running windows on a mac

Hi,

I'm looking to buy a new mac for the office, and was wondering how well they play with windows. in particular windows 7. MacOS will be the OS used 90% of the time, but i need it to run windows well (microphone, webcam etc need to work) because there are a few windows applications that we still need to use from time to time.

thanks in advance

 

I've heard it runs fine, but the computer will run hotter and the battery life is diminished.

 

yea, i heard about the battery life. not too much of a problem since it'll be used on a desk all the time anyway.

anybody who actually owns one and uses win 7 regularly care to weigh in?

 

It will run Windows 7, with the exception of your components running hotter than in OS X. Once you get Windows 7 running, just make sure to run the Boot Camp setup from the OS X DVD to install all the drivers. If the heat concerns you, give this app a try: Input Remapper 1.0.04 Release - InsanelyMac Forum.
You can adjust the fan settings and other settings with it. Hope this helps.

 

so i take it the issues when it was in beta like the camera not working have all been sorted out?

cheers

 

I haven't had any issues with the built-in iSight when in Windows; although, I can't speak for all the Mac models, just the one I have... But, as far as I know, the newest Boot Camp drivers (3.1) have support for Windows 7. If the latest Boot Camp iSight drivers don't work for you, I believe there are drivers for it somewhere on the net.

 

only run Windows native boot if you really have to... otherwise its much more convenient to just run it in a virtual machine and not have to reboot... or not use Windows at all if you can get your programs you need to work right with Wine or Crossover.

 

why do you say that? have u had any problems dual booting with windows?

 

I use Windows 7 x64 on my MacBook Pro 17" regularly.

I do not notice any obvious heat issues. My MBP does not get hot to the touch, even after several hours in Windows.

Everything works. iSight works without issue. The trackpad works, but is very touchy and a little frustrating to use over a long period of time. I can attribute this to the basic driver Apple provided.

 

there will be no major problem while running windows , just low battery life and more heat , you can buy a Bluetooth PC mouse so you can use it while gaming , normal trackpad can do basic stuff , but don't expect it to handle gaming anyway

where do u live , maybe cause u r living in a cold country , my legs get toasted if i play games on windows using my MBP , temperatures in my country can hit 40C so my MBP hits 90-100C easily XD

 

i think based on what i've read here and the fact i dont really need it to be portable i'll probably go with the new iMac

not as convenient as a laptop but i get a bigger screen i suppose

 

Well for the iMac, I have Windows 7 x64 on mine and works wonderfully (through BootCamp). No issues whatsoever. In fact when I'm on the windows side, only my Apple keyboard and the Apple logo on my iMac are the dead giveaways that I'm running windows on a mac. Seriously, it runs great.

 

are the graphics drivers ok? im wondering if its worth upgrading the graphics card from the base. if it dosent play games well then its no point me doing so. i know its for the office, but a little after work gaming dosent hurt

 

the iMacs use a MOBILE GPU, so use the rankings from laptops and not desktops on the iMac, drivers are fine just get them from ATI or Nvidia and not the apple supplied ones

 

I run Windows 7 virtual on Parallels. It's seamless.

 

I will be remarking based on the performance of my MBP 13", so I apologize beforehand to anyone who believes it will be redundant.

With the Bootcamp 3.1 installed, I've not noticed many of the problems that people are noting here. Just to note, I have disabled many unnecessary processes within Windows 7 to optimize speed and battery life. I have also under-volted the CPU, which gives cooler temperature readings and (possibly more battery life).

My temperatures at idle are around 35 degrees Celsius for the CPU and 48 degrees Celsius for the GPU. The HDD temperature is at 35 degrees Celsius, set to turn off after 5 minutes of idling. These are all with ambient temperatures of around 78 degrees Fahrenheit (not Celsius). The temperatures of the encasing are 'luke-warm'- it feels mildly warm to the touch. The bottom is roughly the same, and the fan speed is at 2800 rpm. When browsing the internet or doing other casual tasks, temperatures will increase a couple (1-3 degrees Celsius) degrees. I haven't played too many games, but running CS 1.6 causes temperatures to rise to ~48 for the CPU and ~60 for the GPU. CS 1.6 isn't exactly the toughest game around to run, but I'm not exactly an avid gamer so I can't exactly help you in this area.

I have yet to do a complete run-down of the battery, but basing it off of 50% (taking the time it takes to reach 50% from 100% and doubling it), I can achieve six hour and thirty minutes with light browsing (only 20 minutes of video playing) and around ten minutes of downloads. I'm working to bump this up to over seven hours once I research better options for battery saving. This was tested without the back-lit keyboard functioning and with brightness levels 5 notches above minimum (Wi-fi on and Bluetooth off). I've yet to evaluate battery life with gaming, but it's going to suck- so why try.

I can remark however, that:

Wireless performance does seem faster on OS X - I get 1.8 MB/s compared to 1.3 MB/s on Windows 7. That's MegaBYTES and not bits. Huge difference. The network also drops once every couple of hours, but it's as simple as re-connecting to fix it.

Dragging is lame on Windows 7. On some formats, it doesn't work. Which is really lame and frustrating. The track-pad quality is off across the board compared to OS X. I can't drag on the slider to my right (for the typing box thing), it instead right-clicks lmfao.

If you know how to under-volt, it'll run cooler on Windows 7 than in OS X. Of course it should be noted that the i-series CPU's cannot be under-volted.

EDIT: I should also note that prior to any optimizations, the temperatures I was getting on Windows 7 were nearly identical (only 1-3 degrees Celsius higher), with only a slightly higher voltage setting compared to those in OS X. However, prior to the optimizations, battery life was pretty iffy (looking at two hours and thirty minutes). It could also be due to the fact that I hadn't calibrated my battery then, though.

EDIT 2: On another hand, when I'm using it for notes during class with Wi-Fi off, MSN/AIM off, my anti-virus off, and without constantly browsing the web, I think I am able to achieve 7 1/2 to 8 hours of use, which is exceptional.

EDIT 3: The battery estimates are total crud though. I was getting an estimate of 3 hours at 100%, 5 hours at 90%, 1 hour at 80%, and 4 hours at 70%.

 

wow nice post celibate. i think you've helped me make up my mind that an iMac would be a better buy than a MacBook Pro. I dont need the mobility that badly and would be nice to have a 27" screen.

walshman: can you tell me more about how you're running win7? the only VM i've ever really used is the winXP VM on win7 pro

 

Sent you a PM, afhstingray!

 

I had Windows 7 beta going for a while, seemed to run fine for the time I used it.

 

so the battery will be the problem if i'll change my OS into windows is it right...'coz im planning to change my OS..urgg!! sorry for my ignorance..

 

"Problem?" I think that's an overstatement.

The general consensus is that the amount of time on a given full charge may be less with Windows than with OS X. How much shorter? If I use OS X for five hours on a charge, will Windows run for 9 seconds? Will the battery spontaneously deplete and catch fire, imploding and tearing the fabric of the universe? No, I don't believe so. The time may be less. A little less. Minutes? An hour? I guess it depends on usage.

 

That depends what you're doing. If you're going to stretch for that 10 hours one can achieve on OS X, then you can get around 7 for Windows 7, which is fair (figures taken from my own experience). Obviously if you're doing fairly heavy work than the figures will heavily fluctuate, but the battery life in Windows 7 is fair.

 

ok guys, i'm again undecided. i pretty much settled on the desktop iMac for the reasons i mentioned and also i figured its gonna be less prone to abuse than a laptop (drops, spills, employees taking it home and using it for personal stuff)

but i just checked the pricing on apple.com uk and the pricing here in the UK is ridiculous! For example the core i5 27" model is 600 pounds more expensive than an identical spec if i were to buy in singapore.

so i have 2 questions

1) If i buy it in singapore and fly it over, will the box survive being checked into the aircraft cargo?

2) Is there an alternative site/vendor in the UK that sells iMacs cheaper than the official apple site?

I really want to get a quadcore, but the price is just out of my budget. The core i3 27" imac is 200 pounds more expensive than singapore, which is a bit more acceptable, or, i'll have to go back to considering a 17" MBP

Thanks in advance for any help

 

If you're going to run Windows as your primary OS, for the love of all things furry, buy a proper Windows machine!

 

oh- one more thing, shipping one over wont affect my warranty will it?