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Opinions and/or experiences of Windows on Macs

maflynn

maflynn

macrumors Haswell
Original poster
May 3, 2009
74,364
44,619
We've had many years of being able to run windows on Macs - a good thing imo.

I've run windows xp, 7 and now 8.1. In almost every case, I've run into driver issues, and various other compatibility problems that I've never had (or have) with traditional "PCs" My latest go around was due to Broadcom wireless drivers (exacerbated by a bad router).

Another potential minefield is upgrading to a newer version. I think we have a choice, wait for apple to update the drivers in bootcamp or search the net for them - both options can be frustratingly slow.

So that got me thinking about how good/bad windows is on Macs. What are people's experiences with windows on Macs (not just one specific version but as a whole)?

It just seems to me that there are just little (and sometimes not so little) annoyances that occurs because I have a Mac. Another example. Because I have a rMBP and was connecting to the net using the thunderbolt ethernet dongle. Windows was having issues with that and wouldn't sleep (it didn't even give me that option). A quick search found that windows was unable to handle the driver and going wireless fixes the problem.
 
Happy BootCamper here!

So that got me thinking about how good/bad windows is on Macs. What are people's experiences with windows on Macs (not just one specific version but as a whole)?
Click to expand...

My very first BootCamp experience ever started early 2013 with Windows 8 Pro x64 on my MP 3.1 and I must say, it has been always a pleasure to work with it coming from my last Windows Vista 'hell' on a Asus Laptop. It runs very smooth and stable, now even more because I upgraded to a MP 5.1 2012 and SSD mounted on a Velocity DUO X2. Wow, very happy with this setup and very fast and snappy.

Regarding the drivers I have never had troubleshooters using any hardware in and/or attached to my MP. One of the very few things that I found annoying was the NTFS for Mac and HFS+ for Windows thingy. I've tried several software solutions for both the Mac and Windows, but they gave me some headaches with incompatibly problems with other software.

Despite some minor issues as described I'm a very happy BootCamper and I feel, that with OS X and Windows on my MP 5.1 I've landed in computers 'heaven' and can make use of best of both worlds!

When Apple introduced the MP 5.1 2012 they should have upgraded it to USB 3.0 and SATA-III, so the Mac could have had more power to make full use of state-of-the-art additional hardware in and/or attached to it.

Overall I give my Windows Experience Index (WEI) on the Mac a 8/10!

~ Cheers and have a great Tweakend! ;)
 
I've generally be satisfied, but I've always ran into issues, ranging from annoyances to some issues that are a major headache. I've always found work arounds and solutions.

I just needed to rant a bit, but I still feel like there is a level of incompatibly with Macs for some reason.
 
I've had a good experience over all using BootCamp. I've run Windows XP and Windows 7 in it. I recall only once I had a driver issue with something (don't remember what) but I downloaded the latest BootCamp drivers and it fixed it.

I'm thinking about buying Windows 8.1 for use in BootCamp just so I can try and get used to it. I've been avoiding it all along so far because of that Metro interface.
 
maflynn said:
I've generally be satisfied, but I've always ran into issues, ranging from annoyances to some issues that are a major headache. I've always found work arounds and solutions.

I just needed to rant a bit, but I still feel like there is a level of incompatibly with Macs for some reason.
Click to expand...

Same here but I've gotten used to it and actually have a collection of custom drivers and fixes for every Mac that I have Windows on.

I mean hell one of my MacBooks is so bad with the drivers that I have to use the original audio driver on my Leopard DVD to get the sound to work 'correctly'. :rolleyes:
 
Wouldn't be better to use VMware/Parallels and let the VM worry about the drivers?
 
Just boot into desktop with Windows 8? Yes, you can!

SandboxGeneral said:
I'm thinking about buying Windows 8.1 for use in BootCamp just so I can try and get used to it. I've been avoiding it all along so far because of that Metro interface.
Click to expand...

I tweaked my Windows 8 a bit and so I never have to boot into Metro but straight into the desktop and I also have added a Windows 8 'Start' button app. Really love the look and snappiness of the POKKI app.

ScreenCap%202014-06-01%20at%2015.35.40.jpg


how-to-get-the-start-menu-back-in-windows-8 by CNET

~ Cheers

----------
magnumpi said:
Wouldn't be better to use VMware/Parallels and let the VM worry about the drivers?
Click to expand...

Unless you need native use of your GPU with your games and/or applications. AFAIK VMware uses it's own Accelerated 3D Graphics that supports DirectX 9.0EX with Aero and OpenCL 2.1. Never tried Parallels, so I don't know about their state of using the native GPU capabilities.

~ Cheers
 
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For some reason, many of my Macs running windows over the years always had sleep issues. They just didn't want to go into sleep mode.

As I mentioned, the issue have been mostly minor with the exception of my latest run-in but a driver provided by Quad5Ny and replacing my router fixed the issue and I'm achieving the level of performance as I should
 
BDM STUDIOS NL said:
I tweaked my Windows 8 a bit and so I never have to boot into Metro but straight into the desktop and I also have added a Windows 8 'Start' button app.
Click to expand...

When/if I get Windows 8, I will certainly be looking for how to do that!

maflynn said:
For some reason, many of my Macs running windows over the years always had sleep issues. They just didn't want to go into sleep mode.
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I never, ever, use sleep on Windows. That goes for BootCamp and a regular PC. I either shut it off or leave it on - but never sleep. I've never had good luck with that on regular PC's regarding Windows. Now the Mac's I put them to sleep always.
 
I don't shut my computers down, and I prefer them to go into sleep mode after a few hours of inactivity. Within OSX this works well enough. With Windows on a Mac its always been problematic for some reason. I'm good with it right now, going wireless fixed that issue, but it highlights the unique nature Macs seem to posses running windows.
 
maflynn said:
I don't shut my computers down, and I prefer them to go into sleep mode after a few hours of inactivity. Within OSX this works well enough. With Windows on a Mac its always been problematic for some reason. I'm good with it right now, going wireless fixed that issue, but it highlights the unique nature Macs seem to posses running windows.
Click to expand...

It's not just Windows on the Mac that has a problem with sleep, Windows on PC's have issues with sleep a lot of the time. It's not unique to BootCamp.
 
SandboxGeneral said:
It's not just Windows on the Mac that has a problem with sleep, Windows on PC's have issues with sleep a lot of the time. It's not unique to BootCamp.
Click to expand...

Aside from my work computer, I haven't owned a PC in many years. I built one, a few years ago, but that was turned into a hackintosh and before that I had a laptop running windows 2000 :eek: My point is since that since I don't put my work computer to sleep (its on 24x7 since I'm on call 24x7) I've not dealt with sleep on PCs - just Macs. So I guess sleep on a PC is just as problematic.
 
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