Windows 7 vs. 8 on Mac

[johnnyyt]

i recently purchased my rMBP 15 and im loving it.
no idea why i haven't converted over to mac earlier
i've been a pc user most of my life but i got used to the mac a lot faster than i did with windows

with that being said, i still have apps (mostly games) that i want to run that are window specific.
i've decided to go with parallels because it seems like the way to go (correct me if im wrong)

my main question is what operating would run best on my mac? windows 7 or windows 8
in terms of stability and performance. i'm also looking for the one that will take up the least amount of space, my drive is only 256gb

 

[Renzatic]

They'll both be about the same in HDD usage. Resource usage? Win8 boots faster, is built to take advantage of UEFI, and is a little lighter on ram usage. It's not so great you could consider it a night and day difference over 7, but it is a little bit lighter on its feet.

You could go with both and be pretty happy. The only real question is how long is Apple going to support 7 through Bootcamp?

 

[Panch0]

I would go with Win7 myself. Win8 really doesn't work very well without a touchscreen (I suspect that this may change with the first Service Pack).

As far as Parallels, I personally prefer VM Ware Fusion. Parallels has typically had a slight advantage on Graphics performance (good for games), but if you really want to play games, Boot Camp is the way to go anyway.

 

[johnnyyt]

I would go with Win7 myself. Win8 really doesn't work very well without a touchscreen (I suspect that this may change with the first Service Pack).

As far as Parallels, I personally prefer VM Ware Fusion. Parallels has typically had a slight advantage on Graphics performance (good for games), but if you really want to play games, Boot Camp is the way to go anyway.

i was thinking the same with win7 and win8. i've tried out win8 on a few computers and it i agree, it doesnt work without a touchscreen

i'll mainly be running games on windows since most of the apps i use are already on my mac. is there a reason why boot camp is better than parallels for gaming?

one of the neat features i like about parallels and vmware is the integration with the mac osx. you can launch windows apps natively through osx. does boot camp offer this feature?

 

[takeshi74]

i've decided to go with parallels because it seems like the way to go (correct me if im wrong)

Without knowing your reasoning it's impossible to even attempt to give you feedback. No solution is ever one-size-fits-all. Parallels is the way to go for some and not the way to go for others.

i'll mainly be running games on windows since most of the apps i use are already on my mac. is there a reason why boot camp is better than parallels for gaming?

It's not just Parallels but any time you're using a virtual/emulation solution there's overhead. There's no such overhead with Bootcamp.

one of the neat features i like about parallels and vmware is the integration with the mac osx. you can launch windows apps natively through osx. does boot camp offer this feature?

Nope. You're either running Boot Camp or OSX. However, you can run Boot Camp under Parallels and Fusion which is what I do so I can both Boot Camp and use Fusion based on my needs at the moment. If I'm not gaming Fusion tends to work for me. If I want to game I'll Boot Camp.

 

[Renzatic]

i was thinking the same with win7 and win8. i've tried out win8 on a few computers and it i agree, it doesnt work without a touchscreen

It depends on what you're doing. The desktop is still the desktop, and still works about the same as the desktop always has. As long as you're not spending a good 70% of your time in Metro apps, you won't need a touchscreen.

And the start screen? It's a glorified app launcher and gignormous search engine. You can always get Start8 to replace it if you don't like it.

Between the two, I wouldn't say there's a hugely compelling reason to prefer one over the other. But if you can get 8 for cheaper, I'd say go for it.

 

[LeeM]

for gaming use bootcamp.

 

[renem111]

i would also recommend you win 8 ... i use it on my mac

 

[MJL]

Biggest gripe a number of people seem to have with Windows 8 is with the start menu / interface. However Windows 8 can be made to look and feel like Windows 7.

http://www.stardock.com/products/start8/ (no affiliation, just a happy user)

 

[thejadedmonkey]

It depends on what you're doing. The desktop is still the desktop, and still works about the same as the desktop always has. As long as you're not spending a good 70% of your time in Metro apps, you won't need a touchscreen.

And the start screen? It's a glorified app launcher and gignormous search engine. You can always get Start8 to replace it if you don't like it.

Between the two, I wouldn't say there's a hugely compelling reason to prefer one over the other. But if you can get 8 for cheaper, I'd say go for it.

I have 2 compelling reasons for Windows 8. Reason number 1: You can pause file transfers, suspend the laptop, shut down the device you're copying from, and come back a week later to finish.

Reason 2: Apple likes to stop supporting older OS's way too fast. Windows 8 will last longer.

 

[ianwuk]

On VMWare Fusion 5, they map the Apple key as the same as Start key on a normal Windows keyboard. Meaning, to get the Start menu (main screen) simply press that. You can also click the VMWare Fusion icon in the title bar to get a complete list of Windows options that you can browse to in the same way as the original Windows 7 Start Menu.

 

[MuckSavage70]

Reason 2: Apple likes to stop supporting older OS's way too fast. Windows 8 will last longer.

So what are you losing when Apple stops support? I get confused by these comments. Things keep working just like they always have.

As far as Windows 8, one big detractor for me is the fact that the license is tied to the machine you install it on. So if you get a new mac, you'll need to re-purchase windows 8.

 

[jenzjen]

As far as Windows 8, one big detractor for me is the fact that the license is tied to the machine you install it on. So if you get a new mac, you'll need to re-purchase windows 8.

I think you're confusing their original license plans for the new Office not Windows 8 - Microsoft has now changed their Office licensing as well so not tied to machine, i.e. back to the old way.

 

[thejadedmonkey]

So what are you losing when Apple stops support? I get confused by these comments. Things keep working just like they always have.

If you want to install your copy of Windows on newer mac hardware - and lets face it, with Apple's planned obsolescence, you'll need new mac hardware sooner than later, you won't have to buy a new license.

Even on your current hardware, I wouldn't put it past Apple to drop Windows 7 support in a later version of bootcamp, but keep supporting Windows 8.

 

[gregorsamsa]

So what are you losing when Apple stops support? I get confused by these comments. Things keep working just like they always have.

Not so. For eg. all Rosetta-reliant Mac software was rendered useless in 2011 to anyone who bought a new Mac pre-loaded with OS X Lion, or ML in 2012. In my case, it was mostly games. Hundreds of pounds worth of software in that domain alone. Some had been ported over to Mac less than 5 years previously (eg. AoE 2).

One soon moves on of course, so this is an academic point. I've since bought a Windows 8 PC for games &, increasingly, a few work-related tasks.

Frankly, I'd never trust Apple not to hasten obsolescence even further in future as they continue integrating OS X with iOS. The main thing for Tim Cook, formerly the financial number-cruncher in the days of Steve Jobs, is extracting extra dollars of profit from everything Apple sell. Notably, without the genius that was Jobs.

Thejadedmonkey is spot on. If you want better backward-compatibility lasting for longer, without the hassle of time-consuming work-arounds, you're better off with Windows. Yes, I could load Snow Leopard on my 2011 Mac & dual-boot, but for that I needed access to another Intel Mac & at the time new copies of Snow Leopard were expensive. Now I use my Lion Mac mostly for serious stuff & my PC mainly for leisure.

 

[ricky011]

reply

Windows 7 is best for desktop pc. Without touch screen display windows 8 is just nothing.

 

[jrs22]

Windows 7 is best for desktop pc. Without touch screen display windows 8 is just nothing.

I'm using win8 under parallels on a 2012 MBP to run traditional windows programs that aren't available for OSX. I've haven't missed a touchscreen yet. When do you find that it's a problem to not have a touch screen?

 

[stuffradio]

I would go with Win7 myself. Win8 really doesn't work very well without a touchscreen (I suspect that this may change with the first Service Pack).

As far as Parallels, I personally prefer VM Ware Fusion. Parallels has typically had a slight advantage on Graphics performance (good for games), but if you really want to play games, Boot Camp is the way to go anyway.

There is no reason to have this opinion. I have been using it for almost two months, and it feels no different from windows 7 except when you go to the start area launcher. When I go there, I see all my applications I use spread out instead of navigating a bunch of menus.

 

[ihuman:D]

It depends on what you're doing. The desktop is still the desktop, and still works about the same as the desktop always has. As long as you're not spending a good 70% of your time in Metro apps, you won't need a touchscreen.

And the start screen? It's a glorified app launcher and gignormous search engine. You can always get Start8 to replace it if you don't like it.

Between the two, I wouldn't say there's a hugely compelling reason to prefer one over the other. But if you can get 8 for cheaper, I'd say go for it.

Start menu 8 by Iobit is better IMO.

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Windows 7 is best for desktop pc. Without touch screen display windows 8 is just nothing.

Have you even tried Windows 8 for a few weeks?

 

[Michael Goff]

I'd suggest Windows 8 if you can get it.

All of the virtues have already been stated, and Windows Blue will make it even better.