Apple Drops Windows 7 Boot Camp Support in New Mac Pro

Well, the Windows 8 drives should still work, at least mostly, right? Just in the same way my current Mac only supports 7 but I've installed 8 just fine.

And then promptly went back to 7 when I realized how poorly 8 initially was. I have t tried 8.1 yet, I may give it a chance sometime.

Now, that's good encouragement not to use Windows at all...

Windows 7 can still be used in a VMWare or Parallels VM, so it should not be so terrible. It is nice to have the native Bootcamp performance, but VMs have gotten a lot better recently.

Asinine

Funny to see this headline when I am about to install Win 7 on my Macbook Pro Retina this week. At least it doesn't affect most of us yet. Only those rich folks and high end professionals who can actually afford a Mac Pro.

Could MS have had a part to play in this? Telling Apple to drop W7 support? Or is this solely of Apple decision to do this?

My guess is that this has something to do with Windows 8's EFI support so Apple could drop the Legacy BIOS mode.

Sounds like now it's UEFI or nothing. They must have removed the CSM module. It was kinda hacky either way.

edit: ninja'd

FelixDerKater said:

Now, that's good encouragement not to use Windows at all...

Click to expand...

Really wish we could do away with that system. Unfortunately my employer insists on using it ... so I keep it around.

blackburn said:

Sounds like now it's UEFI or nothing. They must have removed the CSM module. It was kinda hacky either way.

edit: ninja'd

Click to expand...

windows 7 doesn't support UEFI?

alent1234 said:

windows 7 doesn't support UEFI?

Click to expand...

It does, but good luck getting it to run right on uefi mode.

Edit: Due to the missing GOP driver.

Martyimac said:

The ONE good reason I was going to buy a nMP is now gone. Guess I can thank Apple for saving me $3000+.

Click to expand...

The one good reason that you were going to buy a $3,000+ Macintosh computer was so that you could run a version of Windows that is going on five years and two generations old?

Nooooooo!

I was planning to hold on to Win7 forever... This is bad news, Win 8 indeed sucks. It's better with 8.1 but still sucks...

Thats a bad move.

Corporate world is not moving to 8 yet.

this is going to put the new Mac Pro out of contention for purchase for anyone looking for Windows7. (Seriously, its almost like Apple wants the Mac Pro line to fail)

I don't get the Windows 8 hate. It's just Windows 7 with a Metro UI covering the desktop... which can easily be bypassed with a free utility: http://www.classicshell.net

After installing that ... I don't really notice much of a difference between 7 and 8... except maybe settings locations. The functionality itself is nearly the same.

Windows 8, by default, does suck though.


Having said all that ... removing Windows 7 support is beyond idiotic and makes zero sense, imo. One of the selling points is being able to dual boot OS's. Being confined to just one is ridiculous. There are third-party utilities available to allow you to boot more OS's though.

Someone please explain to me why the hate for Windows 8 / 8.1?

Missing the Start menu? Install a 3rd-party one. Done. StartIsBack, Start8, Classic Shell, etc.

Other than that, the big difference between Windows 7 and Windows 8/8.1 are the rounded windows of 7 vs squared windows of 8/8.1.

I hope Apple doesn't do the same thing for the next iMac models, as Windows 8 has serious compatibility issues with certain games. I actually had to go back from Windows 8.1 to Windows 7 again, because of the compatibility issues.

stiligFox said:

Well, the Windows 8 drives should still work, at least mostly, right? Just in the same way my current Mac only supports 7 but I've installed 8 just fine.

And then promptly went back to 7 when I realized how poorly 8 initially was. I have t tried 8.1 yet, I may give it a chance sometime.

Click to expand...

yea i was thinking the same...just because bootcamp drivers aren't going support windows 7 doesn't mean that u can't have a fully functional version of windows 7 installed...but things always work smoother when all the proper drivers are installed.

it's whatever though. The hardware in the Mac Pro is so daggone future proof that my 2008 Mac Pro should last me until Windows 7 really is obsolete.

Do that many people really use Boot Camp as opposed to virtualization? I use VirtualBox which works great and is free. I'm not a Windows power user on my Mac so maybe there's some performance difference I'm not aware of.

Nyy8 said:

Little Side note, I had the choice between Windows 7 or 8 for my Mac over the summer. I chose 7.

Click to expand...

Good choice. Windows 8 is basically Vista part 2 minus the driver and OS stability fiasco. Windows 8 is a stable OS; but it's way too "jarring". There's too much switching back and forth between the desktop UI and the "Metro" UI.

I love hearing sales people trying to sell the average Joe on Windows 8. Inevitably, they say things like, "You can choose between a tablet-like interface or the desktop interface you've always been used to." Oh, really? Try launching an app you downloaded from the Windows Store from the Desktop. It can be done; but not without jumping through several hoops. The user doesn't have a "choice" about the UI they want to use. The user is forced by the OS to constantly jump back and forth between Desktop and Metro UIs.

Windows 7 is the new Windows XP in terms of how it's perceived by businesses and consumers alike (it's "safe" because it's predictable and familiar). Windows 8 is anything but predictable and familiar. I'm really surprised Apple made this decision; but I bet they'll backtrack before the end of the year.

That's completely unfortunate. I believe Windows 7 is still more than relevant and capable as an operating system.

Xenomorph said:

The one good reason that you were going to buy a $3,000+ Macintosh computer was so that you could run a version of Windows that is going on five years and two generations old?

Click to expand...

Yep, as noted, Windows 8 sucks.

avanpelt said:

Good choice. Windows 8 is basically Vista part 2 minus the driver and OS stability fiasco. Windows 8 is a stable OS; but it's way too "jarring". There's too much switching back and forth between the desktop UI and the "Metro" UI.

Click to expand...

http://www.classicshell.net

Aragornii said:

Do that many people really use Boot Camp as opposed to virtualization? I use VirtualBox which works great and is free. I'm not a Windows power user on my Mac so maybe there's some performance difference I'm not aware of.

Click to expand...

The performance difference is quite significant, depending on the program you're running... and it's night and day if you are playing a game.

Xenomorph said:

Someone please explain to me why the hate for Windows 8 / 8.1?

Missing the Start menu? Install a 3rd-party one. Done. StartIsBack, Start8, Classic Shell, etc.

Other than that, the big difference between Windows 7 and Windows 8/8.1 are the rounded windows of 7 vs squared windows of 8/8.1.

Click to expand...

I think the issue is that windows 8 adds basically zero redeeming features while being buggier and more of a resource hog than windows 7.

Advanced age?

Don't really care, because I only boot Windows when absolutely necessary. It's a terrible experience wether it's 8 or 7, and it's just a distraction to get to a particular piece of software that I have to use natively.

Most of the time, virtualization is the answer anyway. You can boot Windows 7, XP, or a poached egg if you feel like it.