Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

KDR

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 8, 2007
119
1
I am using all Macs now at home but have been using PCs at work for the last 16 years. Having never run boot camp or parallels, I am curious about using a MBP at work. Other than price, are there any compromises or performance or compatibility issues with running windows on a Mac in a PC business environment? In other words, would the software or network resources perform any differently than if it were a PC?
 
would the software or network resources perform any differently than if it were a PC?

Nope.

That said, I don't like the way touchpad behaves in Windows. It just does not feel the same as it does in Mac OS X. Apple just wanted Windows to 'work' and they simply just were not yearning to get the touchpad drivers work the same way.
 
Simple answer: Nope.

Not entirely true, from what I've heard (and experienced for a short time). While a Mac running boot camp will act basically like a PC, the battery life won't be anywhere near as good as when running OSX. I would get around 2 hours when I had it installed.

Then again, I suppose that makes it act even more like a PC, eh? :p
 
Not entirely true, from what I've heard (and experienced for a short time). While a Mac running boot camp will act basically like a PC, the battery life won't be anywhere near as good as when running OSX. I would get around 2 hours when I had it installed.

Then again, I suppose that makes it act even more like a PC, eh? :p

Hahaha, that is true, but my "nope" answer was in regards to the OP's question about software issues. It is true that W7 on my MBP runs at max 3 hours on half brightness. The trackpad also isn't as smooth as OSX, but then again, PC trackpads aren't that fun to use anyway. Maybe Apple did this to imitate the feel of a PC on purpose. :p
 
At that point, it is a PC, with the exception of using EFI instead of BIOS, but that's a nerdy distinction that's irrelevant once you install the OS.

I wouldn't buy a Mac only for Windows use though, but if it's secondary, yeah, it's fine. USB peripherals are great for being able to use on either platform, with any type of machine, and avoiding the lackluster performance of notebook keyboards and trackpads (even if the MBP ones are the best in the business).
 
If you're running windows in bootcamp then you won't have any issues except licensing lol.

As far as macs in an active directory environment well it'll suck major league if your IT admin wants/needs control over your box because of the hacks that need to be made to the active directory schema in order for OS X to pickup on.
Mac performance sucks with respect to SMB. Thats why companies pay big bucks to go with something such as ExtremeZ-IP or, in my case, host a separate mac server hooked up to the active directory for mac clients (the "golden triangle").
Some other stuff too. If you need access to lots of resources that are M$ specific on the network side then you may run into some issues.
 
I have been one of the lone mac users at my work for 4 years now. Everyone else gets issued a PC laptop but I chose to use my MBP simply so I don't have to mange multiple devices.

Zero problems for me. I do use Parallels for that oddball Windows app on occasion but most of the time my laptop outperforms the PC counterparts. With Office 2011 I'm completely compatible with exchanging documents. Plus, OSX cranks out PDF documents natively and I distribute these a lot. (Windows users must purchase this kind of capability).

Not to mention... my battery always outlasts theirs and I'm usually the only one that can connect to the office projector. :D
 
I have windows 7 on my MBP and it runs well. I will admit though you do get the occasional freeze and it is a bit buggy from time to time.


If your gonna run bootcamp and windows 7 for work it will be fine. Like I said it's not perfect so you will get the occasional freeze here and there, but it would be worth it.
 
Windows will work exactly the same, except the computer will look a lot better because it's a Mac :)
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.