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Macbook pro with retina - Don't shoot me

G

grungysquash

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 10, 2010
9
0
OK so my house as been invaded started with the Iphone, then two ipod touches, then apple air 13 inch and finally an ipad 3.

My problem is I think the design of the new macbook pro with retina display is just fantastic. Problem is I need to wipe the SSD and install windows 7. Now I know I can do this using bootcamp but I don't want to keep OSX just run win 7.

The problem is I have been lead to believe the dual video cards will only run in discrete mode so the Nvidia card will kill my battery life. I thought I should simply be able to install nvidia drives and get the the optumis system working but can't find any information confirming this.

So does anyone have in info on these new laptops?? Can I get working optumis on this laptop????
 
because the macbook pro hardware is THAT sweet...even a non-maccer wants to get in on the action...and it is supported (bootcamp) by apple, mostly.

why not
 
I'm curious as to why you'd want to run *only* Windows? The hardware is completely optimized for Mac, and you're doing yourself a major disservice by getting rid of it completely.

Might I ask what your reasoning is?
 
Apple doesn't use Optimus, and you can't use the integrated graphics in Windows, period. They're disabled by the EFI.

The hardware is sweet, but there are a lot of positives to running OS X. If you absolutely have to use Windows, and only Windows, you should probably look elsewhere.
 
Just use bootcamp and use most of the SSD space for the Windows partition, there is no need to get rid of MacOS, which by the way uses the hardware better than Windows ever can.
 
Lord Appleseed said:
Just use bootcamp and use most of the SSD space for the Windows partition, there is no need to get rid of MacOS, which by the way uses the hardware better than Windows ever can.
Click to expand...

This is your best solution, shrink down the OS X partition to a minimum. This will also still give you access to updates as you wont be able to update the machines firmware if Apple release newer revisions via Windows. I would also wait on Windows 8, it will work a lot better with the Retina`s new display
 
Jeff3f said:
because the macbook pro hardware is THAT sweet...even a non-maccer wants to get in on the action...and it is supported (bootcamp) by apple, mostly.

why not
Click to expand...

Yep that's pretty much it - the hardware rocks

Need unit for work - and some part time gaming but mainly for work everything game wise is on steam. Can't run OSX for work all our MRP systems are windows based.

Would have thought Steam would also be a problem as the games I have would only run in windows. Now I don't game very often in fact it's probably been 6 months but when the mood takes you it's good to let off a bit of steam.

So by the looks of the reply's the system won't allow optumis to run in windows only the discrete which is a shame as battery life is also very important. If I'm working I don't want to swap between operating systems just want to be able to work.
 
And you can't run whatever software you need to run on your system on Parallels/vmware/etc?

Really, Parallels is awesome. I'm really in love with OSX right now after having my system for 2 weeks.
 
grungysquash said:
Yep that's pretty much it - the hardware rocks

Need unit for work - and some part time gaming but mainly for work everything game wise is on steam. Can't run OSX for work all our MRP systems are windows based.

Would have thought Steam would also be a problem as the games I have would only run in windows. Now I don't game very often in fact it's probably been 6 months but when the mood takes you it's good to let off a bit of steam.

So by the looks of the reply's the system won't allow optumis to run in windows only the discrete which is a shame as battery life is also very important. If I'm working I don't want to swap between operating systems just want to be able to work.
Click to expand...

VMWare or similar will be the best option.
 
Do yourself a favor and buy a nice PC notebook. It's not designed to run full-time in Windows and will not perform optimally. Now if you want to use OS X at home and Windows at work you may want to try it out and see how it does for you. Their are some really nice Windows notebooks out now, Samsung 7 series and HP Envy for starters. Buying a Mac to use as a Windows PC is just not a good idea.
 
grungysquash said:
If I'm working I don't want to swap between operating systems just want to be able to work.
Click to expand...

You can set the startup disk to Windows/Bootcamp. So it will only boot up on that partition. Also, you will be needing all of the drivers and bootcamp services for Windows so you should just keep Mac OS in case of future issues or updates.
 
Mac hardware is great. If OP prefers Windows, so be it. Trackpad may be better under OSX, etc. but it is still better than most pc notebook implementations.
 
Seems OP has a lot of "problems".

Anyway, this sounds like a terrible idea and a waste of money. You must be extremely occupied by the high density screen to choose this laptop, but how much of Windows is optimised for it, or will be even in the future?

I don't see why you wouldn't wan't OS X for use in your spare time away from work. Being able to relax and enjoy a much nicer OS experience should be a big bonus. Keep OS X if you're gonna do this...
 
This sounds like a silly idea and a waste of money.

Windows doesn't even know what to do with a 15" 2880x1800 display. Scaling and text is all over the place if you run it at high-dpi, or you're stuck with a 2880x1800 UI. Which makes everything tiny and nasty.

OS X probably accounts for 80% of my reason to buy Mac computers. Hardware is only 20%.

if you're clinically insane and you really want to only run windows on a mac as stated in your OP, get a MacBook Air.
 
I like Windows 7 / 8. That said, this is a bad idea. The hardware is not optimized for windows. Blame apple for that. Windows hardware is finally getting nice anyway. You can get non-retina MBP 15 equivalent with a very nice design for up to $1000 less.
 
I'm with everyone else, don't think its a good idea. However, you'll need to use bootcamp and partition a majority of the Hard Drive to Windows. You can set aside any amount of the HDD to Windows that you want (just leave enough room for OSX).

Then, with BootCamp utilities you can default which OS the rMBP will boot into upon power up.

Enjoy....I guess?
 
grungysquash said:
Yep that's pretty much it - the hardware rocks

Need unit for work - and some part time gaming but mainly for work everything game wise is on steam. Can't run OSX for work all our MRP systems are windows based.
Click to expand...

How CPU/GPU intensive are these work apps? It's possible that they could run very well in a virtual machine.

Many Steam games are Mac compatible, but the ones that aren't you could always reboot into Windows to play.

You don't have to choose between Bootcamp and VM, you can do both. First you install Windows in Bootcamp, and then you tell your VM program (Parallels or VMWare) to load your Bootcamp partition as a VM.

Then you can load Windows as a VM for you work apps and boot into it if you need to do something more intensive.
 
Fortimir said:
I'm curious as to why you'd want to run *only* Windows? The hardware is completely optimized for Mac, and you're doing yourself a major disservice by getting rid of it completely.

Might I ask what your reasoning is?
Click to expand...

Disservice? Really? Of course the hardware is optimised for OS X but its also a lot nicer then the plastic junk that typically runs Windows, so why not?

I use a MBP running OS X and run virtualised Windows when I need to but my wife would struggle switching to OS X and also uses mainly applications that only run on Windows, so she has an iMac running just Windows. And?

Yours is a typically blinkered response to somebody just asking for a little bit of help and advice. So he wants to run Windows on Apple hardware, why give him a hard time about it? He even said "don't shoot me'...
 
Fortimir said:
I'm curious as to why you'd want to run *only* Windows? The hardware is completely optimized for Mac, and you're doing yourself a major disservice by getting rid of it completely.

Might I ask what your reasoning is?
Click to expand...
100% agree. Apple does not produce drivers and software to give you the same true unique experience in Windows that you will have in OSX. In OSX Apple has constructed a very unique blend of hardware and software to create something totally different. Some of the hardware has firmware that is written just to work in OSX.
I run Windows in a VM on all of my Macs....but it is not the same as in OSX.
 
Whatever you do, make sure to leave a bit of space for OSX. It's part of the product that Apple sells, and if you don't leave a minimum amount of the space on the hard drive for it (think less than 10GB) you're really throwing out your own money. Not to mention possible loss of firmware updates.

Not to mention if you ever wreck your Windows partition, you'd still have the OSX as a backup. Dual Booting making Windows default and leaving a minimal OSX partition would really be the way to go here.
 
If you really like the design of the rMBP, then go for it. If you have the money, I don't see the problem. There aren't any laptops like it on the market right now. Like others have said, I would keep OS X and using Boot Camp, create a large partition using most of the space of the drive for Windows. You only live once and if the rMBP truly excites you, then go for it. I think you could spend that money on a bad ass Windows laptop and you'd get more power for your money, but honestly it's whatever makes you happy.
 
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