Need Help! Please Help Me!

[tapyouout]

I all..... I need advice and some direction from anybody willing to help. I own a 20" IMac 2.4 with 4 GB of RAM. I need to install Windows on my Mac because there is 2 programs I must run for school and they are only compatible with Windows. I plan on installing through Boot Camp which is already on my CPU. I will only run Windows when I need to use these programs, then thats it back to Leopard for all other needs.

My question and what I need help with is this..... Should I shell out the cash and go buy a version of Windows XP or Vista to install? Or is it possible to try Windows 7. I dont know a whole lot about Windows 7 except I see a lot of posts here about it on the forums and I thought I read somewhere that is was free. I like free, lol especially if I only need Windows OS for 2 programs that I will run occasionally.

I appreciate anyones insight on this and for my particular needs. I am unsure of this stuff and just want to make the right decision... Thankyou so much in advance for your replies!!!

[yellow]

Do you need it to work? XP
Or do you want to struggle with everything now and then? Vista.
Or do you want to struggle with it all the time? Windows 7 Beta.

What are the system requirements for the software?

[shadownddust]

Windows 7 is supposed to be pretty stable, and from what I've heard from some tech people, it's been pretty good for that. If you aren't worried about running into problems later on when they end the beta, supposedly early summer 09, then I'd say go for it. I haven't tried it yet, but there are supposed to be very few compatibility issues for current software, and if the programs aren't super complex, they might be fine. If it doesn't work you can always uninstall it and then purchase vista or xp.

[tapyouout]

Originally Posted by yellow

Do you need it to work? XP
Or do you want to struggle with everything now and then? Vista.
Or do you want to struggle with it all the time? Windows 7 Beta.

What are the system requirements for the software?

Minimum is.....
Minimum
1) Windows 2000, XP, Vista
2) Pentium Pentium III
3) 256 MB RAM
4) 50 MB HD Space for Installation
Recommended
1) Windows XP, Vista
2) Pentium Pentium IV or Better
3) 1 GIG RAM
4) 250+ MB HD Space for Installation

[SHADO]

Originally Posted by tapyouout

Minimum is.....
Minimum
1) Windows 2000, XP, Vista
2) Pentium Pentium III
3) 256 MB RAM
4) 50 MB HD Space for Installation
Recommended
1) Windows XP, Vista
2) Pentium Pentium IV or Better
3) 1 GIG RAM
4) 250+ MB HD Space for Installation

Use XP. It looks like you're installing a tiny program that has very low system requirements, so XP will be the best option.

[Neil321]

Or you could try crossover, if you only need to run a couple of windows progs ( just make sure it supports the progs first ) cheap compared to buying a XP disk

[tapyouout]

Thanks for the replies so far..... I have another question....

I own a copy of a Windows Vista "UPGRADE" version. Is there anyway I can install this "UPGRADE" version onto my Mac through Boot Camp? I am trying to avoid having to go out and purchase full copies as you can see because my money is very limited.

[shadownddust]

I don't think that would work.

If you go to a college, they might have software deals for you. At my school every student can get one free copy of xp and vista. Other software is heavily discounted.

[tapyouout]

Unfortunately, I cannot get any software discounts. Does anybody else have any solutions? And is Windows 7 that bad? Should I just suck it up and drop $100 on XP? Thanks guys.....

[spriter]

If I were you and money was tight, I would give 7 beta try and judge for myself.

Personally I find it stable enough that it has replaced XP on my BootCamp partition. Your experience may be better/the same/worse - nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Who knows, you might just save $100... for now - Beta 7 ends August 1st, I believe, so you'll have to buy XP or 7 at some point to continue using it.

[Caron]

If you are trying to run something not terribly intense, CrossOver may be the right road to go. There is no need to purchase Windows software and there is a free thirty day trial period. You can get help to run it by sending an email to info@codeweavers.com. Or, I'm sure people here are familiar with it. It beats paying the hundred dollars for a windows license.

The other thought, are the applications you want to use something that can be replaced? If you are using Outlook or Visio or Publisher or Project, probably not (there are equivalents to a point...). If you are using Word and many others, there are plenty of alternatives that would be well worth a few minutes of research to find. Have you asked the software developers of the applications if there is a Mac alternative or one in the works? If there is, maybe you can get a functioning beta of that (instead of Windows 7) and survive until a full release comes out. This route may also be less money than purchasing a Windows license.

[ryannazaretian]

I would try Windows 7... I mean... it's free right? So why not?

I did run into some incompatibility problems with Windows 7 (running LabView). I switched to XP, and I'm happy.

Just try it. Most things should work, but certainly not everything quite yet.