Setting up WINDOWS on a mac laptop?

[speekez]

I know, it's a sin... but....

I'm a MAC and my wife is a PC. Her PC is dying and she wants a new laptop. I'm trying to talk her into a Macbook Pro, as I'll be able to service it better, and I think it's just a more stable machine. Her work environment uses PCs though and there are certain scientific programs that run on Windows she'll need. So, I'm curious to hear more about running Windows on a mac. More or less, does the Windows operating systems run like it would if on a PC laptop?

I have an installation copy of Windows XP. What's needed these days to run Windows on a mac laptop? Do I need any third party software or does the Mac laptop have all of the necessary drivers required to start up Windows?

Do I need to split the Mac laptop harddrive into 2 partitions: one for Mac install and one for PC?

Thanks so much!

 

[miles01110]

So, I'm curious to hear more about running Windows on a mac. More or less, does the Windows operating systems run like it would if on a PC laptop?

More or less. Battery life sucks because Windows isn't optimized to run on the hardware, but it runs fine.

I have an installation copy of Windows XP. What's needed these days to run Windows on a mac laptop? Do I need any third party software or does the Mac laptop have all of the necessary drivers required to start up Windows?

BootCamp gives you nice instructions on how to partition your drive. You could also use a virtualization suite (parallels, vmware), but you'll take a performance hit.

 

[Paul B]

It's not a sin. Why would you think that?

I think your wife will be happiest if you install Windows with BootCamp. Just use Boot Camp Assistant and follow the directions. Then, at boot up you just need to hold the Option key to switch between OSX and Windows.

 

[speekez]

Thanks all. Sounds good and I'll give it a shot.

 

[mslide]

Her work environment uses PCs though and there are certain scientific programs that run on Windows she'll need. So, I'm curious to hear more about running Windows on a mac. More or less, does the Windows operating systems run like it would if on a PC laptop?

For the most part, if you install Windows under bootcamp it will feel just like a normal windows laptop when running windows. Don't take this the wrong way as I'm definitely a Mac as well, but does she want/need a Mac? It sounds like she'd wind up spending all of her work days booted up in Windows and not OSX. If that's the case, and if this computer is primarily going to be a work computer for her, you might as well just get her a windows laptop and save a few bucks. Having to run Windows on a Mac once in a while is not a sin (let's face it, it's a Windows world). What is a sin is owning a Mac but being booted up in Windows 90% of the time.

 

[MythicFrost]

Just remember, there should be a new line of MBPs coming out very soon. Just in case you didn't know.

 

[speekez]

I would say my wife is reasonably comfortable using a Mac. She's used mine enough to be able to navigate her way through the OS.

She's had a few Windows laptops over the past 10 years (the latest being a VAIO), and they have all become unreasonably slow, crashing due to overheating, etc. She lugs her laptop to and from work everyday, so this may just be a wear & tear issue. But when she has a problem with the machine, who does she look to for help - me. And because I have limited PC experience, I'm not very savvy trouble shooting them. So, that's the reason we've been looking at a Mac for her.

Good point about new laptops. Maybe I should wait until the 27th before making a decision. I've heard rumors about tablets, but haven't heard about new laptops.