Is Win 7 Happy on Macbook Pro 13"?

Thinking about running it natively (no boot camp, no VM), is Windows 7 happy on the new MBP?

Anything to watch out for?

Any resources on this?

Thanks,

Josh

 

Using Boot Camp does indeed run it natively. And I think you'll have a nice time with Windows 7 on the MBP-13. I'm running it through Fusion and it runs fine (no Aero though so... ).

 

what about without bootcamp? I don't want OSX to live anywhere on my computer to save hard drive space.

 

haha, already got it on a PC

one cannot deny the MBP 13" in specs or build.

the cost is still 20% more on the same PC (but a lot more plastic)

but as a student I get -$100 of the $1199 MBP 13 AND a 8GB iPodtouch...thats a pretty screaming deal considering you can sell the Touch on Craig's List in about 5mins and essentially drop the price down to $899, which no PC can compare.

Cheers,

Josh

 

Unfortunately there is no way around removing OSX completely. The best you could do is set the Windows partition that Boot Camp creates as the default partition the system boots into, and when creating the partition initially, set the OSX side to be the absolute minimum allowed, which is I think 5 GB or something close to that.

To set the Windows partition as the default, you can do this either in OSX or in Windows. In OSX, open up the System Settings panel, and then choose "Target Disk". Simply select the 'Untitled' option and close the window. That's it. In Windows 7, after you've installed the Boot Camp drivers, right-click on the Boot Camp icon and choose properties. In the startup tab, you'll see the same two partitions that the OSX system settings shows, in which you'd choose the 'Untitled' option and you'll be all set.

After all that, it will be as if Windows 7 is the primary OS, and it will definitely run at native speed. Don't forget to install the Boot Camp drivers (from the Mac OSX DVD) after Windows 7 is all setup. Sam's Boot Camp sticky guide in the Mac forum has all that you need to know, even running the Boot Camp partition virtually. Check it out here.

Sorry for the long post, but thought it might be helpful for others that have Mac's and are unaware of Sam's great guide for working with Boot Camp.

 

On my 17" uMBP, Windows 7 RC's have been running fine. The only quirks involve the drivers Apple provides (which some don't like Win7, and have to be obtained from manufacturers directly) and their iffy trackpad support. It's nowhere near as "comfortable" to use in Windows as it is in OS X.

 

I haven't had to hunt down any separate drivers for my 13" MBP.

Works great. Peformance is good and I don't have any problems. The trackpad feels different, partly due to how windows handles input devices differently from OSX and partly from the drivers themselves.

That said, it's a capable Windows system, but I personally wouldn't buy one to have windows only on it. Keep OSX on a sizeable partition, you may be surprised

 

why can't you just install Window on the disk, other than voiding your Apple warranty?

I'm just curious where the break down is and what function bootcamp performs.

I was just reading that Microsoft included EFI for Apple's bios in Windows 7, doesn't this mean it can run natively?

thanks,

josh

 

All Boot Camp is, is the non-destructive partitioning app, and the driver "kit" for Windows (including the app that sets the boot flag on the appropriate partition). One does not "require" Boot Camp for the sole purpose of installing another OS. Apple made it to simplify the process.

As you'll find out in the Apple forum where you basically cross-posted this, your request is "strange". A Mac without OS X doesn't sound right at all. OS X doesn't take that much disk space, and laptop hard drives are cheap. Get a 500GB and be done with it.

As for EFI, there's more to it than what you think. Apple wrapped a considerable amount of their own code around their EFI implementation, and just because Vista SP1 and up recognize EFI doesn't mean they recognize Apple's EFI.