MacBook Pro - Dual booting

[sauluk]

the mrs needs a new laptop, I'm telling her to get an Apple as I used to have one and in 6 years it never stepped a foot wrong.

Problem is she needs XP to run certain programs for her PhD. I know you can dual boot the new Intel systems but does running an Apple on windows defeat the point of having an Apple? and can it be done with no running issues? how hard is it?

[Son of a beesting]

I use VMware on a new macbook pro. It takes a while to boot up VM but runs fine once up and running. I run XP on VM as well.

Love my Mac (even though its not mine but a work one...)

[ThEGr33k]

I recon that its pointless. Get a £400 Laptop like this (http://www.ebuyer.com/product/191804) one. Same spec as a £1000 mac and you get windows 7 which is amazing :D Unless you feel really rich Mac's are just too expensive for no real benefit imo.

Id imagine said XP programs should work on windows 7, though it might be worth finding out, there are a few (not many) that arnt backwards compatable.

[SoulKiss]

I recon that its pointless. Get a £400 Laptop like this (http://www.ebuyer.com/product/191804) one. Same spec as a £1000 mac and you get windows 7 which is amazing :D Unless you feel really rich Mac's are just too expensive for no real benefit imo.

Id imagine said XP programs should work on windows 7, though it might be worth finding out, there are a few (not many) that arnt backwards compatable.

+1

[MattCollins]

Sauluk,

There are a few choices besides dual booting, which is not much of a choice IMO.

Alternative software is the first choice where possible.
Wine is useful for many apps - some stuff may not work.
A virtual machine - arguably the most secure way to use Windows
RDP (over ssh) into a Windows box hosting the required apps. Too easy.

[Mr Speirs]

I run and have run a dual boot Macbook for well over two years now.
You just need to install the dual boot program downloadable from apple site. Then it takes you all through the setup which is really simple, just a case of partitioning the hard drive and installing windows on the second partition. You will when have a totally independent PC i.e. not running OSX alongside.


It is not a pointless thing to do. Some people actually prefer to use Mac's, even when running them as PC's.

[Son of a beesting]

To those that dont use Mac's I can understand why they think they are a waste of money. On paper I can kind of agree.

But, as cliche as it sounds everything does just work. I have a Dell XPS 1330 which I got at the same time and it does not work as well, had problems with losing internet connection etc.

The Mac works in the real world much better. I feel like using a PC is taking a step backwards.

[sauluk]

Thanks all. What's the best laptop for £500 then?

[ThEGr33k]

I have a Dell XPS 1330 which I got at the same time and it does not work as well, had problems with losing internet connection etc.


Decided it was too much of a rant:

Edit, it isnt my experience that Mac's just work. I dont actually work on any Mac's at work but still reasonably often get stupid people coming in with Mac problems.

[ThEGr33k]

Thanks all. What's the best laptop for £500 then?


This (http://www.ebuyer.com/product/173591) looks pretty nice for the cash, big screen, good processor, plenty of RAM and even a decent (for a laptop) Graphics card!

[MattCollins]

Thanks all. What's the best laptop for £500 then?

So, what has switched you off the Mac? The solutions are fairly easy for that must have Windows app.

[Son of a beesting]

Decided it was too much of a rant:

Edit, it isnt my experience that Mac's just work. I dont actually work on any Mac's at work but still reasonably often get stupid people coming in with Mac problems.

Ok I must have missed your rant.

I dont think Mac are perfect, but after years and years using a PC I got a job where they gave me a Mac, so its not that I brought one and I want to prove they are better because I blew lots of dosh on one.

I now have a PC and a Mac at home and I know that everytime I go to use a computer its the Mac I use.

[ThEGr33k]

So, what has switched you off the Mac? The solutions are fairly easy for that must have Windows app.


Yea, get an OS that supports it all, saves you a lot of hassle. :rolleyes:

[MattCollins]

Yea, get an OS that supports it all, saves you a lot of hassle. :rolleyes:

You're starting to sound like a Windows fanboy. :)

[ThEGr33k]

Ok I must have missed your rant.

I dont think Mac are perfect, but after years and years using a PC I got a job where they gave me a Mac, so its not that I brought one and I want to prove they are better because I blew lots of dosh on one.

I now have a PC and a Mac at home and I know that everytime I go to use a computer its the Mac I use.


Im not that bothered about the OS, I cant say as from my exp it is any better than Windows for most things and its worse at pretty big things like software and games support.

I dont like apple as they seem to act like spoilt children and throw the dummy out all the time. There are so many companies now that apple have fallen out with its a joke!

An other thing that does it for me are the shocking adverts, they just chat crap, crap that the average computer user must see and believe. Most of it is unfounded.

Finally there a lot of users that I meet in my job (quite often when they are asking for help with their mac) talk down to me as though they are special "cos they have a mac, that never goes wrong and never gets a virus" and of course the personal favourite "it just works". Obviously... that's why they come to me with problems. :smt037

Finally (sorry for the rant but im in the mood it seems) I did get accused of being jealous of someone with a Mac, someone who confessed shortly before that he knew nothing about computers... :thumleft: Course I am... :lol:

You're starting to sound like a Windows fanboy. :)

Or I know what im talking about?

[warrenhewitt10]

u need a program called virtualbox, it will allow you to install windows on the mac and use it while running osx, works the same way as parallels desktop only fast and doesnt kill the mac to load up

[Son of a beesting]

ThEGr33k: I just saw your unedited post, I wasnt saying that the connectivity issue was to do with the OS, it could be something to do with the mutlitude of extra apps that got included, it could be anything. All I know is last time I had this issue, I uninstalled Vista and then reinstalled it, and it worked for a few months.

I have had other issues with Windows. I am not blind to Apple issues, I dont pay attention to the adverts and think the iPad is possibly the most useless piece of junk I have seen. I dont like you cant get Flash amoung other things.

It may sound crap but for me it works better out of the box than the other PC's I have had. I am sure you have more experience than me but I go on my personal experience, not the image Apple puts out there.

Like I said I didnt buy my Mac, this is completely unbiased point of view.

Agreed, if you like gaming you are barking up the wrong tree with a mac, but I only play games on a console.

Its not a personal attack on you, just telling my experience.

[MattCollins]

Or I know what im talking about?

Really?

Virtualisation is a big thing in corporate and government in these parts. Windows running on Linux.... who'd have figured... or Linux on Linux EDIT: Although I have never done it, I see little issue with putting Windows in a VM on Mac. There are clear advantages, but you probably know more on the subject. ;)

I am not suggesting going the whole hog, but for the sake of a couple of apps I see little issue with a VM.

[Mr Speirs]

I don't mind people not liking Macs really. What ****es me off is those people then calling the people that do use Macs stupid.

Mac's and PC's have their individual uses and the reason I started using one is that I used to have a small music studio. This was in 2001 when PC's weren't stable enough to be the lynch pin of a studio. You just can't have a crash when your mid take.
Mac's were more stable at multimedia applications and a lot better to work with than PC's.

There are actually reasons people buy Mac its not because we are stupid.

[beabert]

I agree, i dont see why you would want to spend all that money on a mac, get another laptop and use windows 7 as its the best OS anyway, and with the change left over buy a 2nd laptop lol.

As for the arguement that the mac wont have any problems, i have had a dell 6400 for 4 years not had any issues, nor with an acer or compaqs in the family. The only reason i can see for buying one is the looks or to be flashy lol.

[warrenhewitt10]

im sorry if you ever own a mac you wont even consider buying another windows computer again in life, i have windows on this as some of the software in uni only runs on windows, but as of next year ill not have that problem as all the computers there are getting upgraded to new iMacs :) they are well worth the money

[lukemillar]

What gets on my nerves, is a thread starts asking about dual booting a mac and true to form, Geek and Soulkiss turn up, to shoot down Apple in flames. It's become almost hypocritical as for every criticism they have on an Apple's user about windows, they then come up with cliched reason(s) as to why PC (i.e Windows/Linux is better!)

Live and let live guys.

Back to the OP. I have been running dual boot on my Mac for years now, with no hassle. The only thing I'm wary of is connecting to the web in Windows as I have no anti-spyware/virus etc. And I don't want to clog the machine up with that sh!t. I just have a small partition to run a couple of programs natively and it works great.

[ThEGr33k]

ThEGr33k: I just saw your unedited post, I wasnt saying that the connectivity issue was to do with the OS, it could be something to do with the mutlitude of extra apps that got included, it could be anything. All I know is last time I had this issue, I uninstalled Vista and then reinstalled it, and it worked for a few months.

I have had other issues with Windows. I am not blind to Apple issues, I dont pay attention to the adverts and think the iPad is possibly the most useless piece of junk I have seen. I dont like you cant get Flash amoung other things.

It may sound crap but for me it works better out of the box than the other PC's I have had. I am sure you have more experience than me but I go on my personal experience, not the image Apple puts out there.

Like I said I didnt buy my Mac, this is completely unbiased point of view.

Agreed, if you like gaming you are barking up the wrong tree with a mac, but I only play games on a console.

Its not a personal attack on you, just telling my experience.

Dont worry about it sounding like an attack, ill be honest I thought mine was a bit of a horrible post... as to what you said;

I can imagine a Mac is better out of the box than your average crappy HP or whatever, they do come with bloat ware. Fortunatly building my own system I wont have that issue as what goes on is what I put on, so similar situation to a mac in that.

Vista sucks ****, I avoided it completly, but windows 7. DANG! Lovin it.

I think most issues people have with windows is poor 3rd party software. Its pretty unlikely to be a windows only issue. Which on a side note, windows 7 is great! I've had a pretty poor game fall over twice (in about 10 hours playing so I guess thats not so bad) and windows 7 cought it and just said, "it fell over, sorry it had to go". :)

I don't mind people not liking Macs really. What ****es me off is those people then calling the people that do use Macs stupid.

Mac's and PC's have their individual uses and the reason I started using one is that I used to have a small music studio. This was in 2001 when PC's weren't stable enough to be the lynch pin of a studio. You just can't have a crash when your mid take.
Mac's were more stable at multimedia applications and a lot better to work with than PC's.

There are actually reasons people buy Mac its not because we are stupid.

Aye, to be fair before XP windows was pretty poor. XP and Windows 7 are very good OS, most others are best avoided to be fair...

im sorry if you ever own a mac you wont even consider buying another windows computer again in life, i have windows on this as some of the software in uni only runs on windows, but as of next year ill not have that problem as all the computers there are getting upgraded to new iMacs :) they are well worth the money

The uni must be feeling rich...

[beabert]

We all agree on something then... vista is ****