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Using iMac as PC only...

H

hakr

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 18, 2009
226
0
Western shore, Chesapeake Bay. Maryland
...yeah, yeah, yeah, I know.

It's not for me, but for someone very close.

The person in question is using an older, company-supplied HP laptop with XP installed, along with Office 2007, and VPN and some other apps, none particularly esoteric.

The laptop is a really slow p.o.s.

So, I'm thinking of getting this person a new 21" iMac, and making the BootCamp partition take up at least half the space available on the 500-gig drive.

1. Is it possible to have the iMac automatically boot up into Windows 7 without user intervention? There's no interest on the user's part to learn Mac OS.

2. Is there a list of apps extant that will simply not run under BootCamp/Windows? Excluding games, which are of no interest.

I've had limited experience with BootCamp, but what I ran under it via Windows seemed to work ok.

Comments, advice, suggestions?
 
You can set it to boot automatic into windows.
Except for games, most anything will run under bootcamp. The only issue might show up is if it needs unusual devices connected.
 
If the iMac will never be used with the Mac OS...
just get a Dell... save yourself $1,000 and buy some other gadgets.
 
old-wiz said:
You can set it to boot automatic into windows.
Except for games, most anything will run under bootcamp. The only issue might show up is if it needs unusual devices connected.
Click to expand...

wrong games run perfectly fine for me under bootcamp i played wow and bioshock perfectly on my imac.
 
dirwood said:
If the iMac will never be used with the Mac OS...
just get a Dell... save yourself $1,000 and buy some other gadgets.
Click to expand...

A new 21-inch iMac with student pricing is $1149. Dell's equivalent is $149? :D

The last time I dealt with Dell customer support, I was on the phone for two hours with some very nice people from India who did not speak English very well, and whose talents consisted of attempting to read "solutions" from a script.

No thanks.
 
I'd say this is a waste of a good Mac. Along with other companies, Dell makes two all-in-ones (Studio One and XPS One), as does HP (TouchSmart). You've got plenty of (more reasonable) options.
 
Our college campus just built a new library, and they decided to run iMac's in bootcamp for most of the computers. The software is windows only, and I'm guessing that because the iMac is so clean, with less cables, and even speakers built in (I know, PC towers still can't afford a $2 internal speaker to be standard en masse).

There are many reasons to go with an all-in-one design, and several reasons companys and people are stuck with Windows. I thought it was a waste at first, but it's like ebony and ivory, living together in perfect harmonyyyy!
 
1. yes
2. all windows programs will run, if it's compatible with that version of windows

Typically people think bootcamp will be a safety net. However, if you have mac equivalent programs, and spend 15 minutes showing them around, most people actually don't use windows if there is a os x equivalent.
 
If you're planning on sticking with windows, then I'd say its a waste of money to spend so much money on an iMac. Get a dell or and HP, that way you'll also have support for problems.

There's not too much support provided by apple when you run into issues and you're only running windows.
 
hakr said:
Thanks, but I've had my fill of Dell's computers and its "customer support."
Click to expand...

Buy from the Small Business Department, the support is (or at least was a year ago) all US based and their turn around is incredible. I sent my laptop off for screen replacement on Friday afternoon and I had it back by 8:00 am Monday.
 
dirwood said:
If the iMac will never be used with the Mac OS...
just get a Dell... save yourself $1,000 and buy some other gadgets.
Click to expand...

Other than that statement being far, far off, the current iMac's are actually an extremely great deal for any computer if you like an all-in-one design.
 
It's not that far off at all..
Not when you factor in the retail price for Windows, lack of OS support that will be offered by Apple, etc.
 
dirwood said:
It's not that far off at all..
Not when you factor in the retail price for Windows, lack of OS support that will be offered by Apple, etc.
Click to expand...

The iMac is $1,200, and the person works for a company. They will possibly have a copy of Windows supplied for them, and support will be supplied by the company for any software issues. If they do buy a, let's say, $300 copy of Windows 7, your $1000 off turns out to be a $500 computer. They do exist, but are in no way comparable to an iMac with the 21.5" screen.

Hardware issues wouldn't be covered by the company, but would still be covered by Apple (as the warranty doesn't technically cover software to begin with, it would be wrong of them to deny coverage on a machine with only Windows installed if that's what the customer wanted).

I'm just saying. You're argument would stand for say, a Mac Pro, but the current iMacs are well worth the money for what you get if people want to spend it.
 
I see a lot of things dissing Dell customer support, and other customer support.

I see a lot wrong with getting an iMac to run Windows only. First off, Apple Support isn't going to help you with anything in Windows.

Most of the time when a user calls customer support, it will most likely be a software issue. Plus, what about firmware updates for the machine? You can't apply those in Windows.
 
This just doesn't seem to make any sense. The person wants a new computer and has stated that they don't want to use OS X so your going to go off and buy them a mac? They are going to have to use the mac side of things at some point in time.

I agree with everybody else who says just buy your friend a windows desktop or laptop with similar specs to the iMac and save some money.
 
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