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have to buy new computer today or tomorrow

C

cshoemake

macrumors newbie
Original poster
I just got a new job, and i have to provide my own laptop. i have a powerbook 12" 1.5ghz g4 currently. however, the new job requires windows and windows software (i.e. - programs only designed for windows, etc...). so, my question to you, does a macbook run windows effectively enough to run most if not all types of windows software? i know i'll need to install xp or vista as well, i just want to make sure that the macbook will be efficient in this type of windows environment. any help, advice, or suggestions would be much appreciated. i just can't picture having to buy a pc. bleh.

Thanks!
 
If you run of Parrallels you should be fine. Apple notes that you should not use Boot camp for work applications as it is still in its beta stage.
 
As long as you don't have to play games for work, you'll be 100% fine...

On a side note, what kinda company makes their employees provide his or her own computer!?
 
mgargan1 said:
As long as you don't have to play games for work, you'll be 100% fine...

On a side note, what kinda company makes their employees provide his or her own computer!?
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i'll be an independent contractor for an oil and gas company. fun stuff. 😉

thanks for the advice.
 
What Software?

cshoemake said:
i'll be an independent contractor for an oil and gas company. fun stuff. 😉

thanks for the advice.
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Just a question what kind of software you you have to run? I have seen programs like CAD 2005 LT and other virtual tools running on a macbook and it is not fun. If this is what you need to run you may want to look at a refurb MacBook Pro. Just my opinion.

JohnMC
 
JohnMC said:
Just a question what kind of software you you have to run? I have seen programs like CAD 2005 LT and other virtual tools running on a macbook and it is not fun. If this is what you need to run you may want to look at a refurb MacBook Pro. Just my opinion.

JohnMC
Click to expand...

I am able to run Pro Engineer just fine on my macbook and thats a cad program.....
 
JohnMC said:
...like CAD 2005 LT and other virtual tools ...
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Clevin, Im only asking about more "open" programs and not private "company only" stuff.

The only reason I'm saying this is my college cousin has to run CAD 2005 LT and it is much slower than my MacBook Pro.

I may be way off the mark.

JohnMC
 
mattscott306 said:
If you run of Parrallels you should be fine. Apple notes that you should not use Boot camp for work applications as it is still in its beta stage.
Click to expand...

Honestly, if WinXP runs well now, and runs well 2 months from now, it'll continue to work fine (viruses and malware not factored in).

Just use it. It's almost not a beta anymore since Apple is about to start charging $30 for it.
 
i'll be using it to run office (probably 07), and also to run some adobe acrobat (full version), and a program called deed plotter (windows only). bleh. if it wasn't for the deed plotter program, i'd be fine. question, if i run parallels, will preview on osx run equivalent to adobe acrobat on windows? what does the full version do that reader does not?

Thanks for all the great advice!
 
also, one last question, when buying windows, should i go for XP pro, or vista home premium?

thanks.
 
cshoemake said:
also, one last question, when buying windows, should i go for XP pro, or vista home premium?

thanks.
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I would go XP Pro. Hope Premium is too new and probably still full of bugs. Most enterprises won't be upgrading for a long time.. I know my univ is waiting almost a year before rolling it out.

Plus, you might be able to find a cheeper price on XP Pro
 
thejadedmonkey said:
I would go XP Pro. Hope Premium is too new and probably still full of bugs. Most enterprises won't be upgrading for a long time.. I know my univ is waiting almost a year before rolling it out.

Plus, you might be able to find a cheeper price on XP Pro
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I second that vote for XP proffestional. I have vista buisness on one machine here at work , mine an its ok but our corp version of trend micro antivirus / spyware does not have vista support yet an I have seen some issues with printer drivers. I do not plan to roll it out here for 6 to 8 months if not more.


jack
 
BTW, I wouldn't run Parallels - I'd run Bootcamp. That's how you'll get the best performance out of Windows on your mac.

I tried Parallels on all of my mac laptops (white macbook w/ 1.25GB RAM, blackbook w/ 2GB RAM, and this MBP), and all of them were subpar.

I mean, try both out if you want, but from experience, I don't think Parallels performs to expectations, at least not for me, and not compared to bootcamp.

In bootcamp, though, windows will fly!
 
zero2dash said:
AFAIK non-Intel Macs won't run Bootcamp; Bootcamp requires an Intel cpu.

I don't know about Parallels requiring Intel or not.
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His whole post was about "have to buy new computer today or tomorrow" and he wants to know if he can buy a Mac that will run Windows well. The answer is yes.
 
thank you all so much for your input. i'm probably going to pull the trigger tonight. it'll be a battle b/w the refurbished and brand new black macbook core 2 duo. (the white just doesn't look as "professional" as I'd like). i'll be upgrading the ram to 2 gigs, so it might be best to order the new one as they'll do it right away. the one problem w/ the way the refurb ships is that it's two dimms of 512, instead of a 1 gig. bleh. thanks again.
 
follow up

well, thanks to everyone for their advice. i bought the black MB today. so far, so good. tomorrow is the windows install. i'll keep you updated. i ended up buying from an apple store, b/c i feared the laptop wouldn't be delivered in time. so, i still need to throw some ram in here. is crucial my best bet? i'll pay a bit of a premium for reliability. also, since moving from the 12" PB (1.5 ghz), I've noticed the screen is a bit more washed out on the MB. anyone know where i could download a good MB display profile?

thanks again!
 
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