student graduate, I got through college fine on my MBP w/ Bootcamp.

SPSS + Office apps is really all you need to worry about. When "the school" tells you Mac's are no good it's because they are applying a blanket statement to a situation they really do not understand. The only real difference in a modern mac versus a PC is the BIOS as far as I know. Even if you run into browser problems all you have to do is use a different browser.

The biggest plus for me about Mac laptops is their resale value, they hold their value much better than their PC counterparts... for no good reason too.

 

My major is network communication management. Almost graduating!

 

Do you know what performance lost if any is running Windows through boot camp? Does boot camp virtualize all the devices on boot up like how vmware does it inside windows?

 

Boot Camp runs Windows natively, so its effectively the same as booting into Windows like any other PC with the same specs!

 

Yeah i completed a business degree successfully with my mbp, no issues there!