How compatible is Windows on a Mac?

Its 100% under bootcamp. Either XP or 7 will work.

 

Under bootcamp windows is running directly on the hardware. In a VM windows is running in an application which is running on Mac OS X. Bootcamp = 100% compatibility & performance.
VMs: 90-95% compatibility & 80% performance. (guesstimates)

 

Boot Camp is only a tool for creating an NTFS Partition, and loading the driver for the Apple hardware.

Hardware, which is just like any other PC build, intel CPU, Nvidea or ATI GPU, it's just a personal computer.

Windows will run 100% natively on it, just like it would on any other computer. It's not emulation, it not a virtual machine. You either boot into Windows or OSX, it's just like dual booting on any PC. Moreover, benchmarks show that Windows performs best on Apple hardware. I get desktop level user experience marks on my MacBook Pro 13" in Windows Vista.

In any event it's not a question of Apple hardware, BootCamp takes care up driver updates and things inside Windows with the Apple Software Updater, just like when you load iTunes on a PC. It also makes it posible to read both File Systems from the other. OSX will read NTFS natively, and Window will read HFS natively.

I however wouldn't load Vista, it's junk, Win7 is way better.

 

I have run XP for two years on Macbooks, no problems except very rare BSODs, which might be the case on any Windows system. My only real complaint is that the trackpad operation on my unibody MB is still clunky despite driver updates from Apple (way better than it was originally though).

 

Bootcamp is the way to go if you want to play games. I've also used it to access some Windows only work programs. No problems at all.

Cheers,

 

That's not normal, you might have gotten a bad hard disk in your "cheap desktop."

 

Not much. I'll bet you wouldn't notice it in most applications. The biggest incompatibility, probably the only one I ever encounter, is that the virtual machine won't run Direct X worth a damn, therefore it won't run the games I play. Booting Windows 7 natively, no problem.

As mentioned above, Bootcamp actually does set the stage for running Windows without BIOS. Otherwise, it's basically the same Intel hardware as a PC.

 

Its exactly like using a PC. Macs run on PC hardware, so windows can run completely natively on the mac.

 

Again, it's not precisely PC hardware. Macs require BIOS emulation via firmware EFI.

 

I don't think it makes a big diff if the bios is emulated anyway because once Windows starts those functions are all handed off to the OS. So as far as Windows running, it shouldn't make any tangible difference.

 

I guess by driver, i was indicating all that junk you listed.

Also Mac will boot the CD without running bootcamp at all. I guess i don't really think of it as part of bootcamp because it's just built into the firmware already. Although, once Microshaft has completed joining the 21st century. They will be able to get rid of that part of bootcamp before long.

I'll tell you what though, they intentionally copied the look and feel of OSX, (again) for 7, trying to confuse consumers as to what the difference is.

 

I'm thinking about Bootcamp and Windows 7 on my new 15" MBP i7. All I need windows for is Quickbooks Pro and Office. That's it! No games or any extra things. Minimal minimal minimal.

So, how much space should I allow for the Windows partition?

Finally and most importantly does butting Windows 7 on the MBP via Bootcamp have any negative effects? Like, viruses getting in through windows 7 and wreaking havoc all over the machine, even OSX?

I don't love the idea of putting Windows 7 on the MBP, but if there are no negative effects, I guess I'll bite the bullet so I can have all my software on one laptop.

Please help me decide. This new MBP cost a fortune and I don't wanna screw it up!!

 

Thanks for the reply balamw. I wasn't aware of the VM solution, it does sound more efficient. So maybe I'll forget about bootcamp.

 

Both of those programs will run very well in a virtual machine via Parallels or VM Fusion. That's more convenient than BootCamp.

I'm sure you know that Quickbooks and Office have Mac versions and the data and files of both are interchangeable between the Mac and Windows versions.

 

So if we are going with the theme that Windows runs exactly the same as on a 'PC,' why does my battery life totally suck when I run it on my MBP? Is it because OSX requires less juice and therefore that battery was designed as such and is not used to the burden that is Windows?

Just curious about this.