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Mac Questions

T

teeforb

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 27, 2007
51
0
Hi All,

I am new to Mac and I am seriously considering moving from Windows based laptops to Mac. I am thinking of getting the MacBook. Could you guys please help answer some questions for me?

1) Does the MacBook support 802.11N?
2) What is the difference between Airport and regular 802.11 wireless transmission?
3) Once VPN into work, can I just “ssh” from a mac terminal into my jobs network? And if so, can I use GUIs?
4) Do I need 2Gs of RAM? If money is not issue, should I just go ahead and get it?
5) Have anyone ever used Parallels Desktop to run Windows on top of Mac? And if so, how is it. While running Windows, do I have access to all ports and drives? Does Windows take advantage of ALL resources (RAM, Dual core CPU)? There is another application similar to this, but I do not remember the name. How is that one?
6) I know that Intel will be dropping the 45nm chipset sometime soon. Should I wait for it?

I think that’s it…
 
1) Yes
2) Airport is just an Apple branding term. It's standard 802.11 networking
3) That is entirely dependant on your work setup. I'd say probably.
4) No, but it'll help. The amount of RAM you need will depend on your usage, but I'd go for at least 2Gb of money is not an issue
5) No, no one has ever used Parallels. :p Yes I use Parallels to run Windows. You have access to whatever you give Parallels access to. You can't assign ALL resources to Parallels: you need some to run OSX! At the moment Parallels only presents a single CPU to the guest OS and you are only getting a virtualised GPU, you don't get the full power. If you want that then use Bootcamp to boot into Windows.
6) I'd expect the MBP would get that first whilst the plain MB remains on the previous generation chipset for a while.
 
teeforb said:
Hi All,

I am new to Mac and I am seriously considering moving from Windows based laptops to Mac. I am thinking of getting the MacBook. Could you guys please help answer some questions for me?

1) Does the MacBook support 802.11N?
2) What is the difference between Airport and regular 802.11 wireless transmission?
3) Once VPN into work, can I just “ssh” from a mac terminal into my jobs network? And if so, can I use GUIs?
4) Do I need 2Gs of RAM? If money is not issue, should I just go ahead and get it?
5) Have anyone ever used Parallels Desktop to run Windows on top of Mac? And if so, how is it. While running Windows, do I have access to all ports and drives? Does Windows take advantage of ALL resources (RAM, Dual core CPU)? There is another application similar to this, but I do not remember the name. How is that one?
6) I know that Intel will be dropping the 45nm chipset sometime soon. Should I wait for it?

I think that’s it…
Click to expand...

1. Yes, although I'm not sure whether you have to buy the $3 update or if it's included.

2. No.

3. I don't know.

4. The More RAM the better.

5. I'm not sure.

6. I have no idea.

EDIT: robbieduncan beat me to it!
 
cbrain said:
1. Yes, although I'm not sure whether you have to buy the $3 update or if it's included.
Click to expand...

The updater was only required for Macbooks bought before the feature was available/standard. All new Macbooks have shipped with it enabled for quite a while now.
 
Hey Guys, thanks for the answers!!!

Question on the following answer:

6) I'd expect the MBP would get that first whilst the plain MB remains on the previous generation chipset for a while.
Click to expand...

What is a while? months, half a year, a year?

Thanks!!! You guys are great!!!
 
5. The other app is VMWare Fusion. I use this, as do many others. The performance difference between Fusion and Parallels is very small from what I understand. Many professional reviews have given a slight edge to Fusion (because you can enable dual cores in it, unlike Parallels). From what I have read, customer support in Parallels is spotty, but it is, from my experience, very good in Fusion. VMWare is a well-established company with a good history. I'd go with it.
 
tjevans said:
5. The other app is VMWare Fusion. I use this, as do many others. The performance difference between Fusion and Parallels is very small from what I understand. Many professional reviews have given a slight edge to Fusion (because you can enable dual cores in it, unlike Parallels). From what I have read, customer support in Parallels is spotty, but it is, from my experience, very good in Fusion. VMWare is a well-established company with a good history. I'd go with it.
Click to expand...

Thanks for in info.

Do people typically go "Boot Camp" or virtual OS like VMWare and Parallels?
 
teeforb said:
Do people typically go "Boot Camp" or virtual OS like VMWare and Parallels?
Click to expand...

I think it depends on how much time you think you'll spend with windows, as well as what you intend to do. Gamers tend to want to use boot camp because you're not virtualizing the OS, you're running it outright, and thus, there is lower overhead.

It is definitely more convenient to use a virtual machine. You just start it up and run windows within Mac OS. In my case, my company uses proprietary software that is windows only. I only need to use that software two, maybe three times a day. So, in my case, it's much easier to use a virtual machine.
 
Is the MacMall a good place to buy a MacBook. They have some rebates and you can get the MacBook pre-installed with Parallels and either Vista or XP OS. What do you guys think?
 
The macbook supports UP TO 2gb IIRC. Go with at least 1gb but 2gb is def nice.
 
Another Question. Does the video card on the MacBook easily support a display with a 22" monitor? I believe something like 1680x1050?

Thanks again!!!
 
Original questions
1) yes
2) none, they are synonyms in the apple world
3) i ca'nt standunder gramer uur
4) the more the better...see question 5
5) parallels is alright...but i (and everyone i know) prefer VMware...allows you to run windows and mac simultaneously (so you can have a start bar and a dock...but you need plently of RAM for this...go 2GB for sure if you can
6) new macbooks should be here tuesday (which is in less than 12 hours for me atm :p)
*See frontpage

meanwhile...i'm pretty sure the macbook can handle any size screen, but will only transmit at about the resolution you're saying


good luck and welcome to the family:)
 
teeforb said:
Is the MacMall a good place to buy a MacBook. They have some rebates and you can get the MacBook pre-installed with Parallels and either Vista or XP OS. What do you guys think?
Click to expand...

Keep in mind that if you have any issues with the machine you get, MacMall will not exchange it - you are stuck with Apple warranty service on it. Apple will only do exchanges on machines bought through the Apple store or Apple.com

Read the fine print on the sales terms and conditions.
 
To add to my words, I would say that RAM allocation is the price you pay for the convenience to run 2 OSes simultaneously. This is the very essence of any Virtual Machine, like Parallels Desktop. I'm not likely to use dual-booting 100 times a day to hop between different apps in Windows and Mac OS.
Nevertheless, hardcore gamers (if there are any on Macs) will not like Parallels due to some graphic problems (though they must have a very good DX 9 support now). Boot Camp then - to use windows natively...
 
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