Windows Install

ibuzz · April 25, 2009 4:14PM

Hi there,

I have been avoiding installing windows on my macbook pro 2.16 Core Duo for as long as I can, but I just have some software I need to run. I have no experience with windows being a mac faithful. I would like to know what version would work best. After doing some reading, it looks like windows xp pro is the version. Is that right? Can I buy a new OEM version? They seem to be slightly cheaper than the non.

thanks for the help in advance. I did a search on the forums but nothing seemed to answer my questions.

thanks

futurepastnow · April 25, 2009 5:02PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ibuzz

Hi there,

I have been avoiding installing windows on my macbook pro 2.16 Core Duo for as long as I can, but I just have some software I need to run. I have no experience with windows being a mac faithful. I would like to know what version would work best. After doing some reading, it looks like windows xp pro is the version. Is that right? Can I buy a new OEM version? They seem to be slightly cheaper than the non.

thanks for the help in advance. I did a search on the forums but nothing seemed to answer my questions.

thanks

The only real difference between the retail and OEM versions is in the license*, the OEM/system builder version is theoretically tied forever to the first computer you install it on (though in practice MS does not enforce this). So I would certainly buy the OEM version to save some money.

*The only other difference I can think of is that, for Vista, the retail boxes come with discs for both 32 and 64 bit while "system builder" forces you to choose one or the other at purchase

ibuzz · April 29, 2009 3:10PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FuturePastNow

The only real difference between the retail and OEM versions is in the license*, the OEM/system builder version is theoretically tied forever to the first computer you install it on (though in practice MS does not enforce this). So I would certainly buy the OEM version to save some money.

*The only other difference I can think of is that, for Vista, the retail boxes come with discs for both 32 and 64 bit while "system builder" forces you to choose one or the other at purchase

Should I look for the 64 bit or 32 bit version? (Macbook pro 2.16 core duo)

futurepastnow · April 29, 2009 9:17PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ibuzz

Should I look for the 64 bit or 32 bit version? (Macbook pro 2.16 core duo)

Core Duo (Yonah) is a 32 bit processor, I'm afraid. 64 bit Vista won't install on that. Core 2 Duo, on the other hand, supports 64 bit OSes.

ibuzz · April 30, 2009 10:57AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FuturePastNow

Core Duo (Yonah) is a 32 bit processor, I'm afraid. 64 bit Vista won't install on that. Core 2 Duo, on the other hand, supports 64 bit OSes.

thanks for the reply. I looked again and I really have a core 2 duo. Would 64 bit windows xp (not vista) work and would it give me some advantage?

thanks

futurepastnow · April 30, 2009 5:20PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ibuzz

thanks for the reply. I looked again and I really have a core 2 duo. Would 64 bit windows xp (not vista) work and would it give me some advantage?

thanks

XP 64 is not supported by Bootcamp. Meaning, it would work, but Apple provides no drivers so you would have to hunt them down on your own and some things requiring custom drivers (like special touchpad functions) will never work. Further, Apple says that Vista 64 is only supported on some models. I guess if your Macbook Pro is from 2008 or later, it would be good.

groverat · May 3, 2009 12:51PM

Windows XP 64 is awful. Just terrible.

Vista 64 on the other hand, is great.

tauron · May 3, 2009 2:43PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ibuzz

Hi there,

I have been avoiding installing windows on my macbook pro 2.16 Core Duo for as long as I can, but I just have some software I need to run. I have no experience with windows being a mac faithful. I would like to know what version would work best. After doing some reading, it looks like windows xp pro is the version. Is that right? Can I buy a new OEM version? They seem to be slightly cheaper than the non.

thanks for the help in advance. I did a search on the forums but nothing seemed to answer my questions.

thanks

I would take a deep breath and find a way to do what you need to do without installing windows.

futurepastnow · May 3, 2009 8:55PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by groverat

Windows XP 64 is awful. Just terrible.

Vista 64 on the other hand, is great.

Agreed. XP64's real problem is nothing inherent in the OS, it is that almost no manufacturers wrote drivers for it. Consequently little hardware is supported.

With Vista, MS saved the 64-bit version by requiring signed drivers on the 32-bit version as well as 64-bit, on the surface that seems like a PITA but one of the conditions of getting a driver signed was that it had to support both architectures. So every piece of hardware that works on Vista 32 also works on Vista 64.

ibuzz · May 5, 2009 6:09PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tauron

I would take a deep breath and find a way to do what you need to do without installing windows.

Perhaps you can tell me why? I have 3 devices that need to have their firmware upgraded and as far as I can tell, can only be upgraded via a pc running windows. I also have some medical software that will only run under windows. I think I'm stuck. I like the deep breath part though....

ibuzz · May 5, 2009 6:12PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FuturePastNow

Agreed. XP64's real problem is nothing inherent in the OS, it is that almost no manufacturers wrote drivers for it. Consequently little hardware is supported.

With Vista, MS saved the 64-bit version by requiring signed drivers on the 32-bit version as well as 64-bit, on the surface that seems like a PITA but one of the conditions of getting a driver signed was that it had to support both architectures. So every piece of hardware that works on Vista 32 also works on Vista 64.

In light of the fact that I'm a pc newbie and relatively neo when it comes to computers, would you recommend vista 64 on my macbook pro?

thanks

futurepastnow · May 5, 2009 10:20PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ibuzz

In light of the fact that I'm a pc newbie and relatively neo when it comes to computers, would you recommend vista 64 on my macbook pro?

thanks

Probably. There are some situations where you would not want 64-bit, like if you needed really old applications that have 16-bit components. There are also situations where XP would be better than Vista, like if you wanted to run it inside of Parallels or VMWare,* or if you were limited on hard drive space. Or older hardware, I don't know what you need to upgrade the firmware on, but you might want to verify that those devices will work on Vista 64. Check the manufacturer's website or contact them.

But barring those issues, and considering that they cost the same, I think Vista 64 would be fine.

*And speaking of Parallels and VMware, have you considered using such virtualization software? I imagine your medical software would work, but I have no idea if the firmware updating would.

tauron · May 6, 2009 8:29AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ibuzz

In light of the fact that I'm a pc newbie and relatively neo when it comes to computers, would you recommend vista 64 on my macbook pro?

thanks

No.

I would recommend Leopard and no other operating system until Snow Leopard.

Windows Install

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