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Macbook without MacOsX possible ?

M

mgsolidsnak3

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 31, 2007
35
0
Hello,

I am thinking of buying a macbook and I was wondering if its possible to completely uninstall macosx and use bootcamp to have winXP & debian.
I really don’t want macosx wasting HD space.

(Why choose a macbook if I don’t want macosx, simply because with student discount is much cheaper compared to a same spec non-mac laptop).

Thanks.
 
Well, to provide you with an answer:

NO

Windows is not sold or supported by Apple, and it will not run on it's own anyway.

You should look at some PCs, or try using Mac OS X.
 
I don’t want to start a war macos vs win vs linux

I just want to know if its possible.

I have made quite some research (UK) and I can’t find a c2d 12”-13” laptop for ₤700uk, so if you can find one please post a link (but known brands non generic laptops)

I have windows XP, I don’t care if its not officially supported or sold by apple

So is it possible?

Thanks
 
I don't think you can completely delete OS X... you can certainly give Windows the larger partition...

Why you'd want to is beyond me, though.
 
You should keep the mac side in order to download firmware updates if nothing else...
 
A friend of mine can book his mac pro from a hard disk which is only NTFS. So i'm pretty sure you can format the drive and use a full size XP partition. There will be problems with Linux though. However there are ways around this.
 
psychofreak said:
You should keep the mac side in order to download firmware updates if nothing else...
Click to expand...

That sounds like a good idea, just shrink down its partition to something reeeally minimal. But I don't get why everyone here is saying it's not possible to remove MacOS X. What's the reason for this? Or is everyone just bashing Windows/Linux to try and convert the OP to MacOS?

I know people that use Linux (Debian I believe, possibly Ubuntu) on their ibooks. As the _only_OS_. So I don't know what it is that some of you think changed with the macbooks.
 
Not to mention that it's very likely you're going to have inevitable hardware conflicts using a bootcamp-only solution. Bootcamp is, after all, still in Beta.

Seems like a pointless exercise, mgsolidsnak3, and also one that won't get much sympathy on these boards.

Also, is it interesting to anybody else that a regular meme from doubters on these boards is how much more mac hardware costs in comparison to PCs, yet mgsolidsnak3 has the exact opposite problem? Interesting to me, at least.
 
efi is your problem here, windows does not support it, if you are tech savvy you could prob install some kind of boot loader that supports efi such as grub, so that would be the area to start looking in but if you have no intentions on using osx i agree with the others, get a PC, itll save a LOT of hasttle, never did i ever here my self saying that lmao
 
sturigdson said:
Also, is it interesting to anybody else that a regular meme from doubters on these boards is how much more mac hardware costs in comparison to PCs, yet mgsolidsnak3 has the exact opposite problem? Interesting to me, at least.
Click to expand...

He can get a PC laptop of similar specs to the MacBook's for less than £700 easily. I think he just wants the uber sexiness of a MacBook with the dirty, dirty in'ards of Windows.

:p
 
It is very interesting.

Also, I think most manufactuers have switched to Vista, so buying a notebook from Dell or other right now will get you Vista, OP seems to want XP.

If this is what you want to do, buy a Macbook and get a larger hard drive. Get the Mac OS install down in size (remove fonts, drivers, iLife, etc). And install Windows. It will be taking up space, but you do NEED whether you want to have it or not. Firmware at the very least, or BootCamp updates.

Also, I would wait til Leopard when BootCamp will be a final product.
 
You can if you install BootCamp and then boot up with the XP Cd and format the entire Mac (C?) drive.

However, at least try Mac OS X. It's a great OS
 
You idiots telling him no are just jerks.

Its totally possible. You can format the drive NFTS totally and just install Windows. Install the bootcamp drivers (they can be downloaded) and you've got a 100% functional, attractive Windows machine.
 
taylorwilsdon said:
You idiots telling him no are just jerks.

Its totally possible. You can format the drive NFTS totally and just install Windows. Install the bootcamp drivers (they can be downloaded) and you've got a 100% functional, attractive Windows machine.
Click to expand...

I imagine he is, like, wanting to do this without doing much hacking. As in, will my Macbook run Windows as any other PC would?

No... and not only that, I've never actually seen or heard of anyone buy a Mac and totally remove Mac OS X to just have Windows. If anyone has done this, I'm sure it was a tremendous hassle. Also, if you'd ever want to get service to your system, you'd have to probably re-install Mac OS X to prove you didn't mess around with your machine really bad.

Not only that, it is WAY more financially practical to buy a PC. There are lots of attractive PCs. ThinkPads for example, or some Sonys.
 
I believe that software is what matters and making this move
does not make much sense. Anyway, I see your point in installing
Debian there. I installed Fedora in Mac Pros using rEFIt and
I do not foresee any major issues doing the same with Macbooks.

As others have suggested, keeping OSX is not a bad thing. If it comes
a day that you need extra room then you can shred it.

But...if you want to run Debian and Windows...get an Asus.
They build awesome cases and their prices are much better.
 
dpaanlka said:
I imagine he is, like, wanting to do this without doing much hacking. As in, will my Macbook run Windows as any other PC would?

No... and not only that, I've never actually seen or heard of anyone buy a Mac and totally remove Mac OS X to just have Windows. If anyone has done this, I'm sure it was a tremendous hassle. Also, if you'd ever want to get service to your system, you'd have to probably re-install Mac OS X to prove you didn't mess around with your machine really bad.

Not only that, it is WAY more financially practical to buy a PC. There are lots of attractive PCs. ThinkPads for example, or some Sonys.
Click to expand...

Yes, I've done. There was no hassle and no hacking. Bootcamp is basically out of beta (version 1.2) and there is nothing that doesn't work. It was one of the most pain free experiences of my life. Even bluetooth worked out of the box (while installing Windows, with no drivers installed)
To clarify, bootcamp is not a program. It is a set of drivers. You do not need OSX installed to make use of them.

ITS POSSIBLE AND EASY DON'T LISTEN TO THESE IDIOTS.
 
Bootcamp is a partitioning program which is its main function. its not just a set of drivers...they're on the side.
 
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