Confusion about Windows, bootcamp, and parallels

[Ferri1c]

I'm getting my 1st Macbook Pro tomorrow. I always had a PC. I am confused about Windows OS for the Mac. I play a lot of online poker and I use some third party software apps that can only run for Windows OS.

1. Where can I buy a Windows OS for a Mac? (I did not see any at Apple)

2. What Window OS should I get? Vista, Windows 7, etc?

3. An Apple tech told me I need to buy Integro anti virus for protection of both operating systems. Is this true? Can I get viruses through windows that would destroy the MAC OS?

4. If I want to go online only with the MAC OS (because Im afraid of viruses through Windows) but I need the window programs next to the poker table, does that mean I need Parallels, and that Bootcamp will NOT work for what I need windows for?

5. Will these changes ruin the performance of a new Macbook Pro and should I just buy a PC?


Thanks in Advance!!!

 

[MacDawg]

Booting Windows on a Mac

1. You can buy Windows through Amazon or any other retailer. There is no special "Windows for Mac". It is just the same as for any PC.

2. I would avoid Vista and go with Win7

3. There are no viruses for the Mac, so you do not need any anti-virus for OSX. However, you may want an anti-virus for your Windows OS like any PC. I would recommend just using the free Microsoft Security Essentials downloaded from Microsoft's site.

4. Bootcamp allows you to boot natively into Windows, but you can't use OSX at the same time. If you want both, you can Bootcamp and run your partition with Fusion or Parallels. Or you can skip Bootcamp and just install directly in Fusion or Parallels. For what you are doing (Poker), I would suggest just using the virtual solution of Fusion or Parallels and run it alongside OSX and have fun.

5. This should not affect the performance of your Mac. I would suggest 4GB or RAM though.

 

[shyam09]

lol MacDawg beat me to it, and i was going to an extensive answer

but to answer question 5.

i personally feel that a Windows PC would have been better. 1. it is much cheaper and you would have saved a lot of $$$. and as a PC user myself (im getting a Mac probs. tomorrow?) just using a MAC for internet and security is not worth it.

sure i dont play online poker, so i dont know the risks involved, but you can just buy Avast Internet Security and let them do the work for you... it would save you a lot of money in the long run.
however, having a mac is quite worthwhile- thats why i am buying it. i like the Apple products (though this is my first Apple notebook)
i guess 1K+ is just a lot of $$$ to spend on just a notebook used for surfing the web, while apps will be windows.

its understandable that you play a lot of online poker, but still there are ways to not get viruses on a Windows, its not 100% likely that a virus will enter your computer.

but since you are getting it tomorrow, it would be worthwhile and maybe you could look for alternatives that are on Mac OSX too?

*i realized i answered question 5 wrong (lol fail!) but still technically it makes much more sense.. but i hope you enjoy your mac!

 

[Ferri1c]

Wow thanks alot guys for the detailed feedback. Yeah I agree its going to be more costly for me to get the macbook but I love Apple's technology so it will be worth it hopefully in the long run. My biggest concern was virus getting on the Mac through Windows but if I understand correctly, even if it did it would not do anything to the Mac only the windows OS. So with that being said I will try my luck with the Macbook 15' pro base model.

1. Since I am going to buy Parallels I'm assuming I can transfer everything on my old PC to my new Mac. However I know i have spyware and other malitious issues on some of my files. Should I just play it safe and not transfer anything from my old PC since I dont know what is malitious or infected? Or will it not matter if I have an anti virus protection installed before transferring my old computer to the new one?

Thanks guys both of you really helped out