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Why do people run Windows on Mac?

JackHobbs said:
I have a few pieces of software that only run on Windows, for instance a word plug in that allows me to draw 3D maths diagrams, and so I run Windows 7 using VM Fusion. It was also quite comforting when I first started using a mac (or when I went over to the dark side according to friends). A couple of years later and I rarely use my Windows virtual machine but it is there if I need it.
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This is a perfect answer for why I ran Windows (through VM Fusion) as well. I switched to a Mac and no longer had a PC and I was kind of nervous about it. Like Jack, I treated the VM like a safety blanket. I figured, if I really don't like OS X I could just boot directly into Windows.

It turns out I didn't really need it, but I was glad to have it when there was a web app I had to use for work that only supported Internet Explorer. I really hated having to load a whole OS just to use an out-dated and bad web browser.

I still have my XP VM, but thankfully no longer have a need for it or the reassurance it brought me as a new switcher.

I also have an extra monitor plugged in that I don't ever turn on. Just not used to it. I bet if I had an Apple Thunderbolt Display I would, though!
 
I have a separate hard drive on my Mac Pro. This has windows 7 running so I can play Battlefield 3.

The end.
 
I use to play games on Windows, but Steam's growing hatred for Microsoft is getting better and better for Mac users :D. And as soon as Steam finally releases their Linux client I'll jump ship and dual boot Linux instead of Windows.

Windows has been growing less and less appealing lately, but it's probably because I don't have a job and I'm not a developer. I'm a college student and all I need is a word processor and spreadsheet.... Google Docs! :]
 
I use a MacBook Pro w\ Retina display because it's the perfect balance of system hardware to me. It's a well designed, balanced system. I use Mac OS X because I genuinely love the BSD based operating system. It's speedy, reliable and troublefree. Unfortunately I'm a IT consultant to SMB clients and they exclusively use Windows based networks. There are quite a few Windows only network admin tools that I need to use. And where there are tools that work in Mac OS X I frequently find the Windows version is better performing for my needs. Now, I'm pretty specialized so I doubt that would apply to everyone. But it does apply to me.

Plus, there's a couple of games I play that are Windows only, or the Mac port is pretty shoddy so I don't mess with them.

When people ask me this question I tell them this is the only triple operating system on the market today (at least without some hacking and casual violation of the EULA). What I mean by that is I can run Windows, Linux and the Mac OS easily. Try that with your new Ultrabook and tell me how much time it takes to get everything working right.
 
Our companies VPN client only runs on Win XP, so I need to bring up a Windows guest image under VMware Fusion. No other way.
 
macuser1232 said:
Hey I just wanted to start a forum for people to post their uses for windows on their Mac. The only reason I can think of is using windows for business uses on your mac so you don't have to use a pc.
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I run it because I think Apple makes the absolute best hardware, but the absolute worst software and OS'. Windows fits my needs much better, but I love my Macbook Air, and I can always swap back to OSx if I need to do some programming for example.
 
macuser1232 said:
Hey I just wanted to start a forum for people to post their uses for windows on their Mac. The only reason I can think of is using windows for business uses on your mac so you don't have to use a pc.
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For the very same reasons why people find it abhorrent whenever they see someone wearing socks and sandals together.
 
Running Windows on a Mac!

My biggest concern is the accessibility to virus/malware/spyware, when windows is run on a Mac.

Does anyone have any experience or concerns etc about this aspect?
 
Microsoft Access, Project and Visio are only available on Windows. They are not used too often but you do need them every now and then so a lot of business students use Parallels or other Virtual Machine solutions.

It makes sense for students since you can get Windows for $15 at most Universities.

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savvybass said:
My biggest concern is the accessibility to virus/malware/spyware, when windows is run on a Mac.

Does anyone have any experience or concerns etc about this aspect?
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Use Microsoft Security Essentials. I have been using Windows for years with this free program and it makes windows run faster than Norton and McAfee that cost money.
 
I only boot in to windows 7 to play 2 games I own that only have a windows version available. If a Mac OS X port for these games becomes available, I'll uninstall them from the windows partition & reinstall the Mac versions.
 
spinedoc77 said:
I run it because I think Apple makes the absolute best hardware, but the absolute worst software and OS'. Windows fits my needs much better, but I love my Macbook Air, and I can always swap back to OSx if I need to do some programming for example.
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So in anther word you say that I need to buy a MBP format the hard drive and load WIN 7

I like it.
 
savvybass said:
My biggest concern is the accessibility to virus/malware/spyware, when windows is run on a Mac.

Does anyone have any experience or concerns etc about this aspect?
Click to expand...

Get Microsoft Security Essentials, set Flash to run on command in your browser, and don't do dumb things like download a movie off a suspicious website that's packaged in an .exe file. Do this, and the chances of you getting a virus are slim to none.

And like NAYo2002 more or less said, never ever install Norton or McAffe's. Using those is like making your car theft proof by putting square wheels on it and welding the doors shut.

jcpb said:
For the very same reasons why people find it abhorrent whenever they see someone wearing socks and sandals together.
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Because it's a tragic fashion faux pas? As in "I don't use Windows on a Mac because it clashes with the color of my shirt"?
 
Thanks for the advice Renzatic...although I am not sure about this downloading from "suspicious website...packaged in .exe files". Many viruses/spamware etc. are caught from perfectly "legitimate-looking" sites. I like the Norton/McAfee analogy!!


Renzatic said:
Get Microsoft Security Essentials, set Flash to run on command in your browser, and don't do dumb things like download a movie off a suspicious website that's packaged in an .exe file. Do this, and the chances of you getting a virus are slim to none.

And like NAYo2002 more or less said, never ever install Norton or McAffe's. Using those is like making your car theft proof by putting square wheels on it and welding the doors shut.



Because it's a tragic fashion faux pas? As in "I don't use Windows on a Mac because it clashes with the color of my shirt"?
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Thanks for the MSE advise. I have used MS Project for years, but you suggest that "they are not used often"!! What do you use and why?


NAYo2002 said:
Microsoft Access, Project and Visio are only available on Windows. They are not used too often but you do need them every now and then so a lot of business students use Parallels or other Virtual Machine solutions.

It makes sense for students since you can get Windows for $15 at most Universities.

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Use Microsoft Security Essentials. I have been using Windows for years with this free program and it makes windows run faster than Norton and McAfee that cost money.
Click to expand...
 
savvybass said:
Thanks for the advice Renzatic...although I am not sure about this downloading from "suspicious website...packaged in .exe files". Many viruses/spamware etc. are caught from perfectly "legitimate-looking" sites. I like the Norton/McAfee analogy!!
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Most drive by viruses you get these days are usually funnelled to you through Flash or the rare Java exploits. That's why I suggested setting Flash to click to play in your browser. It's one of the first things I do to secure myself. Beyond that, install MSE, set the UAC to the lowest setting, and make sure to check Windows Update about once a month. That's about all you have to do.

Exercising a little common sense and the slightest amount of caution is all it takes to keep from getting a bug in Windows.
 
Really appreciate the advice---thanks!!!!


Renzatic said:
Most drive by viruses you get these days are usually funnelled to you through Flash or the rare Java exploits. That's why I suggested setting Flash to click to play in your browser. It's one of the first things I do to secure myself. Beyond that, install MSE, set the UAC to the lowest setting, and make sure to check Windows Update about once a month. That's about all you have to do.

Exercising a little common sense and the slightest amount of caution is all it takes to keep from getting a bug in Windows.
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There is plenty of technical, scientific and instrumentation software which is available only for Windows, or only for Linux. Virtual machines allow me to run those on my Mac most of the time (with the exceptions being those cases where a PCI or PCMCIA peripheral is needed-- increasingly rare, fortunately).

The Mac has been an ideal virtual machine platform since it supports FireWire 800, which is fast enough to host VMs on an external drive. Now there's Thunderbird and USB 3, too.

Similarly, there are professional accounting and statistics software packages which run only on one OS or another. For those, VMs are ideal for the Mac user.

The ability to hot-key between OS X and some other OS (even more than one at a time!) is absolutely wonderful. If a particular application requires a specific network configuration or VPN, that's confined to the relevant VM too.
 
cariocap said:
I second that.

99% in windows and 1% i OS/X to perform updates to the system.

IMHO, the best OS with the best hardware.
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aha !!!! I have a few questions for you fine folks that are running 99% windows.

Are there still problems with fan control? what about gpu switching? boot camp runs nvidia gpu only correct? have you found any things that just doesnt work?

I have the new non retina macbook pro 15 and a small boot camp partition but I have found that some of my software packages, though they are made for mac too actually works way better under windows anyway (photoshop being one of them). so im tossing up whether I should try and rearrange everything and go mainly windows (Ive been a windows guy for 24 years now) and osx feels very slow and sluggish when working in it. I do like OSX though on the areas it does well, it does very well.
 
savvybass said:
Thanks for the MSE advise. I have used MS Project for years, but you suggest that "they are not used often"!! What do you use and why?
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Oh I merely meant I personally don't use them often. I use them to build schedules for my project management class assignments.
 
Resolution Independence

Resolution Independence. I have used Mac since 1986. I upgraded to the 17" MBP, high res, anti-glare, in 2009, expecting resolution independence to come soon in Mac OS X. Not yet, so still using Win 7 to achieve a natural, appropriately scaled user experience for all activities.

With resolution independence now not likely to happen, I would like to buy a classic MBP with anti-glare Retina display. Not rMBP. Until then, Win 7 is a better every day experience for me.
 
The only reason I run Windows on my MBP is our VPN software for work only runs on the Windows OS. Once connected I run Remote Desktop to take over control of my office PC. That's all.
 
The translation software my clients require me to use runs on a Win OS only -when I ask the software companies if they have any plans to make their applications MAC compatible, so I can ditch Windows, the usual reply I receive is "No". Nothing in the way of "we're working on it", or "one day maybe" - just a firm "No".

I am currently running everything work-related in a VM (Parallels) on my new iMac and enjoying the Mac experience...:D
 
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