yet another laptop thread but this with a specific question so don't even begin telling me to search the forums. i love a mac. my ibook is a million years old and half burnt out and i need a new laptop for arch school. i can't imagine switching back to pc. yes it runs all the programs esp the bootleg ones blah blah but i'd only switch back to being a pc user if someone paid me. a lot. the bottom line is this: how efficient is xp on boot camp on a macbook pro at switching from leopard to windows, running autocad, max, etc. and switching back to os x for photoshop, say, vectorworks and surfing the internets? would love any insights from current users esp if you're currently in grad school and happy with your mac and bootcamp. thanks. cv
search for "bootcamp" or "bootcamp vs. parallels" to get more opinions, but... I've generally heard that parallels will run Windows and such better, but is harder to switch back and forth from. I'm still setting up my MacBook Pro, and got Parallels for it instead of bootcamp, based on that theory/rumor/knowledge.
whoops. Now looking at that, I may have gotten it exactly backwards! That's ok by me and what I've purchased, because I was beginning to think that easier switching would be worth a little performance drop (I don't do heavy modelling work anymore).
I'm driving a macbook with Bootcapm right now. No stress whatsoever. I set it up so I could run Rhino, Autocad, and Revit. I did eventually find myself wanting to duplicate other software: I want Office and the entire Adobe Suite on both platforms, but that's not so hard to do.
Bottom line: with Bootcamp, you get better processor performance than Parallels, but switching is a pain, hence the desire to duplicate software. Make sure you set your windows partition to the max allowable (32 gb, I think) so you'll have enough room.
Oh yeah, and it is kind of annoying that you can see the windows drive from OSX but not vise versa, supposedly there is a third party app that lets you do it, but I'm done with buying more software for the moment.
The fact that 'delete' doesn't work in Acad is also slightly irritating, but I'm training myself to use 'e' instead.
765--I imagine that the "delete" key on the laptop is what would be the "backspace" key on a PC. I've got a mac pro and there's two "delete" keys…does the laptop only have one delete key? I can only imagine how annoying that would be
re: hard drive space with bootcamp-> you can set the windows partition to any size you want, 32GB is just the limit for FAT, if you need or want anything bigger you have to go to NTFS but you won't be able to write to the windows partition from OSX but you will be able to read it(unless you also run parallels or something similar)
bootcamp vs. parallels:
run both - install leopard and latest parallels and point it at the bootcamp partition as your windows install. depending on your hardware emu setup, you'll be asked to re-authenticate windows which is annoying. you can work it out...
this way you get full drag-n-drop (or drag-n-copy)...i don't boot into boot camp ever really after getting to this setup, but mainly use vectorworks/maya/adobe suite anyway - all mac avail.
bootcamp only - mac to windows partition:
firstly: do please use ntfs, not fatXX for a sys partition. then get macdrive and the "timeout patch"...you can work it out
as parallels is emu the 3d accel is supposed to suffer compared to boot camp. however, opinion/benchmarks seem to vary. i don't really care.
basically: leopard + bootcamp + parallels and you'll feel like the OS wars were a thing of the past and learn to stop worrying and love the technology.
bothands: care to talk about your experience with VMware Fusion? I've been eying it for awhile but haven't met anyone thats actually used it, plus my work MBP came pre-loaded with Parallels.
Yeah, I had the same dilemma as I started graduate school. I started though before the Intel chip in the Mac was out, now my brother-in-law is using my Powerbook and I am on the MacBook Pro.
I use Bootcamp and run Windows XP 32 bit. A guy in studio and I are thinking about buying a Windows XP 64 to run, but haven't done it yet.
I basically have everything I use on both platforms: Maya, Rhino, Adobe CS3, Real Flow, etc...
Right now, I am using Windows more because I prefer rendering in 3ds Max. I also use Rhino a lot to set up drawings before I model in Maya.
As far as speed is concerned, I have no problems running programs. Personally, I enjoy the way the Mac OS X works and use it a lot too when I am just modeling in Maya or want to do presentation boards with Adobe-in addition to everything else that just seems "better" than a Windows platform.
If I were you and can hold on from making a 2000USD+ investment, wait until the Macbook Pro Quad Cores come out-I think it is suppose to be happening soon.
If you are dead set on Mac, then I would do that. If not, a lot of people I am in school with here in Vienna are using the IBM laptops...apparently they are really powerful and are solid as far as parts are concerned.
yeah...wait for this, wait for that...i don't know, you'll always end up feeling like you're loosing out. ok, we might have exhausted the discussion, but:
parallels vs. vmware:
get both...these emu's both have a small disk footprint and both can work off the bootcamp partition. you can work it out :-)
32bit vs. 64bit:
the macbook pro cpus are 64bit. leopard is 64bit. although winxp 32bit is the norm for most people using bootcamp, afaik you can install winxp 64bit (or vista). really, the only advantage for regular users wrt 64bit is the ability to address more than 4gb (3.5gb) of ram. no point otherwise.
also, keep in mind that all those cores will have to share the same ram. if you end up with a quad-core macbook pro, you'd probably want min 4gb of ram
ibm laptop:
sorry, i'm being pedantic - no such thing anymore :-)
Mar 30, 08 5:39 pm ·
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MacBook Pro with Boot Camp for M.Arch
yet another laptop thread but this with a specific question so don't even begin telling me to search the forums. i love a mac. my ibook is a million years old and half burnt out and i need a new laptop for arch school. i can't imagine switching back to pc. yes it runs all the programs esp the bootleg ones blah blah but i'd only switch back to being a pc user if someone paid me. a lot. the bottom line is this: how efficient is xp on boot camp on a macbook pro at switching from leopard to windows, running autocad, max, etc. and switching back to os x for photoshop, say, vectorworks and surfing the internets? would love any insights from current users esp if you're currently in grad school and happy with your mac and bootcamp. thanks. cv
search for "bootcamp" or "bootcamp vs. parallels" to get more opinions, but... I've generally heard that parallels will run Windows and such better, but is harder to switch back and forth from. I'm still setting up my MacBook Pro, and got Parallels for it instead of bootcamp, based on that theory/rumor/knowledge.
whoops. Now looking at that, I may have gotten it exactly backwards! That's ok by me and what I've purchased, because I was beginning to think that easier switching would be worth a little performance drop (I don't do heavy modelling work anymore).
thanks. searching was actually quite helpful now that you mention it. the laptop threads aren't but the mac threads are.
I'm driving a macbook with Bootcapm right now. No stress whatsoever. I set it up so I could run Rhino, Autocad, and Revit. I did eventually find myself wanting to duplicate other software: I want Office and the entire Adobe Suite on both platforms, but that's not so hard to do.
Bottom line: with Bootcamp, you get better processor performance than Parallels, but switching is a pain, hence the desire to duplicate software. Make sure you set your windows partition to the max allowable (32 gb, I think) so you'll have enough room.
Oh yeah, and it is kind of annoying that you can see the windows drive from OSX but not vise versa, supposedly there is a third party app that lets you do it, but I'm done with buying more software for the moment.
The fact that 'delete' doesn't work in Acad is also slightly irritating, but I'm training myself to use 'e' instead.
765--I imagine that the "delete" key on the laptop is what would be the "backspace" key on a PC. I've got a mac pro and there's two "delete" keys…does the laptop only have one delete key? I can only imagine how annoying that would be
re: hard drive space with bootcamp-> you can set the windows partition to any size you want, 32GB is just the limit for FAT, if you need or want anything bigger you have to go to NTFS but you won't be able to write to the windows partition from OSX but you will be able to read it(unless you also run parallels or something similar)
Yep, true, only one delete on the macbook. Oh well.
bootcamp vs. parallels:
run both - install leopard and latest parallels and point it at the bootcamp partition as your windows install. depending on your hardware emu setup, you'll be asked to re-authenticate windows which is annoying. you can work it out...
this way you get full drag-n-drop (or drag-n-copy)...i don't boot into boot camp ever really after getting to this setup, but mainly use vectorworks/maya/adobe suite anyway - all mac avail.
bootcamp only - mac to windows partition:
firstly: do please use ntfs, not fatXX for a sys partition. then get macdrive and the "timeout patch"...you can work it out
as parallels is emu the 3d accel is supposed to suffer compared to boot camp. however, opinion/benchmarks seem to vary. i don't really care.
basically: leopard + bootcamp + parallels and you'll feel like the OS wars were a thing of the past and learn to stop worrying and love the technology.
hope this helps
one word: VMware
yeah although Bootcamp w/WinXP works just great for me on my MBP, I always wanted to try VMWare Fusion.
how to delete key on MBP w/ bootcamp
fn + backspace
bothands: care to talk about your experience with VMware Fusion? I've been eying it for awhile but haven't met anyone thats actually used it, plus my work MBP came pre-loaded with Parallels.
Yeah, I had the same dilemma as I started graduate school. I started though before the Intel chip in the Mac was out, now my brother-in-law is using my Powerbook and I am on the MacBook Pro.
I use Bootcamp and run Windows XP 32 bit. A guy in studio and I are thinking about buying a Windows XP 64 to run, but haven't done it yet.
I basically have everything I use on both platforms: Maya, Rhino, Adobe CS3, Real Flow, etc...
Right now, I am using Windows more because I prefer rendering in 3ds Max. I also use Rhino a lot to set up drawings before I model in Maya.
As far as speed is concerned, I have no problems running programs. Personally, I enjoy the way the Mac OS X works and use it a lot too when I am just modeling in Maya or want to do presentation boards with Adobe-in addition to everything else that just seems "better" than a Windows platform.
If I were you and can hold on from making a 2000USD+ investment, wait until the Macbook Pro Quad Cores come out-I think it is suppose to be happening soon.
If you are dead set on Mac, then I would do that. If not, a lot of people I am in school with here in Vienna are using the IBM laptops...apparently they are really powerful and are solid as far as parts are concerned.
yeah...wait for this, wait for that...i don't know, you'll always end up feeling like you're loosing out. ok, we might have exhausted the discussion, but:
parallels vs. vmware:
get both...these emu's both have a small disk footprint and both can work off the bootcamp partition. you can work it out :-)
32bit vs. 64bit:
the macbook pro cpus are 64bit. leopard is 64bit. although winxp 32bit is the norm for most people using bootcamp, afaik you can install winxp 64bit (or vista). really, the only advantage for regular users wrt 64bit is the ability to address more than 4gb (3.5gb) of ram. no point otherwise.
also, keep in mind that all those cores will have to share the same ram. if you end up with a quad-core macbook pro, you'd probably want min 4gb of ram
ibm laptop:
sorry, i'm being pedantic - no such thing anymore :-)
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