Macbook Question

[prouss]

I'm a 3-yr iMac user but looking at getting my first Intel Mac, most likely a white 2.2 Macbook. I need to be able to run Windows XP also (I use Quicken, and my daughter has school stuff that runs on Windows), so my question is whether to buy it from a reseller who will load XP for me or do it myself, i.e. is it a relatively smooth process especially since I'm not a complete Mac newbie? And while I've read that Fusion is probably better than Parallels these days, which do users here recommend? Thanks.

 

[quintus314]

It's a really easy process, if you want to do it yourself - providing you're using leopard.

 

[Techguy172]

I'd recommend getting Fusion and maybe even a bigger Hard Drive XP is really easy to install on a mac it's just like installing it on any computer.

 

[Consultant]

You can do it yourself. Bootcamp is extremely simple and comes with good directions (just print them out if you are unfamiliar with it).


The time consuming part is the actual install of windows.
XP requires you to babysit the install, answer questions, wait, answer questions, wait, answer questions, wait...

 

[chickenninja]

its really easy to do, dont waste your money paying someone else to do it, get a bigger harddrive since having 2 partitions will cut your space in half.

 

[amac4me]

Apple has designed Boot Camp with ease-of-use in mind. No need to shell out any money to get someone else to do it.

 

[prouss]

Thanks for all the fast responses, I feel comfortable doing it myself now. On the issue of hard drive size, does any of Boot Camp/Parallels/Fusion reserve a set amount for XP or can't it always be user-defined? My photo, video and music files will reside on the iMac and external storage, so the Macbook is really for office files and my kid's school stuff, which shouldn't take up too much space.

 

[surferfromuk]

Regards Fusion - it's very easy to create a 'Virtual Machine' to run XP in - takes about 10 seconds using the WMware built in wizard. When you do it you indicate the Maximum size the C:drive v-disk can grow to ie 20GB.The key thing is that it will only take the space you use in the XP machine. By default an XP 64-bit will take about 2.5GB of your mac disk space and 'grow' itself as you install more apps into it. If for some reason you hit the max you can always add another 'v-disk (ie a D: drive) later very easily if you run out of space from the fusion menu or use the vmware-vdiskmanager to 're-specify' the limit on the c drive ( though this last bit is a bit tricky I must confess so set a nice big limit to begin with)

Then you 'run' the vmachine - stick in your XP disk and away you go - XP will install in about 20 mins - no drivers to find or mess about with - it just does it through wmware - in that respect it's better than messing about trying to install it on a PC!!It even does cool stuff like passes through the network to automatically use whatever network your using on the mac ie it'll use the mac's wireless connection and you don't have to install wireless crap into the XP in fusion - very easy. It will also automatically see your 'mac disk' so you can get files in and out effortlessly.

It's all seriously hassle free!

 

[prouss]

Thanks. And today's announcements even answer the question of HD size - I can get a 2.4/160 now for what the white 2.2/120 cost yesterday.