Windows 7 on Mac

I've never owned, used a Mac before, so I know nothing about them, besides the minor basics.

However, I enjoy the physical design of Macs, especially the 11.6 inch Air.

I'd like to use the Mac with Windows 7.

Is it possible to install windows on a Mac, by just inserting the windows 7 DVD at the bios startup, like a regular PC?

Simply, I want to remove the Mac OS and install the Windows 7, is that possible?

 

No, you install it by running Bootcamp within OSX and following the instructions. You'll need a Superdrive most likely, I'm not sure how well Bootcamp does with network or USB drive installs of Windows.

Edit: Bootcamp states that you need an Optical drive attached to your computer so I'm guessing that USB and Network installs are out of the question.

 

You use the Drive Sharing feature of the MBA in order to install W7 via Bootcamp.

 

That's not correct. It requires a physical optical drive to install it via Bootcamp.

OP, you will need OS X on your system to install Windows (ignoring the uber geeks that lurk this forum with their usual complicated workarounds) as Bootcamp is a piece of software in Mac OSX. Also firmware updates to the system can't be done in Windows. Also you will lose a lot of trackpad functionality if you just want to run this as a common plain jane Windows machine. Bottom line, get a Sony Vaio if all you're looking for a stylish Windows machine. A Mac is a Mac, and what makes a Mac a Mac is OS X, not just it's fancy hardware.

 

Meh, just what I've heard. I don't use an air.
What about flash drive? I've heard you could do it that way too

 

Nope, it can only be done via external optical drive.

 

I wouldn't do that, OP. Trackpad response is very mediocre in Windows, compared to OSX. In fact, I think it's quite poor. you'll quickly become annoyed if you've been using Windows machine trackpads for a long time. It also won't give you the long battery life you might want and will run pretty loud. If you're going to use an external mouse, however, it's fine.

I think of the fact that I can boot into Windows 7 a convenience that affords me to do something I need to do temporarially. Something it can do but doesn't do as well as its native OS. Keep that in mind. You can have a better "Windows experience" while retaining a sense of style from Sony or HP.

if you're going to get a Mac, your mind needs to be open to at least seeing if OSX and Mac has the software you're looking for or need. Chances are pretty good that it does, unless you're objective is to game.

 

the primarily problem with windows on the mac is just that the apple supplied windows drivers aren't that great. it has nothing to do with windows problems. i would also steer you to a dedicated windows machine.

 

after recently installing windows 7 on my macbook pro, the trackpad went from being the star of the hardware to being the red-headed stepchild...i mean it is SERIOUSLY BAD in windows.

 

I have Windows 7 Ultimate on my Mac and use it regularly. I bought the computer just for the reason you said. Good quality hardware. It does work more efficiently in OSX, but in my experience it is more than okay in Windows. The touchpad mouse is not optimal in Windows. but works okay. Key advice: Set right click for lower corner, the 2-finger system does not work well, at least for me. Also, these problems seem to go away with an external mouse. Logitch makes a bluetooth mouse that should work well when traveling. When I can, I stay in OSX. To me the *big advantage* of OSX is that it does not appear to be subject to the inevitable slow downs you get with Windows. I once posted a thread about why Windows slows down and got many different answers. The reason is that many different things can cause slowing. OSX just does not seem to be subject to this problem. That said, I don't find OSX's external interface to be the holy grail. About even with Windows. I have Windows 7 Ultimate and they did something weird with the way files are copied, less practical then Windows XP. I don't know if this is unique to Ultimate or a problem with Windows 7 generally.

 

I'm also considering windows7 on mac because theres nothing comparable to the Macbook AIR 11" with 1.6GHZ + 4gb ram

Nothing as lightweight / powerful and thats pretty much the reason I'm considering it

Can anyone comment on trackpad performance of Windows7 on a macbook air 11" or 13"??

 

you should try parallel desktop 6. I feel the trackpad is much smoother on parallels than bootcamp.

 

There is nothing preventing a very enjoyable experience of Windows on a Mac, but Apple doesn't want you to have that. I wish they could step away from that attitude. You would think that they took their responsibility when they advertise support for Windows via Boot Camp.

I use a MacBook pro 2010, 13''. It is similar in hardware to the new MacBook Air. Shares a Core 2 Duo, and the 320M videocard. Battery life is around 6 hours. TrackPad driver is usable. Can change scrolling speed to 1 line for best result. There is also a third party driver that can be installed, think it is called TrackPad++.

However, HDD will only use IDE, not AHCI on this chipset (MCP89), since Apple prevents that for unknown reasons. Not sure if that will affect the MacBook Air since it uses flash memory instead of a HDD/SSD, but I guess the performance will be slower in Windows due to that.

I enjoy OS X a lot too. But it is just so boring to use sometimes. It's the same old things, color and interface, and nothing will really change with 10.7 Lion, I bet. Apple is really *too* careful.

 

Are you sure about IDE only? I just ran CrystalDiskMark, and it didn't seem affected:

 

joker your 4k' are VERY slow

should be about 4 and 15 respectively at minimum. what drive are you using

 

If your going to use windows, don't buy an air. Apples windows drivers are poor and windows will get less battery life on top of the already low life on the air (5 hours). If your looking for an ultra portable windows laptop the asus ul series is a.good alternative. Cheaper and gets 8-12 hours. Not as good screen tho, but that doesn't matter much as you're just going to be browsing the web and emailing on these things.

 

This is untrue. I installed Windows 7 on my 11" MBA through BootCamp with a flash drive and rEFIt ( http://refit.sourceforge.net/).

 

I was going to buy the new MacBook air but i still need to use windows like 50% of the time (couldn't find equivalent software in OS X). I was concerned about the optical drive requirement thing, so in order to avoid the hassle I went with MacBook pro 13 instead.
Had I known MacBook air can install windows7 using USB drive, i would've gotten one
oh well, quite happy with the MBP 13

It's been like that since Vista i think. I also find that most of the times i couldn't read the cd burned by Windows XP (not burned by Nero, or other 3rd party burning software).

 

If I buy Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit OEM, will it work if I try to install via Bootcamp?

 

legally an OEM license isn't supposed to be used in a virtual machine, its only for new computer builds as the primary OS, but MS doesn't have any way to actually check that though.

 

Actually what I said IS true, what you are doing is using haxies to create a disk image and this is not supported so your point is nonsense.

 

Your original comment said that it could only be done via an optical drive, and from my understanding you were not differentiating from supported or unsupported methods.

You are right, the only supported method to install BootCamp is with an optical drive. However, there are other unsupported methods that work just fine to install Windows 7 with a USB drive.

I was just trying to help, but I'm sorry my comment was nonsense to you. Maybe it will be of use to someone else who does not mind using an unsupported method.