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What version of windows to get?

M

MacBook-Gal

macrumors regular
Original poster
I realllllyyy hate to do this, but I have been thinking about going ahead and installing windows onto my Mac....need to use a few windows programs for my classes this yr. 😱 My school doesnt have windows discounts, so I'm trying to decide what version of would be best/cheapest to get. I will probably be installing it via boot camp, but was wondering if the vista home premium version works with parallels if I decide to go with that route instead. Also, this may be a stupid question, but I was wondering what exactly the OEM version is, if I could install vista using an upgrade version.....or if I need to get the full version.

I'm not very literate when it comes to windows.....so any suggestions would be appreciated! :apple: 😱
 
I have had both Vista Home Premium 32 OEM(buy this one BTW)(I use this currently) and before this I ran XP, both using bootcamp. I think Vista runs a lot better than XP did. I had a few problems with XP and in 3 months I have had Vista I haven't had 1 problem. Plus Vista isn't half bad. Don't tell the Pro-Apple people that(BTW I only buy Apple products 90% of the time if available). Of course Vista isn't nearly as good as OS X, but it is still pretty good. Vista is easier to use IMO than XP and looks a lot better. Like it or not Vista is the way MS is going and all the colleges will be going this way sooner or later. Mine already has. I know many say Vista has a lot of problems, but the kinks or most of them have been fixed. Like I said I haven't had any problems.

I bought a copy of Vista Home Premium 32 OEM from Newegg.com for $79. Their regular price I think is $99 which is a great deal also. You will only save approxiately $10 if you go with XP. Then again it might be the same price now.

Good luck.
 
As far as the user interface goes, it's personal opinion. But it's clearly a fact that XP needs much, much less of your system to run at it's fullest potential- and makes for the best virtual machine. 😉

If you're planning on using VMWare Fusion or Parallels to use Windows in a virtual machine, XP is the way to go. But if you're just using it in BootCamp, Vista might be for you.
 
Recently installed XP SP2 (from ebay for $118 shipped) on my MBP, following the boot camp install instructions to the letter. The install worked as it was supposed, and it runs just fine in bootcamp or in VMware. Then upgraded Bootcamp and installed SP3 without a hitch either. Recently bumped up to 4gig RAM and just running XP thru VMware now. it's fast enough with the extra RAM for my business use purposes so no reason to boot in boot camp.

Mark
 
pwn247 said:
As far as the user interface goes, it's personal opinion. But it's clearly a fact that XP needs much, much less of your system to run at it's fullest potential- and makes for the best virtual machine. 😉

If you're planning on using VMWare Fusion or Parallels to use Windows in a virtual machine, XP is the way to go. But if you're just using it in BootCamp, Vista might be for you.
Click to expand...

Normally I'd say Vista but if all you're going to do is run some light applications in Fusion/Parallels, then yeah XP is probably your best bet.
 
Thanks for the info everyone! I will probably go with the OEM...still undecided between vista and xp pro. One other thing I was wondering is how safe would it be to get an OS off of ebay? I've heard of people doing that and getting great deals but is it a big likelihood that the software could be bugged with viruses or whatever?
 
If you have enough RAM (at least 3) then I would recommend Vista. I use XP myself and it's okay, it gets the job done. But if I had more RAM (I only have 2) then I would definitely run Vista. My girlfriend has Vista on her laptop and I like it a lot more than XP.
 
MacBook-Gal said:
Thanks for the info everyone! I will probably go with the OEM...still undecided between vista and xp pro. One other thing I was wondering is how safe would it be to get an OS off of ebay? I've heard of people doing that and getting great deals but is it a big likelihood that the software could be bugged with viruses or whatever?
Click to expand...
Once again, I recommend Vista. XP is a seven year old OS that doesn't really take advantage of things like dual core processors. And yes, it's true it uses less resources, but the trade off is that it often doesn't use resources at all. Vista appears to use more of your memory (memory that you paid for, mind you), but it also has SuperFetch, which means that apps that are used the most often get priority for memory. And this is why Vista in fact runs better than XP when properly configured.

As for buying an OS off eBay, I don't think it's a bad idea, but I'd recommend you just go on Newegg and get an OEM copy. Also try to get a 64-bit edition of Windows if possible. Both Parallels and VMware Fusion support 64-bit installations, IIRC.
 
Quillz said:
Once again, I recommend Vista. XP is a seven year old OS that doesn't really take advantage of things like dual core processors. And yes, it's true it uses less resources, but the trade off is that it often doesn't use resources at all. Vista appears to use more of your memory (memory that you paid for, mind you), but it also has SuperFetch, which means that apps that are used the most often get priority for memory. And this is why Vista in fact runs better than XP when properly configured.

As for buying an OS off eBay, I don't think it's a bad idea, but I'd recommend you just go on Newegg and get an OEM copy. Also try to get a 64-bit edition of Windows if possible. Both Parallels and VMware Fusion support 64-bit installations, IIRC.
Click to expand...

Amen. Vista 64 = awesome. You know what, I retract my earlier statement. Get Vista.
 
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