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Help with understanding PC partition..PLEASE

M

mjack

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 24, 2010
5
0
Hey guys,

i just got my 2.4 ghz 15' macbook pro the other day and am looking to use the windows partition as soon as possible as i need it for uni.

I am studying construction management atm and i am planning on using word n powerpoint and that during my lectures to make notes etc.
But i am also using a program called REVIT (pretty much an upgrade of AutoCAD) i am really only using this program for this semester but after that i won't be using it that heavily i don't think.

Should i set up office for mac or get the pc version.....is there any benefits to either.

I wanna try and get all this set up as quickly as possible, however after reading all the stuff on VMWare and bootcamp and that, i am becoming extremely confused as to what i need to install to get the best out of these programs i want to use.

all i will be doing on the windows partition is using office as well as REVIT so hopefully that helps.

Also, can someone explain the whole PC side of things on the mac....because i'm not sure if i need to install VMware on bootcamp or do that separetly and also do i need to get windows 7?

yeah all noob questions sorry bout that.

and i have looked up mroogle on these subjects and have found info but it has no just confused the **** out of me...lol

Cheers guys, sorry if it sound a bit confusing
 
Find out what your uni is using and use the same if it's for in class.
 
Get the Mac version, especially if you are only using BC for one program.

You do not need to install VMWare or Parallels, but you can. I'm not sure of the performance of CAD s/w in virtualization though. You are probably going to be happier just booting into BC when you need to use CAD since that will use the full power and RAM of the MBP.
 
choices

mjack said:
Hey guys,
Should i set up office for mac or get the pc version.....is there any benefits to either.
Click to expand...

either or they do the same thing, I would go Mac but it is just a preference. I would consider what the University uses in making this choice or at least asking if it matters to them.

Also, can someone explain the whole PC side of things on the mac....because i'm not sure if i need to install VMware on bootcamp or do that separetly and also do i need to get windows 7?
Click to expand...

I use VMware but bootcamp works well and is free VMware is not free. You don't need both. You will need to buy Windows 7 regardless of VMware or Bootcamp.
 
Chupa Chupa said:
Get the Mac version, especially if you are only using BC for one program.

You do not need to install VMWare or Parallels, but you can. I'm not sure of the performance of CAD s/w in virtualization though. You are probably going to be happier just booting into BC when you need to use CAD since that will use the full power and RAM of the MBP.
Click to expand...

So just to understand...even if i was going to use vmware....do u install it within bootcamp or not? (I'm not going to but just to make it clear.)

Also to hamlinspahn: i don't think my uni has any preference....they are compatible with each other aren't they. so if i was to save something on my PC desktop....i would be able to open it up on my office for mac?

also if i was to use bootcamp....how much space should i use for it...considering i would only really be using it for REVIT?

thanks for to help as well so far guys
 
Answers

mjack said:
So just to understand...even if i was going to use vmware....do u install it within bootcamp or not? (I'm not going to but just to make it clear.)
Click to expand...

no bootcamp needed for VMware.

Also to hamlinspahn: i don't think my uni has any preference....they are compatible with each other aren't they. so if i was to save something on my PC desktop....i would be able to open it up on my office for mac?
Click to expand...

Well back in the day my University cared what we used to the exact version number even, that was 15 or more years ago I'm sure much has changed but it isn't to hard to ask and as far a the files go they are the same Mac or PC with some exceptions on fonts available in the document.

also if i was to use bootcamp....how much space should i use for it...considering i would only really be using it for REVIT?
Click to expand...

My VMware Windows 7 file is 20GB no reason that is just what I decided in that moment I have lots of free space on it, so I can't really say what size you need if you use VMware you can have it grow as needed with bootcamp you don't have that option.
 
VMWare/Parallels is installed on the OS X side.

Revit will probably be happier in Bootcamp. If you go that route, I would install Office in Windows as well, because it's going to be a pain to switch back and forth.
 
Do you understand the difference between Boot Camp and VM Ware Fusion?

Boot Camp is just the software that allows you to run Windows on your Mac, natively.
VM Ware Fusion is what allows you to run Windows at the same time that you are running in OS X. This is super convenient, however your whole system takes a pretty big performance hit, as you are running two operating systems. The only down side to using Windows in a Boot Camp fashion is that you have to reboot your system to switch Operating systems.

If you are doing some AutoCAD type of software, personally I would recommend running Windows via Boot Camp, as Windows has direct access to all your hardware - all your Processor, RAM, & GPU. This will be ideal as most AutoCAD programs are very resource hungry.

The only thing you need for Boot Camp is a full copy of Windows (upgrades don't work here) and your OS X Install disc that came with your computer. If you need a step-by-step guide how to get everything set up on your computer, go to -> Applications -> Utilities -> Boot Camp Assistant. There you can actually print out a step by step guide that walks you through the installation of Windows via Boot Camp on your Mac.

Hope this clears things up for you!
 
thanks guys...definitely helped a lot.

i will be gettin windows 7 then and propably office for pc just cose i am used to the pc version (i understand there wouldnt be a hell of a lot of difference between either)...but i thin i can get office 2007 anyway so see how we go....

thanks agian
 
mjack said:
So just to understand...even if i was going to use vmware....do u install it within bootcamp or not? (I'm not going to but just to make it clear.)

Also to hamlinspahn: i don't think my uni has any preference....they are compatible with each other aren't they. so if i was to save something on my PC desktop....i would be able to open it up on my office for mac?

also if i was to use bootcamp....how much space should i use for it...considering i would only really be using it for REVIT?

thanks for to help as well so far guys
Click to expand...

1) You don't have to set up BC if you use virtualization s/w but you can. Instead of setting up a virtual drive you just tell Fusion to use the BC partition. I do this b/c there are times when I need to use BC but most of the time Fusion is fine and I'd rather not have to shut down and reboot.

2) The Mac and Win versions of Office are cross-compatible. The only real difference is the interface.

3) For BC: 15GB for the OS + space for whatever apps you'll install + 10GB cushion. For virtualization s/w (using a virtual drive not BC as the source for the OS): 15GB for OS + space for whatever apps. Fusion will automatically resize your HD as needed.
 
Are you setting everything up now for current use or for the fall semester? If it's for the fall, unless you really want to do Office for Windows, I'd suggest waiting for the new Office 2010 for Mac. Reason is that it's suppose to feel more like it's Windows counterpart, not 100 percent the same but the ribbon and it's uses should be very similar.

For CAD, I would definitely use Boot Camp. I believe it requires full support of the hardware.
 
iLog.Genius said:
Are you setting everything up now for current use or for the fall semester? If it's for the fall, unless you really want to do Office for Windows, I'd suggest waiting for the new Office 2010 for Mac. Reason is that it's suppose to feel more like it's Windows counterpart, not 100 percent the same but the ribbon and it's uses should be very similar.

For CAD, I would definitely use Boot Camp. I believe it requires full support of the hardware.
Click to expand...

Should i look into a trial version then?

alsio im in australia and halfway through first semester
 
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