Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Just HOW GOOD is the MacBook Pro at running Windows 7?

N

nihao1234

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 12, 2008
62
0
Hey,

I'm probably going to end up getting one of the new MacBook Pro's for college (upgrading from my MacBook) and I'm playing with the thought of frequently running Windows 7 on the machine. While I love OS X, I know that many computer applications in college still require Windows, and for some reason I just prefer word processing within the Windows environment (it's just preference, really). So, I'd love to seamlessly switch over from OS X and Windows 7. I haven't decided yet whether I'm going to run Boot Camp, or go the Parallels/VMWare route. I mean, you always hear people saying to buy a Mac, and if you hate it you can always run Windows. In reality, how many people end up using Windows a lot on the MBP? Does it work well?

So, does anyone have experience using Windows 7 for an extended period of time on the MBP? Is there anything I should know before I jump in and buy a MacBook, assuming that I'll run windows a lot? Is it literally just the same as it would be as if it were on a Sony or Asus computer? I'd love to hear experiences. Thanks!!
 
If you run it under BootCamp, it's same as running a PC with Windows. Virtualization works okay with light apps but if you plan to do gaming or run heavy Windows apps, you need BootCamp.

If word processing is your main need for Windows, just get used to OS X apps, it's IMO nonsense to run Windows to do exactly the same thing! But anyway, Windows runs very well on Macs too
 
I ran Windows on my old MBP via Fusion and then Parallels because I needed SolidWorks to run. It worked very well, with Parallels feeling slightly faster than Fusion currently, but they both always try to improve (Fusion has a better and less intrusive UI imo).

Currently, on my new MBP I run Windows via Boot Camp because I need Autodesk Showcase and I think there was a funny saying a while back that the best laptop to run Windows on is a Mac (and there's been photos of Microsoft employees demoing Windows 7 on Macs).

I'm not aware of any problems running Windows on your Mac, nor have I experienced any. The only thing is that closing the laptop lid to put it to sleep with Windows running is very unreliable, but that's a Microsoft problem that has been that way for years (and it might finally been fixed in Windows 7, but I haven't tried that long enough to know).
 
What college are you attending? Every college I've been at in the last few years is overrun with Macs. I'm a visiting professor at Stanford this year, and all you see is Macs. If anything, any "special" software around here requires OS X, not the other way around. Having said that, the new MBPs run W7 just fine under boot camp. Battery life is low as the nvidia graphics are on full time, and the machine runs hotter as a result (compared to OS X).
 
For the past several months, I have been running Windows 7 apps and OS X apps simultaneously on the OS X desktop, thanks to VMware Fusion's Unity mode. I use a 17 inch Santa Rosa 2.4Ghz MBP with 6Gb of RAM. Everything runs quickly and is stable. CAVEAT: I neither play games nor run any other apps that are particularly graphics intensive.

I had only 2Gb of RAM on my MBP before I upgraded to 6Gb. I was then running Windows XP in a Fusion virtual machine but never in Unity mode. Windows apps were frustratingly slow and, often, unstable. If I wanted to run apps in Windows 7 and OS X apps simultaneously on a new machine, I wouldn't consider any less than 8Gb of RAM.
 
cwheatley said:
i think it is inaccurate to say that it doesn't run well.
Click to expand...

It doesn't though. The keyboard and mouse drivers for my MBP are downright horrid. The LCD backlight brightness is wonky. It runs ridiculously hot.

Windows is Windows. The only difference between Windows on a mac, Dell, or HP is the drivers. And Apple's drivers make Windows on a mac suck. My new dell is warm to the touch while gaming on it - cool to the touch while surfing the web - and doesn't have any driver glitches.

So let me rephrase that. While Windows on a mac will open your programs just as well as on any PC, the way that Windows interacts with your mac, sucks.
 
thejadedmonkey said:
It doesn't though. The keyboard and mouse drivers for my MBP are downright horrid. The LCD backlight brightness is wonky. It runs ridiculously hot.

Windows is Windows. The only difference between Windows on a mac, Dell, or HP is the drivers. And Apple's drivers make Windows on a mac suck. My new dell is warm to the touch while gaming on it - cool to the touch while surfing the web - and doesn't have any driver glitches.

So let me rephrase that. While Windows on a mac will open your programs just as well as on any PC, the way that Windows interacts with your mac, sucks.
Click to expand...

Drivers depend on the Mac you have. Some Macs have worse drivers for Windows due laziness of Apple but not all have issues like you, some Macs have fine drivers which make the experience as good as using any PC
 
thejadedmonkey said:
It doesn't though. The keyboard and mouse drivers for my MBP are downright horrid. The LCD backlight brightness is wonky. It runs ridiculously hot.

Windows is Windows. The only difference between Windows on a mac, Dell, or HP is the drivers. And Apple's drivers make Windows on a mac suck. My new dell is warm to the touch while gaming on it - cool to the touch while surfing the web - and doesn't have any driver glitches.

So let me rephrase that. While Windows on a mac will open your programs just as well as on any PC, the way that Windows interacts with your mac, sucks.
Click to expand...

the OP is asking for buying advice. assuming that your current mbp is the one in your profile, i don't see how your windows 7 experience on that particular model is at all relevant to someone who is looking to purchase "one of the new MacBook Pro's".
 
I run it in a virtual machine on my 1st generation MacBook Pro. It runs great even with 2GB ram total. I'm not using it in boot camp because ATi gave up support for the video card so all my games run in a box instead of stretched.
 
From my experience with my 2010 13" it works fairly well, but I would suggest using a mouse when using windows. While the trackpad is a dream in OS X it is more of a hinderance in windows. Scrolling is jumpy and just general mousing is annoying at times.
 
mrsir2009 said:
It'll probably run better on your MacBook Pro than any PC:D
Click to expand...

Yeah I have heard that Windows runs better on Apple hardware. Why is this when the computer is not designed for Windows? So basically the new i5/i7 MBP's will run W7 better than the new hP envy 17 lol? If that's the case I can't wait to get my copy of W7 for my pro. :D
 
I'm using Parallels on a 15 i7 and it works wonderfully for me. Of course, I'm not using it much lately, but...the downside is that it does make a significant difference in my battery life. The minute I shut down the VM my battery life tells me it will last another 2 1/2 hours.
 
It runs perfectly in bootcamp. Just like running it on any other high spec laptop and I was very suprised how well it run in parallels too! Easily good enough to do extended work using both methods.
 
MattMJB0188 said:
Yeah I have heard that Windows runs better on Apple hardware. Why is this when the computer is not designed for Windows? So basically the new i5/i7 MBP's will run W7 better than the new hP envy 17 lol? If that's the case I can't wait to get my copy of W7 for my pro. :D
Click to expand...

Its because Apple's computers are usually built better, plus all the components are built to work together. And theres less Windowz crapware :D
 
Works great on mine. Really fast, definitely the best Windows OS I've seen in a while. All I do though is play video games on it. The rest, word processing, photoshop, etc etc I do on osx.
 
I'm running it in VMware Fusion 3.1 RC off my Intel SSD and it FLIES. It's incredible.. I can easily switch between Windows and Mac OS without any slowdown whatsoever. The SSD really shines in keeping your system responsive at all times.
 
mrsir2009 said:
Its because Apple's computers are usually built better, plus all the components are built to work together. And theres less Windowz crapware :D
Click to expand...

Wow, so clueless, how's the koolaid? :rolleyes:

Hellhammer's on the right track. Some older MBPs had very good windows drivers. There was one point in time where the then-current macbook (2 or 3 years ago) ran windows vista better than any pc laptop on the market. This was due to the fact that the MBP had equal specs to the best PC laptop at the time, and above average drivers thanks to Apple. That's not the case anymore though. Assuming Apple's Windows drivers for their current hardware are up to stuff, the new MBPs will run windows 'as well' as an equivalent Windows laptop.
 
I run W7 ultimate via bootcamp almost daily for architecture programs. Autocad,revit,3dsmax,rhino etc. Running under parallels/fusion is pathetic due to these apps being very graphic intensive.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back