First Timer: Buying Macbook Polycarbonate, but very attached to windows, 64 bit ques.

[incognitoguile]

I'm a first time poster, so bear with me.

So after much contemplation, significant research, feedback from mac users, I've decided I'm going to buy the macbook polycarbonate over a Sony Viao.

I love apple macbooks because they seem straightforward, no gimmicks, simple, durable and more convenient than a pc for a college kid like me.

But I'm very attached to windows and I'm when Windows 7 came out, I was/am super stoked to use it to the extreme! (I didn't buy a laptop when vista came out because it was crap)

Now macbooks have this bootcamp thing, and parallel and stuff like that. It seems like I can use windows on a macbook when I need to/want to conveniently? Is this true?

My biggest problem is that I don't know if macbook will be fully compatible with running Windows 7 64 bit. I stress the 64 bit just because that's how I'd like to run Windows 7, I don't wanna run 32 bit.

-First thing, is the new macbook compatible with 64 bit then?
I searched so much, but found only 1 quote which suggests it isn't. HEre is the quote: (from link:http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r23270490-Beginner-Boot-Camp-Windows-7-x64-on-new-white-Macbook)

'Looks like the problem is the drivers on the OS X disk that you install in windows aren't 64bit drivers, they're 32bit drivers! In other words, you'd be stuck without a working trackpad (and maybe improper GPU drivers.. though I HIGHLY doubt that one).

I'm using the plain x86 version, and it works great! dunno what to say, maybe your disk is newer than the old macbook disks and has better drivers, after all you do have the same kinda trackpad a MBP does.'

-So, if the macbook can boot 64 bit Windows 7, then is 2GB ram enough for it? I'll upgrade to 4GB after the ram isn't $90 to upgrade, that's too much for me right now.

-I hear that the battery goes down on macbooks when you run windows 7. How bad is this?

-I'm gonna use mac os for internet, office 2008, music, so I won't need windows 7 that much. But up to how much of an extent can I use windows 7 without defeating the purpose of buying a macbook?

 

[MrCheeto]

The MacBooks all use Core 2 Duos, which are all 64bit.

You have 2 options to running Windows:

Boot to it natively with Bootcamp

or run it within a virtual machine with Parallels, VMware and for free you can use VirtualBox which I've had no real complaints with.

What are your needs within Windows?

 

[dukebound85]

The MacBooks all use Core 2 Duos, which are all 64bit.

You have 2 options to running Windows:

Boot to it natively with Bootcamp

or run it within a virtual machine with Parallels, VMware and for free you can use VirtualBox which I've had no real complaints with.

What are your needs within Windows?

you didnt address his question

op, to my knowledge there are no current 64 vit drivers for 7. This will change in the future though. 2gigs of ram is enough in bootcamp and you can always upgrade to more later

 

[MrCheeto]

He mentioned Parallels, with a virtual machine you don't need to worry about drivers...

 

[flopticalcube]

I just used the default drivers from Microsoft. Most of the hardware worked with that (mid 2007 iMac). If you browse the Snow Leopard Install disk under Windows, you will find the 64 bit drivers that you can install manually. Most things work by default, however.

 

[incognitoguile]

you didnt address his question

op, to my knowledge there are no current 64 vit drivers for 7. This will change in the future though. 2gigs of ram is enough in bootcamp and you can always upgrade to more later

I understand what drivers are (they basically enhance your hardware functionality?) And I also understand we should download em. But I don't know anything further than that.. What're 'vit' drivers?

He mentioned Parallels, with a virtual machine you don't need to worry about drivers...

*gulp* what's a virtual machine? why don't we need drivers for it?

I just used the default drivers from Microsoft. Most of the hardware worked with that (mid 2007 iMac). If you browse the Snow Leopard Install disk under Windows, you will find the 64 bit drivers that you can install manually. Most things work by default, however.

wait, you're saying use vista drivers that microsoft made for mac? and then just manually copy them to the macbook?

if that's so, then shouldn't windows 7 have totally different/better drivers though? (which i'm guessing microsoft hasn't come out with yet for macbooks)

Also, can you guys answer any of the other questions? (battery life with win. 7 and to how much of an extent should i exactly be using windows 7 before it's useless for me to even buy a macbook.. etc.)

 

[MrCheeto]

It runs Windows inside of a box! That means it is contained and Windows can't do anything to fudge up your computer because it doesn't directly interface with the hardware, hence no need for drivers.

You can start it up and shut it down whenever you need it, I used it for a long time with XP and then 7 RC whenever I needed to reference something or use MS Paint, it starts up and runs JUST LIKE it would natively however the speeds aren't going to be the highest and visual effects will need some tweaking.

 

[incognitoguile]

It runs Windows inside of a box! That means it is contained and Windows can't do anything to fudge up your computer because it doesn't directly interface with the hardware, hence no need for drivers.

You can start it up and shut it down whenever you need it, I used it for a long time with XP and then 7 RC whenever I needed to reference something or use MS Paint, it starts up and runs JUST LIKE it would natively however the speeds aren't going to be the highest and visual effects will need some tweaking.

Aw, no, I flinched when I read 'however the speeds aren't going to be the highest and visual effects will need some tweaking'.

I need Windows 7 to be running at a good speed and what do you mean tweaking of visual effects.

What if I want to play a game for a short break '15 mins' and then go back to studying? For that I have to reboot to Windows 7 for the game, and then reboot after 15 mins to get back on the efficient mac osx?

 

[MrCheeto]

Yeah I'd recommend booting Windows natively for gaming. Besides, when it takes 30 seconds to boot back into OS X and have it fully operational what's a restart to ya? haha

 

[incognitoguile]

Yeah I'd recommend booting Windows natively for gaming. Besides, when it takes 30 seconds to boot back into OS X and have it fully operational what's a restart to ya? haha

Wow, that just blew my mind! Do you know what a restart is to me? It's like 2 minutes to me on my dell windows XP. If it's 30 seconds for a mac, then I'm gonna have less of a problem and I'm looking even more forward to getting it over a sony vaio.

 

[MrCheeto]

Give or take 15 seconds, but keep in mind that's booting to OS X. Booting to Windows can take longer of course depending on what version.

 

[elpmas]

Haha, you and I are in the same boat :]

 

[MrCheeto]

This is a video I just made tonight, so I don't know if it's in HD yet but if it is it's worth watching in HD.

I made a mock ad explaining Spaces.

Click

 

[SnowLeopard2008]

Best set up is to Boot Camp Windows 7 for your gaming needs and then set up Fusion/Parallels/VirtualBox (the later is free) to point to the Windows partition and run it in a VM. That way, if you just want to use Windows 7 for something other than gaming, you can do so in a VM. But when you want to play a game, restart and boot up Windows. Very flexible and easy to set up.

Apple does have 64-bit drivers for Windows 7, it's just not labeled as such. At it's very core, Windows 7 is Vista. Microsoft only cleaned the surface code and made very few changes to the core. That means drivers written for Vista work under 7. Apple's Vista 64-bit drivers work just fine in 7. I can confirm this because I'm currently using those drivers in 7.

To OP, OS X starts up in 20 seconds for me. Windows 7 starts up just under a minute. Either OS, it's pretty fast and the time it takes is something negligible.

 

[hazedragon45]

I also used to be very attached to Windows. I started using my macbook running Windows XP on Parallels. After a month, I'm fully mac and loving it. Best purchase i ever made. Sure it's going to be frustrating the first time u use a mac b/c u'll have to learn a whole bunch of shortcuts to make navigation faster... but they're quite similar to windows so you'll get used to it. BTW i dont think u'll find a more convinient and user friendly trackpad on the market. I thought i'd need to get a mouse but the trackpad is so FLUID!!!

 

[Jason Beck]

Agreed. Once you get all the shortcuts down, it becomes a lot easier.

 

[MrCheeto]

Yeah, some great features are the VERY refined interface (if you don't need it, it's not there) that's easy to pick up on. Then there are gestures and multi-touch on the trackpad.

If there's one thing I recommend to every new Mac user, it's forget EVERYTHING you think you know, MacOS X is made to work the way you think so let it come natural.

I've been using my Mac for 14 months and have never looked back. The minute I turned it on I was blown away and the high never wears off. Every morning I open up my Mac I stop and appreciate the look and smoothness of it all.

BTW, I should note again that until 2008 I thought Macs were the devil, even though I'd never even seen one

 

[flopticalcube]

wait, you're saying use vista drivers that microsoft made for mac? and then just manually copy them to the macbook?

if that's so, then shouldn't windows 7 have totally different/better drivers though? (which i'm guessing microsoft hasn't come out with yet for macbooks

Its Apple's responsibility to write the Windows drivers for the hardware. Most are just repackaged drivers from the hardware manufacturers themselves so Windows 7 already has access to them at install time. The driver model hasn't changed much between Vista and Windows 7 so most Vista drivers will work in 7. That's how I got 7 to work on my daughter's iMac (Late 2006) because ATI no longer supports the video card under 7 but the Vista drivers work fine.