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XP or Windows 7?? I can't decide.

D

dirgeforfreedom

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 17, 2010
23
0
I have an early 2008 Macbook Pro, and I've never installed a Windows OS with boot camp. I'm thinking about finally doing it, but I don't know which one I should get?

Incase you're wondering what the specs are:

2.4 Intel Dual-Core
2 gigs of ram
nVidia 8600GT w/ 265 vram

If you need other details, feel free to ask ( obviously :D )
 
I'll say go with Windows 7. Your laptop has more than enough power to run it. I run Windows 7 on my late 2009 MacBook Pro using Boot Camp and it complements Mac OS X very nicely, almost giving a similar look and feel when navigating around each OS.

Windows XP is very long in the tooth with more and more security holes being found in it. It has had it's day. Unless you need to run an application that only works on Windows XP, go with 7.
 
I have had both on my 2009 MBP and I would go Windows 7, absolutely.

If you're going to do only Boot Camp, that 2GB of memory should be okay, but if you were thinking about a VM too, I would upgrade that RAM if possible. Good luck.
 
I won't be using VMware. Only boot camp.

One other question. If Snow Leopard needs 1gig of ram, does that mean it'll literally use all 1 gig, leaving me with just 1gig left for other applications?
 
If you don't have any 32-bit only apps or certain legacy apps, 64-bit. It's overall slightly faster and it supports more than 3.3 GBs of RAM.
 
I don't think I have any application or program that is old.

Thanks a lot for the input guys! :D

I'm finally catching up, lol.
 
I had been using Vista for a few years. Just installed Windows 7. Quite happy with it except the hibernation problem. I hope to get a solution from forum members soon. You can also activate Windows XP Mode under Windows 7. It works quite well.
 
windows 7 professional. Run XP Mode inside of it if you're wanting occasional XP use. I have it set up like this on my MBP and it runs like a beast.

64bit as well- most 32bit programs will run on 64 bit win7 now (not like 64bit vista or xp 64 which were failures)
 
tmagman said:
windows 7 professional. Run XP Mode inside of it if you're wanting occasional XP use. I have it set up like this on my MBP and it runs like a beast.

64bit as well- most 32bit programs will run on 64 bit win7 now (not like 64bit vista or xp 64 which were failures)
Click to expand...


how did you do this? that does no tax or complicate your system? isnt that running a virtual machine within a virtual machine? it looks like you have the same model I do, I have a 2010 i7 macbook pro 15 in hig res screen 4gb of ram. so it runs ok? does not slow down?

could you tell me the steps you took to do this? I currently have windows 7 professional 64 bit installed through paralells 5.0
 
Sossity said:
isnt that running a virtual machine within a virtual machine?
Click to expand...
Not for the OP. ;)

I won't be using VMware. Only boot camp.
Click to expand...

Note that there are several ways to migrate the XP Mode VM to VMWare/Parallels, so maybe you can do that and get it running side-by-side with your W7 one.

IMHO 4GB of RAM is adequate, but 8GB is better if you are running a VM often.

B
 
Sossity said:
how did you do this? that does no tax or complicate your system? isnt that running a virtual machine within a virtual machine? it looks like you have the same model I do, I have a 2010 i7 macbook pro 15 in hig res screen 4gb of ram. so it runs ok? does not slow down?

could you tell me the steps you took to do this? I currently have windows 7 professional 64 bit installed through paralells 5.0
Click to expand...

It really is quite simple to setup.

I'm not sure if it will work if you're running parallels because that is a virtual machine already. However- use your windows 7 in your mac to go to http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/download.aspx, and then follow the steps there to download Windows XP Mode. I have the same MBP as you and it runs amazing (albeit I am running boot camp, not parallel's so I cannot speak directly to your setup). You can also modify how much memory the xp machine can address in the options for the virtual machine to control how much it hogs of your overal machine perfomance.
 
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