MBP as a Windows machine?

I'm a web developer and do all my development in a Windows environment. Looking at getting a MBP running bootcamp and using it primarily as a Windows machine. Please no advice I should change to OSX...can't happen at the moment.

Anyway, just wondering how the MBP running WIndows under Bootcamp would compare with say a Dell 1530? I'd really like to get the MBP to add some flexibility and style!

 

I don't see the added flexibility here...not unless you are talking about just having two PCs. The 1530 and MBP basically have the same guts.

 

If you aren't going to run OS X, then it's a completely waste to get a MacBook. Buy a Windows machine if that's what you're primarily going to be using.

 

Do a search. This topic comes up often.

It is possible use an MBP only for Windows, although an M1530 with the same specs would be substantially less expensive.

Of the people who have bought MBPs for Windows only, some are happy with it, and others were unhappy with it.

 

As a web developer, it is very handy being able to test sites under OSX. Doesn't happen all that often, but is useful.

I'm also able to get a very good deal on a MBP at the moment. 5 years interest free. Works out to around $45 per month - can't get a deal like that on any other decent laptop at the moment.

Aside from the financial issue, I'm just wondering whether WIndows will run just as well on a MBP under Bootcamp as it would on a Dell. If not, if anyone could be specific as to what issues I may face that would be great.

 

it's running natively on the MAC, meaning all the system resources are allocated to windows. OSX isnt even running. its basiclly a windows computer. however, you do lose out on some of the multi-touch features. you also lose out on some of the power-saving stuff too. such as the auto screen dimmer when you're in a dark environment.

 

45 bucks per month for 5 years? thats 2700 dollars.

a dell m1530 can be had for half of that.

at least get a new macbook pro for 1799 with a free ipod touch. i don't really see the financial benefit of doing it the way you proposed, but i guess its ultimately up to you.

issues with using a MBP exclusively as a windows machine:

1. you have to keep osx, which wastes disc space for you.
2. you need to use osx to get firmware updates.
3. cool trackpad features don't work in windows.
4. power management issues in windows, cripples battery life.
5. difficult to get windows vista 64 up and running, and extremely difficult to get windows xp 64 up. if you are using a 32 bit OS, its alright. but once you got it up, its up, so its not that bad i guess.
6. i can't think of anything else right now. but im sure there is more. oh yeah, you can get the exact same internals from a dell machine sans osx for considerably less. its not good for value if you are using it as a windows machine primarily.

 

As someone said, this comes up often. Every time most of us give the same advice- If you only want to run only Windows, then buy a windows machine. It's cheaper. In response to masterchef- we don't know if he's a student so we can't assume he can get the free iPod. You said you can get an Apple cheaper. Have you looked at the dell coupons we have on this site?

 

We're talking Australia here. Low end MBP starts at around $2600 here. The Dell goes for around $2K I think.

 

If you're doing windows programming most of the time, you will be better off with a windows laptop mainly because of the windows keyboard. Many of the shortcuts and keys are different on a mac keyboard and this may get frusttrating to you when you realize you have to hit function everytime to access one of the F keys.

 

now you are starting freaking me out!!! i'm buying a mbp next month for university(bsc computer science & engineering)...which means i'll be using vmware for programming and os x as my main o.s (surfing the net, assignments, music, chatting on msnm etc)..im also switching from windows vista which im hating evryday..now dont tell me i'm wrong

 

Moving to OS X is definitely the right move, and running Windows in VMWare/Parallels is the right way to do it.

 

hey thaanks!!that was the answer i was hoping to hear!!!!i'll also install bootcamp for some slight gaming before i start uni..i'm leaning towards the refurb one coz i've read that there's practically no difference between a new and a refurb...

 

I would have bought a refub MacBook however I was too impatient to wait for it to be shipped from Apple. I bought one from a local Mac store!

 

I reccomend you get a refurb.

 

You can run parallels under OSX to run your programs under vista/xp, like I do.

 

If you are a web developer, it would be a good idea to make sure that any code you write for an app is portable. In this case it wouldn't be a bad idea of keep OSX around to test it.

 

...which is why Apple now offers Safari for Windows.

 

Well if you limit your app to only one OS, it isn't portable, no matter how many internet browsers run it...

 

I just hope I won't have any problems running programs such as c,c++,.net etc on my windows xp through vmware.also are there dark spots I should be investigating before going for the refurb one? will I get a laptop which has been returned within the first 15 days??or refurbed means that I get somebody's laptop which died within a few months and they repaired it and sold it to me??

 

also is it safe to do some gaming from time to time on bootcamp?coz one of my neighbours just bought a hub and some of my friends are invited to come over for gaming on saturdays (approximately 3hrs of gaming)..

 

Safe? Sure. I was playing CoD4 with some friends of mine, just the other day

 

I run Visual Studio 2008 and numerous other IDE applications in Windows XP via VMWare on my Macbook. I have assigned 800MB of RAM to VMWare, and everything runs great.

A refurb could be a returned Mac, although it is usually a retired display model. Apple refurbs are covered by the standard one year AppleCare, and treated in the same way as a new Mac. Therefore, if something should be wrong with your refurb, you can simply return it within 15 days of purchase, or send it to be fixed or replaced.

 

Windows works better on windows-based hardware. Do NOT go with the mac. End of story.

 

Well, I wouldn't say it works better. It works just the same. But it also has OS X.

But yeah, if you only need windows, get a windows machine.

 

What exactly is Windows based hardware? My iMac has an Intel Core 2 Duo, ATI Radeon 2600, 3gigs of RAM from Corsair, and a Hitachi 320gig 7200rpm HD. You can get all of these on a PC.

 

I think he was being sarcastic, or maybe just passing out poor information.

 

Passing out poor information more likely...

 

If you plan on spending more than 50% of your time running Windows, you should buy a laptop that has a Windows keyboard. If you plan on spending more than 50% of your time running OS X, then buy a laptop that has a MAC keyboard.

 

I'll spend more time with os x..i'll use windows only for programming and playing games..I read on pc world laptop review section that the macbook pro was the best windows machine last year..o this proves that it's a nasty beast!!! i'll wait till the 1st week of august to buy it in case the new macbook pros start shipping with the new montenevia platforms!!!I went to the apple shop the other day and I must say that the macbook pro's casing and design is the best of all laptops i've seen to date.the build quality is awesome.it seems a superior product.the weight of this lappy is unbelievable.I could lift it easily.It was visibly smaller than any 15" lappy i've seen to date.the only downside of it was that it was quite hot when I placed my hand on the left handside near the magsafe,on the bottomside..I guess this is due to leaving it on charge one whole day.the os x was quite good to play around.the only thing which was bugging me was the wallpaper..that's the first thing i'll change with my lappy..being used to the 3.9kg dell vostro 1700,the macbook pro was like a feather in my large hands!!! I dnt regret chosing it as my next lappy.the vostro 1700 was too big to carry around..I will install office on osx so that i'll able to do my assignments on os x..Im fed up with windows,having to format every 3 months,slow machine due to spywares,viruses,firewall,Antiviruses..im looking forward to enjoy my experience with my macbook pro and I certainly hope it'll last me a good 3-4 years!!!

 

I'm in the same situation.. I'm considering buying a macbook pro for windows developement mainly (VS2005/SQL Server 2005/ etc.) ..I'm not a mac guy but want to try osx.. and if the macbook pro could run Windows xp the same a generic dell laptop, I would rather get the mac book and get 2 systems for the price of 1

So the only real reason not to buy a macbook pro for running Windows Xp is because of the keyboard layout? I would be using a usb mouse 99% of the time.. and relearning a few shortcuts keys isnt really a big deal IMO. I would also be connected to a power cable 99% so the battery related issues are not a big deal either.. Basically I want to know if there is any difference running windows xp in a macbook pro than on a generic Dell laptop.. ( are there any driver issues/ can you change the brightness of the lcd in windows/etc. )

 

lol i think its the market share % apple doesnt have.

 

You mean the marketshare where Dell and Hp compete by selling dirt cheap computers with slim to none profit margins? Apple has no interest in doing that.

 

I'm a student currently studying Web Development and C++ Progamming. Bought a Macbook Pro even though I run Windows 99% of the time (although I'm actually running in Leopard now hehe), mainly due to the fact that all the other so-called 'Windows laptops' cost nearly as much as the MBP here in Singapore. Heck, the Asus G1S costs about $200 more.

So, pay about $100 to $200 more over a XPS M1530 or a F8Sn and you get a Macbook Pro which is of superior quality, and also slimmer. My school provides Windows for us anyway. There's also practically no difference between a Windows keyboard and my Macbook Pro keyboard, other than the Fn, Ctrl, Alt & Function buttons being swapped all around.

Now the only thing that bugs me is just a handful of problems running in Windows, possibly due to the drivers. Things like how my Macbook feels like randomly disconnecting from the network under Windows, how it can't receive files through Bluetooth under XP, and how there's a 25% chance of it dying when trying to Sleep or Hibernate.

So, I would actually agree with that statement someone else made about "Windows runs better on Windows-based hardware". If you willing to pay the extra costs, and willing to put up with a little bit of inconvenience (though I must say I almost felt like smashing this machine twice because of stupid network problems), then there's nothing wrong with using it as a Windows machine. You paid for it anyway.

 

thanks Cathy thats very helpful info.. I wonder though if those problems are common with XP macbooks or could it be software related.. are you sure you have the newest drivers, etc? do you disconnect from certain wireless networks?

 

Since being in the same boat back in Feb and going with the MBP, I've encountered ZERO issues running XP Pro 32. Most pleasurable machine I've had the experience of using IMO, still waiting to find something to complain about.

 

Yes the MBP is better designed hardware than most other pc makers. So if you can get buy with the differnet keyboard layout and can afford it, it is an excellent notebook. I'm impressed how it matches the performance of other machines but still remains less than an inch thick at all parts.

 

Honestly, even if I were to just run windows 99% of the time, my next laptop would be (and will be) a mac, simply because I'm impressed with the build quality after having seen them in person.

 

i had occasional network issues also before the 2.1 driver set. works fine now with xp sp3. never had bluetooth issues, but i didn't use bluetooth for file transfer, just for a wireless keyboard.

hibernation and most of the power saving features aren't very effective at the moment. that can be pretty important in a laptop, but I use windows exclusively for gaming, so I don't end up using windows power saving features anyway.

 

Wow there is a loot of sensitive mac people here =) seems like we're stepping on a lot of toes because we want to run Windows on Mac =). Let me explain something that has already been said and I will say it again, there is no such thing as "Mac hardware", it's the same, ram, processors, graphics card, etc it's crossplatform, they use the same hardware, period.

This will sound weird, but the reason that there is no 'reason' to buy a... let's say dell to run windows, is dell machines break apart, they have poor build quality... if you can afford it throw out the extra bucks and get the MBP, it's more stable, they use better components and so on, plus if you WANT to you have the option to try OS X, plus you get a sweet design.

There is absolutely no reason why you should not buy a mac, unless it bugs you that it doesn't have a windows key, you'll get used to using the apple ones anyway... I mean come on mac people you should appreciate that apple is taking over more of the market this way, why the hating? =D eat a chill pill.

 

Buying a Mac specifically to run ONLY Windows on it, is like buying a High-End vehicle and putting a Ford Pinto engine in it. It'll work, but not as well as the original engine.

Then there are going to be the people running Windows on their Mac (which doesn't have the same quality of Windows drivers that other machines do) and will complain about the experience. Other people will hear this and not understand why someone is complaining about a Mac and it therefore taints their impression of Apple. Put Windows on a Mac and it no longer "Just Works" like it would with OS X.....it "JUST" works.

Even before I bought my MB, I never understood why people would buy a Mac to run Windows on it. Yesterday, I officially dumped my Boot Camp installation of Windows off my MB because of the numerous frustrations involved with running it and the fact I'm finding other software to replace the Windows versions I've been using until now.

There is certainly a difference between Windows hardware and Mac hardware. Only one is capable of running OS X without any modification. Even though they share the same components, there is still a difference between the two.

 

thanks for clearing things up for us.. lol

 

Any time! What other world problems would you like me to solve?

 

As was said above... If you want to do windows stuff... buy a dell or the like. Mac's are lovely machines (and I like mine) but they work best running mac OS despite what the blurb says.

I make games for a living and use several pc only 3d packages at work. Now... they... sort of run when dual booting windows on my laptop - but to be honest they'd run a lot better on an xps or a similar machine. If there's specific windows based stuff you really want to use your machine for (such as the example above, or, say, you're a die hard Age of Conan convert) you're better off sticking with a PC.

 

And by "PC" you mean "Machine specifically designed to run Microsoft Windows"

 

I think I disagree with a lot of what has been said here. I have a 2.4GHz Penryn MBP with 4Gb RAM, this is my first Mac and I switched in February this year.

Contrary to what someone said earlier you do not have to keep OSX on the machine, I had mine runnig with Windows Server 2008 x64 only and it ran just fine although I have now gone back to dual boot with Bootcamp.
I would go further and say that you can have even fewer problems with drivers than a Windows machine like a Dell because Apple provide you with a disc with all the drivers for all the hardware already on it - including 64 bit versions for Vista/Windows Svr 2008!

This is waaaay better than most other laptop manufacturers, you try finding decent 64 bit drivers for laptop hardware in other laptops and you will see what I mean,.

I do a lot of MS based development, Visual Studio 2008, a lot of work with server s/w like SQL Server and SharePoint. I do a lot of the work inside Virtual machines which I can share between VMWare Fusion on the Mac and VMWare workstation/player in Windows. I run boot camp with OSX and Windows Server 2008 for the times when I want all 4GB in a single dev environment rather than a VM.

When at home not doing work I tend to use OSX because it is nicer than Windows, for work I switch between OSX running Fusion and native Windows depending on what I am doing.

The only slight problems I have had with my MBP has been the keyboard, you have to learn a couple of funky shortcuts if using Windows VMs. Also the trackpad and keyboard shortcuts don't work exactly the same way in Bootcamp Windows as they do in OSX which can be slightly frustrating (hoping Apple fix this as a few people are complaining)

Overall I love my Mac, the hardware is fantastic, loevly screen, excellent build quailty. OSX just works for when I am at home, organising photos, using iTunes etc.

Apart from the keyboard my experience of running Windows on a MBP is better than running it on several other makes of laptop I have encountered in the past.

 

imo the fact of the matter is that mediocre gamers are looking for a more portable solution to non intensive gaming, thus mbp is a solid choice and running into windows would be inevitable. If apple introduced a gaming notebook, windows might not be neccessary.

btw someone mentioned the quality of drivers for windows on the mac wasnt great, did they mean gpu-wise or that the drivers might be faulty?

 

Nice post...very helpful.

Do the keyboard issues still exist if you use a USB Windows keyboard plugged in?

And the other thing I am interested in - does extended desktop work OK under Bootcamp when another monitor is plugged in?

 

What a shame mixing the good with the awful.

 

The build quality is one thing, but it is the wonders of running OS X that makes the Mac a complete experience.