Macbook Pro and Vista (bootcamp questions)

ok. so i'm thinking about getting a macbook pro and loading up a copy of windows vista using bootcamp. does that mean all the feature of the mac will work in windows mode (backlit keyboard, hotkeys, multi-touch)??

another question too, is it possible to put vista on there, and only vista? (there's limited HD space, why waste it all with two OS's?

does any1 have any experience with boot camp, and how does it work out for you?

 

Vista works just fine for me (I recently upgraded from XP) (through bootcamp). I can tell you that the back lit keyboard works, hotkeys (you mean for volume and brightness? Yeah they work as well), not sure about the multi-touch trackpad. I mean the basic things, like 2 finger scroll and 2 fingers on the pad+ click = right click, that works too. I'm not sure about other gestures.

You can't just have Vista, because it needs to boot off bootcamp which is included in Leopard. So you can't just get rid of the Leopard partition.
What you CAN do is just leave a minimum amount of space for Leopard, install Vista, and just use Vista.

But then again, you're getting a Mac to use Vista on it? Is this because you are dependent on Windows software, or just because you like the Macbook Pro, but don't want to switch OSes?

Anyways, give OS X a chance, I'm sure you'll love it if you don't need Windows for work and such, and can do without software that's not around for Macs. (I just have windows for the couple of games I like to play from time to time)

Of course there's Office and Photoshop and all that, Logic and Reason for audio work, etc.

Maybe you want to tell us more about how you wanna use the Mac?

Cheers!

 

you sound like your in the same boat as me. i play a few games, and windows is required to run them. (a few are mac compatible, but i'm not going to buy mac copies of games. although i did see COD4 for mac.) i just figure that if i need windows to run a few games, why not just have full windows.

this is random too, but MS office 07 looks alot better on vista than the MS office 08 for the mac.

another question. you can have it set to automatically boot into windows right?

 

Well then you can do as I do. Have OS X for great stability and reliability in your work (I do audio work) and virus-free web and all the other great things about it like no crashing, no BSOD, and all that crap

And then when you feel the need just boot into Windows and play the games.

And yes, you can have it automatically boot into Windows...

edit: as for Office. I haven't used or even seen Office 08 for Mac, but it's supposed to be really good as far as I've read around forums... Don't quote me on that one though...

edit2: Oh did I mention Vista sucks at power-plans? You'll get LOADS more battery life in OS X!

 

If you're only going to be using windows to run games, no reason to load vista...just put an xp partition on it and will boot quickly and be compatible with all games.

 

good point. thats debatable. i like vista alot, however to save space and have the functionality... that XP might be a good idea.
and we are sure u cant just wipe that drive and put vista (or XP) solely on the MBP?

 

Yeah, you can't just wipe the drive and put Windows on it..

 

vista is better but the multimedia in microsoft is for kids that love lags and slowing down machine when trying to multimedia.

Mac is the answer for me I love editing photos and making movies. Micrsoft (which i have used for the past 25 years) cant touch Apple Mac with this one. No comparison.

I have been converted a born again Machristian.

 

has any1 ever heard of this or ever used it? isnt this the same as WINE for linux?
http://www.codeweavers.com/products/cxmac/

 

It's a version of WINE that has been ported to work on OS X. Its use in games is spotty at best. Any OpenGL-based Windows game will have less trouble than one that uses DirectX. Also, older titles will (obviously) work better than newer releases. I tried playing Half-Life 2 and Portal using Crossover, and it wasn't pretty. It was barely playable at 1024x768 with low/medium details, and there were several graphical and rendering errors. Using Boot Camp to run Windows natively means the exact same game can be played at 1440x900, maximum details with anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering on a MBP. If you want to game, even casually, on a Mac, use Boot Camp.

 

I think it is. But it doesn't run DX games as fast as they would be in windows. I've tried it with Linux and Source games lag terribly.

 

really? cause in this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCd5CQB914w&feature=PlayList&p=93448EC4401BE996&index=1
they claim that it's native speed. vmware and parralels are not.

 

Ive heard some games have problemsrunning in XP through bootcamp, or that they dont run as fast. Anyone know about this?

 

I believe the drivers that are included with boot camp for Windows XP aren't tweaked for high performance. But, there is a website that has tweaked drivers for it that you can download: http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/. I haven't tried them, since the games I play aren't demanding by any means.

 

yea ive used them before. that's an interesting idea. forgot that nvidia doesnt support their mobile GPU's. some day that will all change.

 

They may not run as fast because the 8600M in the MBP is clocked lower than in comparable systems. But compatibility is not a problem. XP through Boot Camp runs exactly the same as a native Windows machine. With Boot Camp, the MBP can run any Windows application you throw at it.

 

i like the idea of boot camp, but the real downfall is the hard drive space.
and is it a pain to boot then reboot into XP or OSX? also will i find myself using windows more than OSX? it defeats the purpose of it really doesnt it.

 

I am in engineering, and I thought that I would be using Windows more than Leopard on my macbook pro. Than I started using Leopard after a while and it really is a lot better. Now I use Leopard exclusively, I only go into Windows to play a little Guild Wars and to use Autocad. Its really easy to reboot into either OS, you just hold down a button when you start the laptop and it will have a choice of OS for you to boot up.

 

i'm now thinking that crossover might be the best option to get all my steam games. COD4 is for the mac, as is WoW, so then i'd just need steam (i might lose BF2.) then i wouldnt need to install a windows partition?
any1 have much luck with this crossover stuff? or is it a pretty big gamble?