Hey im about to install windows on my macbook via bootcamp. However, i will use the same partition for parallels, which means that my ram is goign to be damaged. I wanted to know which os did u recomment me to install. Does windows 7 hog more cpu and ram than vista?
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Should I install Window 7 or Windows XP or Windows Vista?
- Thread starter TheAnoyingApple
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js81
macrumors 65816
OK here's my take:
If you have a new (2009 or 2010 model) Macbook or MBP, go 7. However, driver support isn't great on the older ones - maybe it's improved? I had issued with the RC on my wife's white Macbook (early 2008).
Now, I KNOW that I'll hear a lot of crap for what I'm about to say, but... I would pick Vista over XP on a Mac. I have copies of both XP and Vista (but not 7), and Vista runs FAR BETTER on my 13" MBP (the brand new 2010 model) than XP. Can't really explain it, and believe me, it pains me to say it, but, at least for my MBP, I'd pick Vista over XP.
However, if you're having to buy a new copy, don't get anything but 7. 🙂
It just seems like driver compatibility with Vista is better...
If you have a new (2009 or 2010 model) Macbook or MBP, go 7. However, driver support isn't great on the older ones - maybe it's improved? I had issued with the RC on my wife's white Macbook (early 2008).
Now, I KNOW that I'll hear a lot of crap for what I'm about to say, but... I would pick Vista over XP on a Mac. I have copies of both XP and Vista (but not 7), and Vista runs FAR BETTER on my 13" MBP (the brand new 2010 model) than XP. Can't really explain it, and believe me, it pains me to say it, but, at least for my MBP, I'd pick Vista over XP.
However, if you're having to buy a new copy, don't get anything but 7. 🙂
It just seems like driver compatibility with Vista is better...
Definitely go 7. Vista isn't bad, but the interface is definitely less intuitive than 7's. Don't use XP unless you enjoy horrendous startup times, lots of crashes, poor hardware support, and other great relics of the past.
Most of the things that make people hate Windows are prevalent in XP and much much much less so in Vista or 7. Id say 7 > Vista > XP.
I have XP Performance edition* under parallels. Takes less than 300MB of space. Wouldn't touch Vista (again) with a 7-foot pole. Have no experience with 7. After all, 7 wasn't my idea.
*Performance edition is a user-modified version of XP without all the boatware and tuned for better performance. I have a copy of XP and used my own serial number, just in case you're watching, big brotha.
*Performance edition is a user-modified version of XP without all the boatware and tuned for better performance. I have a copy of XP and used my own serial number, just in case you're watching, big brotha.
Windows 7 for sure. If not, Vista. Vista, despite all of the haters (who were, for the most part, anti-Vista because they tried it near release, likely on a computer that wasn't designed to handle it, and aren't willing to try it again), it is actually a pretty solid operating system. But, 7 blows it out of the water.
XP is an antique.
XP is an antique.
I had Windows 2000 then got a new computer with Windows ME. Plagued by such nonsense I waited for Windows XP and bought a Pro license for pretty cheap through edu as soon as it was released. Been using that license on every machine I've had for years. Tried Vista, hated every second of it, then moved up to Win 7 and havn't looked back since.
So basically it comes down to cost. Whichever one you can get cheaper (Win 7 or XP wins).
So basically it comes down to cost. Whichever one you can get cheaper (Win 7 or XP wins).
gwsat
macrumors 68000
I used XP from its release in 2001 until last February, when I upgraded to Windows 7. Windows 7 is, at long last, a worthy upgrade from XP. I am running VMware Fusion and Windows 7 in Unity mode on my MBP and love it. Be warned, though, that the combination of Win 7, Fusion in Unity mode, and having several Windows open on the OS X desktop is a memory hog. I upgraded my RAM to 6Gb when I shifted to Win 7. I have assigned 3Gb of my RAM and one processor core to the Fusion virtual machine and everything works well This is a setup I recommend highly but only if you have plenty of RAM.