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Why do people buy Macbooks to run Windows on them?

A

Adamantoise

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Aug 1, 2011
991
388
Correct me if I am wrong, but I was under the impression that Windows (even 7) ran badly using bootcamp.

However, I see a lot of people using Windows on their Macbooks as opposed to OS X. As a result, I have been getting curious, can anyone speak to the performance of Windows 7 being installed on a 2011 Macbook Pro?

Personally I am more efficient with Windows 7 but I already have that on my desktop so I prefer leaving OS X on my laptop. It's something new and different, I never understood why people paid for a Macbook just to run Windows on it.
 
Adamantoise said:
Correct me if I am wrong, but I was under the impression that Windows (even 7) ran badly using bootcamp.

However, I see a lot of people using Windows on their Macbooks as opposed to OS X. As a result, I have been getting curious, can anyone speak to the performance of Windows 7 being installed on a 2011 Macbook Pro?

Personally I am more efficient with Windows 7 but I already have that on my desktop so I prefer leaving OS X on my laptop. It's something new and different, I never understood why people paid for a Macbook just to run Windows on it.
Click to expand...

Windows 7 runs perfectly on my 2010 MBP.
In fact it seems to run better than Lion.
 
From my experience here in Asia rich ppl like to show off that they have a Mac, but have no clue how to use OS X. So they install windows as their main OS on a Mac! lol
 
My MBP is the best Windows machine I've ever owned. With that said, I only keep Windows around for Quickbooks. Overall, I still prefer the OSX (SL) experience.

I use Windows cause I have to. I use OSX cause I want to.
 
Perfer the Hardware

It is also a good Windows machine as well. My work MBP only has Windows 7. It makes it easier to exist in a Windows environment. In fact the Mac Mini I use also only has Windows 7.

My personal MBP only has OSX and if I need Windows then I will go the VM route..
 
They want to buy a fancy looking Apple computer, but fear the "learning" curve of OS X so they install what they know how to use: windows.

A mac will run windows perfectly well, the problem is not windows in bootcamp, but other things around it not working quite as well. For example, power management in windows sucks balls, so you're likely to get half or less of the advertised 7 hours out of a charge, even if you barely do anything on the computer. Fan management also sucks, so your laptop will become a stovetop before windows realizes it should, maybe, raise the fan speed.

IMO, if you're going to run mostly windows, buy something else, you're wasting your money.
 
I met a guy in college that dual booted Windows and Ubuntu on his MBP. When I asked him about it, his explanation was that he worked at an Apple store, so he got a discount on the hardware, but he didn't like OS X. Fair enough.
 
Why not? The hardware is nice, is all.

Mac = PC

There is no magic in bootcamp. Macs aren't magical. Superb build quality and reasonable components (certainly not very high end; screens could be better, SSDs could be better and so on).

Also, there are more OSs than Windows/OS X. Linux and BSD for instance.

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snaky69 said:
IMO, if you're going to run mostly windows, buy something else, you're wasting your money.
Click to expand...

You can install OS X on a lot of laptops. It works exactly the same as on a Mac. However, there might (I don't know if there are and even if they are, it's just a matter of finding the right drivers) be some issues with wifi card drivers and possibly camera (although that's just USB, so should work perfectly well).

All Apple hardware except Thunderbolt is stock PC hardware. So any PC can run Mac OS.

I'm saying this because there are as many people running OS X on non-Apple computers as there are people running Windows on Apple's.
 
win7 runs GREAT on my 2011 MBP - I run it using VMWare Fusion, why? because I need it for quickbooks and another PC-only program (donor care management software)
 
I personally run Windows 7 on my MBP to youse "Cisco Packet Tracer" and other networking/certification software.

Not EVERYTHING works on mac (at least natively) ;)
 
Windows 7 for gaming.

MATLAB and Microsoft Visual Studio for Win 7 as well. And the Photoshop on windows is simply superior to that of Mac's. Nothing beats Windows for true productivity.

I spend most of my "lax" time in OS X though. The trackpad alone has me coming back.
 
I understand that ppl install windows on a mac for some apps, but I don't get the ppl that use windows as their main OS just because they wanted the look of an Apple logo!
 
some people (me included) like OSX more, but need windows for programs required for classes...
 
Because I love windows 7 but many of my family members now have apple. I found it easier to just dual boot a Mac than go the hackintosh route.

Not a very big OSX fan.
 
I use VMWARE Fusion to run Windows 7 on my MacBook Pro only because I have several apps that were written for windows only. I did try the software crossover to allow windows software to run under the mac environment but it never really worked well for my apps.
 
I run a small consulting gig on the side out of my house... Repairing computers and what not... I bought the Mac because i can run Windows on it as well so I can fix more issues with 1 machine rather than owning 2+ machines... Having VM Fusion kicks a$$ when it comes to having WinXP, 7, Ubuntu, whatever loaded... So if I happen to plug in a hard drive from an unknown PC, if a virus does come through, I blow away the VM install... Problem solved...

On the upside, the early 2008 MBP that I have runs XP and 7 in VM mode just fine, and XP in Boot Camp much faster than any of the Dell laptops at work...

Just my two cents...
 
ctbear said:
Windows 7 runs perfectly on my 2010 MBP.
In fact it seems to run better than Lion.
Click to expand...

This. I prefer to use certain software natively, such as Office and CS5. I also find Windows 7 via bootcamp is extremely fast, so those are the reasons why I have installed Win 7 on my machines.
 
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simple...
taking advantage what apple offers on macbook pro. run perfectly multiple OS in one machine. i know, windows computers can run mac but its really stupid..

windows 7 runs amazingly on my MBP.
 
Windows runs great on my MacBook Pro; a lot of my friends use Windows predominantly; I don't, but I often boot into to run Windows only programs.
 
Just installed parallels with MS XP Pro and it runs great. Need it for remote access to corp network and office 2010 for current classes and online classes. Other than that I use OS X lion exclusively, love the trackpads navigation.
 
I used to have windows 7 installed via bootcamp and it ran great. No worse than a PC of similar spec, and it looks a whole lot better too :)
 
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