Some people say the best Windows-running laptop is actually the MacBook Pro..
What do you guys think??
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Best Windows Machine = Mac?
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Rahul Sood some sort of manager at Microsoft recently said something similar. I think he said every executive should have a macbook air because it was the future of laptops.
I'm actually not a big fan of osx and am considering fully installing w7 on my mba but am worried thr battery life would suffer
I'm actually not a big fan of osx and am considering fully installing w7 on my mba but am worried thr battery life would suffer
Wow
I actually got the idea of my thread because of the bolded.
Yes, I also read that battery life suffers when Windows 7 is used on MBP. Is that because Win7 is inefficient?
Rahul Sood some sort of manager at Microsoft recently said something similar. I think he said every executive should have a macbook air because it was the future of laptops.
I'm actually not a big fan of osx and am considering fully installing w7 on my mba but am worried thr battery life would suffer
I actually got the idea of my thread because of the bolded.
Yes, I also read that battery life suffers when Windows 7 is used on MBP. Is that because Win7 is inefficient?
While I love the MacBook Pro's design and robustness, I have to disagree that it's the best machine to run Microsoft Windows on for a couple of reasons, most of which boils down to the level of integration between Mac OS X and Windows.
1. Windows keyboard shortcuts are harder to map using a Macintosh keyboard. For example, Print Screen is Fn-Shift-F11. For someone who is used to a PC and the conventional keyboard shortcuts offered on a PC, trying to re-map in your head to the Boot Camp equivalents may be a frustrating experience.
2. Battery life is not nearly as good as what can be achieved under Mac OS X.
3. It feels weird to be running Windows natively on a Mac (see point #1).
There are other computers out there designed to run Microsoft Windows which do so quite well, for example Sony's VAIO series or HP's Pavilion or ENVY lines.
If you're going to run Windows, buy a PC. Just my two cents.
1. Windows keyboard shortcuts are harder to map using a Macintosh keyboard. For example, Print Screen is Fn-Shift-F11. For someone who is used to a PC and the conventional keyboard shortcuts offered on a PC, trying to re-map in your head to the Boot Camp equivalents may be a frustrating experience.
2. Battery life is not nearly as good as what can be achieved under Mac OS X.
3. It feels weird to be running Windows natively on a Mac (see point #1).
There are other computers out there designed to run Microsoft Windows which do so quite well, for example Sony's VAIO series or HP's Pavilion or ENVY lines.
If you're going to run Windows, buy a PC. Just my two cents.
Um, I just use the Mac shortcut of shift+cmd+4... works in windows, too. (Ok, I'm running windows xp via VMWare Fusion, but still.)
I LOVE running windows on my '07 MBP using Fusion... no pre-installed bloatware that you'd get from a PC mfr.
I agree - plus it gives you the ability to sandbox and multi-task between both operating systems without really having to worry about drivers and other compatibility issues.
buying a mac mainly to run windows is a waste , theres a lot of windows laptop out there that offers decent battery life with a good performance such as timeline X
Running only Windows OS on my 15" unibody MBP for about 2 years, I can say that there are no other Windows based 15" or larger notebook out there with the same form factor, weight, & design as the MBPs that can run Windows better. Not only that, compared to all my Sony VAIO notebooks, my MBP surprising runs Windows 7 better than any of those do & I simply have no idea why that is the case.
Note that the above is just my humble opinion. You &/or the others may or may not agree.
Not only that, compared to all my Sony VAIO notebooks, my MBP surprising runs Windows 7 better than any of those do & I simply have no idea why that is the case. Note that the above is just my humble opinion.
You &/or the others may or may not agree. Not at all. The only gain to be had is having a decent TN panel and a solid frame. Otherwise, Apple's bootcamp drivers are lazily written/updated (only two-finger gestures on Windows? great. no inertial scrolling? fantastic.), and you'll lose a plethora of ports and features you may find useful down the road (including native HDMI, USB 3.0, e-sata, user-swappable battery).
The MBP does a somewhat decent job with Windows, comparable to most Windows laptops ("best" is far too much of a stretch, though), but I don't know that there's any way you can separate the MBP from OSX and still have a machine with any relative value. The physical attributes of the machine are only a minor part of the equation; beyond that, the level of integration you get between hardware and software is what really separates the MBP from any crappy laptop running Ubuntu. I paid a premium for this machine specifically so that I don't have to deal with driver nightmares (bad in Windows, worse in Linux) or rely upon sloppy ports and half-finished software.
Are you including cost as part of the question, cause if I want a machine to only run Windows I can get awesome specs for much less money than a mbp. I'll buy a Thinkpad over MBP for Windows-only any day.
That is part of the beauty of OSX on Mac hardware. I don't agree with your other statement though, drivers are usually easier in Ubuntu than Windows. The user doesn't have to know anything in Ubuntu, it knows which drivers to use and installs them automatically. Boot up Ubuntu on almost any (non-mac) hardware and it will have working drivers for (most) everything. For Windows machines you usually need to find and download hardware-specific drivers yourself, then install them yourself, so right off the bat you may not have Internet, touchpad, full graphics, and other support. Only a few instances is Ubuntu worse than Windows for drivers, namely sound card support :/
I would say yes, because I have options. As a life long user of windows, I cringed at the thought of leaving windows during their best version. The ability to boot win7-64 directly from a separate bootcamped partition when I need full system resources dedicated to win7 and parallels-6 windowing into the same win7 installation when I don't is sic!!
I could not agree more.
Especially now that Win7 SP-1 is out, I find my windows experience better on my new ThinkPad T series than my 2011 MBP. Another factor is the direct avantage of each of them having the new OCZ Vertex 3.
Windows users only buy Macs, so they can look like a hipster out in public and also brag to their friends.
The first thing these people do is install Win7, and mostly don't touch the OSX partition.
Good decision? I think not... If you want to look like a hipster when sipping that half strength latte at Starbucks - Wear skinny jeans and purchase a Dell or HP.
The first thing these people do is install Win7, and mostly don't touch the OSX partition.
Good decision? I think not... If you want to look like a hipster when sipping that half strength latte at Starbucks - Wear skinny jeans and purchase a Dell or HP.
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Most long term Windows users (such as myself) are moving to Mac for the added build quality, software integration, and less of a need to use anti virus software. Unfortunately a lot of us still need to run Windows.
It's annoying that XP is no longer being supported because it means having to buy W7 just to be able to access my old music projects.
Most long term Windows users (such as myself) are moving to Mac for the added build quality, software integration, and less of a need to use anti virus software. Unfortunately a lot of us still need to run Windows.
It's annoying that XP is no longer being supported because it means having to buy W7 just to be able to access my old music projects.
Amazing that anybody voted yes as if nobody ever used a decent Windows notebook.
Reasons why not:
A MBP is good with OSX and some occasional Windows use but it is NOT a decent Windows notebook and far short of the best Windows notebook.
Reasons why not:
- No GPU switching
- worse battery life even on a 13" MBP under Windows compared to similarly equipped Samsung/Sony notebooks
- Touchpad: Under Windows the MBP multitouch pad looses practically all its functions, Windows notebooks with multitouch pads have drivers that actually support gestures.
- The entire BIOS emulation thing isn't exactly great either compared to native support with secureboot and such featuers.
- Drivers focus only on stability not performance. Various Windows notebooks actually get driver updates.
A MBP is good with OSX and some occasional Windows use but it is NOT a decent Windows notebook and far short of the best Windows notebook.
I mostly agree with dusk007, with a few exceptions
Agree 100%
This I don't understand. You can download newest drivers that matter (video, etc.) directly from the manufacturer (e.g. Nvidia). The only drivers where you have to rely on Apple is the touchpad/keyboard.
The unibody MBP is fairly durable and sturdy. Maybe not so much as some Thinkpads, but enough to compete with other business class notebooks.