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World of Warcraft on Mac or Windows XP (boot camp)
- Thread starter jinx1181
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I just signed up to WoW and have the exact same situation as you. I find it much more convenient on the Mac side, and seing as it's going to be the same graphics card, there are no graphical differences. I do use the Windows partition for WoW thought because I have dedicated that HDD space for gaming (WoW install is about 500MB - 1GB). You can still talk and play with users on the opposite OS though, whatever you use.
I'm not sure how different the mac side is (haven't tried it yet), but my PC install (with the latest patches downloaded) is over 9 gigs.
From what I've heard and read, most games still work better on the PC side (boot camp) because of the directx support versus openGL. There's a WHOLE bunch of posts on this, try searching and see what comes up.
--rob
I don't think running WoW in Windows (Boot Camp) is worth it. The game isn't that much, in terms of graphics. Plus, restarting every time you want to play can become a hassle. I like how WoW installs once on my Mac and then I can save the WoW folder to an external hard drive. From there, I can either play the game from the external hard drive or drag and drop to the desktop of another Mac. No need for long installs every time I reinstall OS X or get a new machine.
It works better then fine on the new Macbook in the native OS. In fact -- it actually seemed smoother then my PC running an ATI 2600 HD, but that could be the "New-Mac-Shine" talking. I wouldn't bother with boot-camp unless you also play other non Mac games.
Here are the differences:
In Windows, WoW runs under Direct3d.
In OSX, WoW runs under OpenGL.
You will get better overall performance under Windows because of Direct3d. Depending on what Mac you are using, you would be better off running in Windows - if you have a Macbook you'll see much better performance in Windows than you would in OSX.
If you're on a MBP or anything with a decent video card, the difference isn't as huge and you could easily play primarily under OSX.
I personally play on my MBP under OSX, and it runs just fine for me at 1920x1200 on my external display. The only place that can give me problems is when I go to Shattrath - I've had slideshows and complete system hangs there.
In Windows, WoW runs under Direct3d.
In OSX, WoW runs under OpenGL.
You will get better overall performance under Windows because of Direct3d. Depending on what Mac you are using, you would be better off running in Windows - if you have a Macbook you'll see much better performance in Windows than you would in OSX.
If you're on a MBP or anything with a decent video card, the difference isn't as huge and you could easily play primarily under OSX.
I personally play on my MBP under OSX, and it runs just fine for me at 1920x1200 on my external display. The only place that can give me problems is when I go to Shattrath - I've had slideshows and complete system hangs there.