Windows Vista (only) on a macbook pro

I want tp purchase the new macbook pro 15.4" aluminum for its size and look. Then swap the hdd with my own and only run windows. Is this possible? Vista or XP

 

there is a forum member here who has done it, so I think it is possible.

 

why dont you dual boot? mac os x is soo much better with better memory management, graphics and no need for antivirus and firewall

 

Its easy, format the disk using the disk utility like if you were to install MAC OS X, and REMEMBER to select in the options MBR instead of GUI

And thats all, once you do this you can use the Vista DVD installation disk to install only Vista

 

Yes its possible. Though its kinda a waste considering you could get a pc for less if you wont be using osx.

But yea, if you want to you can. You can do it on your current MBP as well.

 

Get dell m4400 if you don't want mac os x

 

I'm willing to bet if you played with OSX for awhile, you'd question the need to ever run Windows again.

 

Why would you do that? For the price difference you could have a computer with much more power or more durability then a macbook pro running Windows Vista.

 

lol their is no point in spending the money on a macbook pro to not use leopard. Would the trackpad even work? lol

 

I agree, you can get it cheaper if you go PC, besides, BootCamp's power management is not very optimized yet - you'll get terrible battery life under Vista/XP on a Macbook/Pro

 

I've been running a Mac now for almost 2 years and I find myself spending more time in Vista (on my PC) and XP (on the Mac) than I do in OS X.

OS X is just too limited.

But as far as the OP is concerned, its not a good idea because, as already mentioned, Apple's drivers aren't up to par and the power management absolutely sucks. Get a PC.

 

I run my MBP in Vista 32 almost 24/7. Do not swap out the hard drive, use BootCamp to install windows and just give OSX a tiny partition, 10 or 20GB or something. Otherwise you wont be able to get firmware updates, which you need to install through OSX.

MBP is a sweet- midrange gaming system, you are going to be paying for it out the same though.

 

I just switched to a mac and i agree that it is still hard for me not to have windows.

OS X is just too limited like they said above, office sux for MAC, no games, and no engineering softwares.. but for casual usage, macs are fine

 

Do you have any idea how hot the MBP runs with windows?

 

you really can't run windows unless you are tethered. you basically need to be plugged in and get an external mouse (and keyboard maybe).

otherwise, you'll have to deal with bad power management, heat, bad trackpad support, weird keyboard keys.

macbook pro is meant to run OSX. if you really want osx and want to game on the same machine in windows and don't mind paying extra for it, then dual boot.

but don't buy a mac just to erase osx and run windows. you will be disappointed at the (lack of) driver support.

 

MB/MBP have shoddy support from Apple with Windows. Apple barely tried to support their products in Windows. OSX is really overrated. It is decent, but way overhyped.

If you want to be sheep and use your computer the way Steve Jobs wants you to, then OSX is fine. OSX is good for casual computer users who use the internet, email, photoshop, audio, video, etc.

If you want to run games, gigantic databases, engineering programs, or hardcore software development, then you are better served by Windows or Linux.

 

What makes OSX so "limited"? I'd really like you to share your wisdom.

The only "sheep" here are the ones spouting off with their ignorant attitudes such as this.

Hmmm....wonder why that is. Maybe because Windows has the marketshare and there is more software available for Windows? Could that be it?

If you want to do hardcore audio/video/photo editing (among other tasks), you're better served by a Mac. Does that make them better? Not really......it just means that they're more suited for the task at hand just like a Windows machine is better to run games.

 

if you gonna primarily be running windows, might as well get a Thinkpad, i know would. or if you like more style, then look into sony VAIO perhaps?

 

What driver issues are their on the non-Intel chipset Macbook Pros besides the trackpad and I guess power management?

Yep, that's exactly what I'd recommend too. You need OS X still for updates, and it may come in handy at some point.

 

I am really considering it. Didn't give it a chance last time. I'll take the full 2weeks to try this time before I ca return it (best buy)for a full refund if needed

 

Best advice you can ever get, is don't try make OSX work like Windows. Learn how OSX works instead.

 

I got a slight laugh out of this one. You can do much more in OS X if you want too. IMO, as far as power users are concerned when it comes to the big three, it's Linux > OS X > Windows.

I agree with OS X and lack of games (mostly due to the closed nature of DirectX). I don't run a lot of classical engineering programs so I can't comment on that but, saying OS X can't do "hardcore software development or run gigantic databases" is again laughable. Maybe you should do more research before stating comments like this as fact.

Many "hardcore" software developers use, or are switching, to OS X because it offers the power of BSD in a stable, polished, no-fuss package. OS X is basically BSD, and BSD is basically UNIX. Apple may market OS X as a simple OS but it's far from it.


OP,
IMO, buying a Macbook Pro to exclusively run Windows is just plain retarded. Why limit yourself? But that's just me...

 

Everyone is saying why not just buy a pc instead. If I didn't like OS X so much, I would run only windows, for the fact that I really like the macbook as a notebook (the MBP even more so). It's a solid notebook, and coupled with apple's good customer service would be more than enough reason for me.

 

how is it talin?still enjoying?or not?

 

Am I still enjoying what? My macbook, or OS X? I'm still enjoying both. I just boot into XP for the occasional game.

 

Thats not true at all.

Windows machines give you a much wider range of hardware and software to choose from. Especially when it comes to audio hardware. It's easier to build a fast machine from the ground up with audio editing in mind than it is to buy a Mac and pick from the limited selection of hardware available for it. Not to mention the fact that the equivalent Mac will cost twice as much, or more.

The power management is bad enough to override anything else.

You'll literally get less than half as much battery life in Windows thanks to Apple's lack of support.

I get less battery life in Windows on my MacBook (2GHz aluminum) than I do on my more than a year old HP running Vista with the "high capacity" 6 cell battery.

I don't know about in Canada, but in the US Best Buy takes a hefty restocking fee. I think its 15%? Thats a significant chunk of change just to try something out.

 

SauronMOS...anything besides power management though? 99.9% of the time I'd be using it plugged in anyway, so that part wouldn't matter to me.

 

Well, there is the touchpad issue. For some reason Apple will not bring tap to click two finger tap to click for right clicking to Windows. Even though Windows supports tap to click out of the box with no special drivers needed.

Theres also the GPU issue. You'll be relying on Apple for drivers for the GPU. Modified drivers from laptopvideo2go might work for the 9600M GT, but they will not work for the 9400M (already tried it). And thanks to the dual GPU architecture, theres no telling what kind of problems you could run into if you're using drivers from laptopvideo2go. And Apple almost never releases driver updates, so you're basically stuck with what they give you.

The drivers right now are good. I have the 178.xx (can't remember exactly) on my aluminum MacBook. But the 180.84s and newer offer significant performance increases and who knows how much of a performance increase we could see a year from now. I know in the past I've seen my GPU performance double over time thanks to driver updates. But we've yet to see a real driver update out of Apple at all. The last official driver update for the previous generation Macs came with the last update for Boot Camp. Newer systems only have newer drivers because the newer hardware requires it.

 

The reason is that Apple doesn't want Windows users to have a really pleasant experience on an Apple notebook. Things like a misbehaving touchpad and lack of power management shows this. Personally, I think Apple should drop their Boot Camp altogether, since they are clearly not dedicated to fix really obvious issues related to it.

 

If Apple drops Boot Camp then they'll lose the majority of all of the "switchers" from the last couple of years.

Theres no denying that Boot Camp is a huge factor in people switching.

I wouldn't even have a Mac if it was not for the ability to run Windows and I know more than I can count that feel the same way.

Apple opened a box that they can't choose to close now or ever. By even releasing the Boot Camp beta almost 3 years ago they committed themselves to supporting Windows on the Mac. They can't just drop it without losing most of the customers they've gained as a result of it.

 

I also wouldn't have a mac if I could not dual boot on one. I certainly don't want to desktop computers.

 

By running Windows on a Mac, you will likely lose the enthusiasm for the hardware and the good customer service, real quick .. when any issues arise.

cheers ...

 

That's an interesting point. I guess I've assumed it wouldn't be an issue-that the chipset drivers Apple ships are probably "good enough", and can probably be upgraded from stuff on Nvidia's site if we really need to. For the 9600GT, we can just use Nvidia's drivers directly-no need for laptopvideo2go's modded inf files (I don't really understand why people bother with third party stuff like that...) So I'm just assuming it would continue to work fine like that, other than maybe not being able to use the integrated graphics, but for me that's not loss.

 

Have you tried that yourself? Because you shouldn't be able to. Nvidia, despite having a link to "notebook drivers" doesn't currently provide drivers for notebooks. They always refer you to the manufacturer. The drivers on nvidia's site are purely for desktop GPUs.

Laptopvideo2go's modified inf files provide compatibility with mobile GPUs. Since nvidia doesn't provide drivers themselves, laptopvideo2go's modified inf's allow those drivers to be installed on notebook systems. Thats great if you're in a situation, like owning a MacBook Pro with an 8600M GT, where the manufacturer almost never updates the drivers.

Unfortunately, with both the MacBook and MacBook Pro current models, we're all at the mercy of Apple thanks to the custom chipsets used. Laptopvideo2go's drivers work with the 9400M with one big drawback. They don't work with the cooling system in the MacBook. So the GPU quickly heats up and the fans don't kick in.

I tried it lastnight. I got the 180.84s going. Everything was going fine then the system locked up. I noticed the fans weren't running the way they normally would when playing a game. It's not laptopvideo2go's fault, its the fact that Apple has modified the drivers in a way to work with their cooling solutions.

So with these custom chipsets, using laptopvideo2go drivers might present that risk as well.

 

Windows on a Apple Macbook? ummm why?
Thats like putting BMW logos on a Honda del a sol
R-tard

If you like the sleek design of the macbook or macbook pro, as mentioned, Sony VAIO have similar looking laptops. Keyboard wise with all the button spacing, monotone color, sleek aka simple design... go with a Vaio
PC also has audio n video editing software that is a few steps behind APPLE but honestly do you think u will become the next Steven Spielberg or Hans Zimmerman.

 

You don't need laptopvideo2go's modified inf files, and you don't use Nvidia's notebook drivers (at least I haven't-not sure if they'd work). You just use Nvidia's regular reference drivers. Install them through Device Manager and they go on fine.

That's weird and too bad. Have you tried cleaning them off with...shoot, not driver cleaner, but whatever that new free program is. I'd get them cleaned off and try installing Nvidia's drivers directly...actually maybe clean them off, then reinstall Apple's video drivers, THEN put on Nvidia's drivers directly.

At least on Apple's previous Macbook Pro design the fan system seemed to work just fine using Nvidia's regular drivers. But Apple could have changed something where instead of being thermally controlled or done through chipset software they put that into the video drivers (which IMO is not the way to do it )

 

Trolling, eh?

 

Oh well, since SauronMOS joined in on the whole debacle, might as well just close this thread down

But seriously, I think the OP has half-a-brain to think about what he/she's doing, and with some 4 pages of opinions here, he/she can make up his/her own mind.

No need for us to actually TELL him/her what to do.

 

last bit. you will be seriously underwhelmed and mildly disappointed if you use windows primarily with the mac. it CAN be done if you are tech savvy and don't mind being tethered to the wall.

but:

you can't get firmware updates unless you are in mac osx.

windows support is limited. x32 versions of windows give you very limited battery life, fan control problems, excessive heat, trackpad problems (with scrolling and right clicking being very difficult without an external mouse). the scrolling is WAY too sensitive, and you will often scroll way far away from your target before you are able to right click on it, because right clicking basically involves performing the scroll motion. you need an external mouse to get around.

x64 versions of windows have all of the problems of the x32 versions, and additionally don't even come with basic drivers like lan, wifi, bluetooth, graphics driver... (this is assuming that you ALREADY found the 64 bit bootcamp installer, otherwise you will have even less hardware support in windows x64)

so you can get a more stable machine with similar parts for less money by using a different manufacturer. i don't see how this is a controversial issue. don't buy an apple laptop to run windows exclusively. or you can get BETTER components for the SAME money. still a non-issue as far as i can tell.

 

Are you sure about the heat problems? I mean I plan to run Windows on it exclusively and run Folding whenever it's one, and I know the track pad is flaky, but don't care too much 'cause I'll use a mouse anyway.

Fan control SEEMED to work fine on a 2007 Macbook Pro, though I didn't use it too much in Windows, but like it ramped up when running a game.

 

There's more to the fact that it's just pointless to a buy a Macintosh computer and run Windows on it, it's about the lack of service from Apple. They will not service the computer for any problems when there is no copy of Mac OS X. They cannot and will not test the machine with Windows only. It will be a huge mistake.
But if the OP is shallow enough to buy prettiness and remove what's native an supported on the machine then so be it.

 

there are two levels of fan control. one is the OS telling the fans to increase in speed. this can happen when you run a heavy process, because you know in advance that there is going to be some heat. or YOU can physically download an app like smc fan control and set the fan speeds.

then there is the second level. the hardware gets overheated and sends a message to the fans to spin. this is not ideal. this is all you get in windows.

you CAN change the smc settings in mac, and then reboot into windows without turning off the machine completely, and your settings will stick. but this is not ideal either.

obviously you really want the macbook pro. i admit it looks pretty. i can't help you to not shoot yourself in the foot anymore. good luck.

 

No just stating the truth. Apple has mediocre Windows support in terms of hardware, software, and customer service. I would not be surprised if Apple used another typical Apple play card by terminating Boot Camp without warning.

 

I don't really want the Macbook Pro per se, I just don't have a lot of options. I want something with an LED backlight and a decent GPU, and preferably Blu Ray-that I'll have to add through an external drive. But I'm basically limited to either a Macbook Pro or an Asus n80nv. I was really looking at the Sony AW, but it turns out Nvidia's not being allowed to support Sony's stuff with drivers, and if you install updated/reference drivers, it disables blu ray playback for some reason (at least using the included app). So that basically narrows my choices down to two, now that Dell has practically left the market.

 

if you want blu-ray, get it built in. look. fill out the FAQ. people will direct you.