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strong clear advice dearly needed... intel/windows/macbook today...

W

whyrichard

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Aug 15, 2002
1,718
9
Hello all, today i really need your help...


i've been reading all the threads about the ability to run windows, specifically autocad and rhino windows programs, on an intel mac, such as the macbook pro, but i need straight answers real fast....


... i'm an architecture grad student and don't have too much time to tinker.

my ibook bit the dust. i'm left with only a workstation pc. i need a laptop. i always need a mac. what do i do?

my question is... right now, today, if i get a macbook pro, is there some method of using windows programs (such as autocad and rhino) on them at near full speed? (vpc was miderable on g4's)


ANY method... so far, i understand the most reliable solution is to boot into linux and from there into windows. .... can some moderate level tinkerer pull this off without days of misery? the only downfall is having to reboot, correct?


please you brilliant experienced empathetic geniuses out there.... give me your fortune cookie....



r.
 
whyrichard said:
Hello all, today i really need your help...

... i'm an architecture grad student and don't have too much time to tinker.

my question is... right now, today, if i get a macbook pro, is there some method of using windows programs (such as autocad and rhino) on them at near full speed? (vpc was miderable on g4's)
Click to expand...

Sorry, but no, not at this time. Especially if you don't have time to tinker.
 
whyrichard,
Currently it appears that the Linux/VMWare/Windows solution that you mentioned is the only possible way to run Windows at anywhere near native speed on the MBP. While it should work, it is a complicated setup that requires you to have a copy of Linux (free), VMWare (not free), and Windows (also not free). This would also necessitate rebooting to get into OS X. It does not sound like this is a viable solution for you. A cheap Windows laptop would probably be better than this.
 
the best solution for you is to pick up one of IBM's laptops b/c they are famous for being excellend work horses for a decent price. right now, it is not a good idea for you to buy a mac given your needs. during this intel mac transition period its best to wait for the dust to clear before spendind some serious cash.

any emulators out there to get windows on a mac are hacked thus they run a variable speeds. if you were able to run autocad etc it would be choppy at best.
 
jamesi said:
the best solution for you is to pick up one of IBM's laptops b/c they are famous for being excellend work horses for a decent price. right now, it is not a good idea for you to buy a mac given your needs. during this intel mac transition period its best to wait for the dust to clear before spendind some serious cash.

any emulators out there to get windows on a mac are hacked thus they run a variable speeds. if you were able to run autocad etc it would be choppy at best.
Click to expand...
The Linux/VMWare/Windows solution mentioned is not hacked in any way, and is all standard off-the-shelf software. The machine runs Linux, which natively runs a copy of VMWare to produce a virtual machine into which Windows is then loaded. Overkill, but it should work, and at near native speeds. Again, I would not recommend it for the OP.
 
thanks all for great advice...

(though i was hopeing you all would say, "go get the macbook!")

so the downfalls for me in getting a macbook pro is:

-installation procedure in using window's programs
-rebooting to go back and forth between operating systems....

is that it?
there will be very little speed hit in using windows through linux... right?
windows programs would run just fine through vmware/linux? illustrator? photoshop? i would be able to use an external monitor? etc....

I obviously want the macbook... and rebooting is not a big deal, i would reboot twice a day for that... (going to work, leaving work)... and i'm willing to spend *a little* time figuring out linux/vmware...

... would it be a mistake? thats all i ask... i have a desktop windows machine to compliment it...



thanks,
r.
 
PatrickF said:
Not entirely sure how fast this runs, but it's showing promise from what I can see. A VPC/VMWare alternative currently is Q http://www.kberg.ch/q/ and it's free.

Someone's already installed Windows 2000 on a MacBook Pro with Q.app and shares his results with some pictures http://blog.lippelt.com/articles/2006/03/07/q-app.

Hope this helps!
Click to expand...


https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=2218218#post2218218


this thread seems to suggest that openosx and vpc/vmware are more similar to virtualpc's interface with osx, and that is great, but the people who have used them seem to suggest there is still a performance hit.

would i be correct in thinking that the linux/vmware would be the only solution at present that takes very little performance hit?


r.
 
danny_w said:
The Linux/VMWare/Windows solution mentioned is not hacked in any way, and is all standard off-the-shelf software. The machine runs Linux, which natively runs a copy of VMWare to produce a virtual machine into which Windows is then loaded. Overkill, but it should work, and at near native speeds. Again, I would not recommend it for the OP.
Click to expand...
The VMWare Player is free:
http://www.vmware.com/products/player/
 
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