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Windows on a MacBook

A

apple101

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 15, 2008
128
0
New Jersey
i just got a MacBook and I am not sure if I should install Windows XP on it. The only reason is that I have some games that I have.

Would I need to install virus software to make it not to get a virus if someone can tell me if you recommend it or not or if it would need virus software, thanks.
 
apple101 said:
i just got a MacBook and I am not sure if I should install Windows XP on it. The only reason is that I have some games that I have.

Would I need to install virus software to make it not to get a virus if someone can tell me if you recommend it or not or if it would need virus software, thanks.
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If you install windows, you'll really really want to install an antivirus application.

If playing games is your goal, then I'd avoid the virtual solutions (vmware/parallels) and go straight to bootcamp. You'll need the performance.
 
Installing XP with Boot Camp or Virtualization (Parallels or Fusion) works quite well. If you are going to game, you would probably want to use Boot Camp and boot natively... and either way you would benefit from maxing out your RAM.

You can get a better idea here: Booting Windows on a Mac

If you connect to the internet at all, then you will need antivirus protection for XP. The standard free options are probably enough if you are careful. I use AVG Free. Your Windows partition will function just like a PC, so everything you would do on a normal PC applies.

Woof, Woof - Dawg
pawprint.gif
 
Try Windows 7 from the Microsoft website first. Its free to use until June next year (starts shutting down every 2 hours in March). If it doesn't work for you, you could always install XP. I have it on my MacBook and it seems to be working fine. I use Avast anti-virus with it.
 
flopticalcube said:
Try Windows 7 from the Microsoft website first. Its free to use until June next year (starts shutting down every 2 hours in March). If it doesn't work for you, you could always install XP. I have it on my MacBook and it seems to be working fine. I use Avast anti-virus with it.
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I want something thats really stable, thats why I choose Windows XP over Windows Vista, even though I think XP is more stable than Vista.
 
flopticalcube said:
Try Windows 7 from the Microsoft website first. Its free to use until June next year (starts shutting down every 2 hours in March). If it doesn't work for you, you could always install XP. I have it on my MacBook and it seems to be working fine. I use Avast anti-virus with it.
Click to expand...
I'd advise against that, win7 is not out yet,that's just the RC. Besides winxp is still faster. While win7 is better then vista that does not mean its better then xp. I think waiting and seeing how things flesh out with windows 7 once its available for sale would be the wisest approach imo
 
maflynn said:
I'd advise against that, win7 is not out yet,that's just the RC. Besides winxp is still faster. While win7 is better then vista that does not mean its better then xp. I think waiting and seeing how things flesh out with windows 7 once its available for sale would be the wisest approach imo
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YMMV, but that is not my experience. W7 is very stable for me and faster than XP in most situations (although I haven't tried it with games). I would never recommend Vista for games.
 
I installed Windows XP via bootcamp for precisely the same reason as you. I have steam already with tons of games that I haven't played so it was an easy decision. I upgraded my hard-drive to a 500GB Western Digital Scorpio and allocated about 150 GB to my Windows XP partition.

Honestly though unless you are a hardcore gamer you don't really need Windows to get your gaming fix. With digital download services like GameTreeOnline, MacGameStore, and Gametap as well as all the browser-based games and the Mac's own retail games there really is enough games for 95% of most users to be content. People disagree but then they play Call of Duty 4 on their 360 all day or World of Warcraft on their PC's and I'm like you could have done that on the mac.
 
I have XP Pro on my MB installed but after installing Windows 7 RC1 on my PC machine, I think I'm gonna upgrade my MB to this latest OS (WIN7).
 
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