Running Windows XP on MacBook

Hello everyone! Im thinking about buying a MacBook but the problem is that I have always used Windows (I need to use some programs that are only available for Windows), so I looked in the internet and found that I can actually run Windows XP on a Mac using a software called Boot Camp. So my question is, will Windows XP run smoothly on a MacBook (2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 2 gb memory, 250 hard drive)? I heard it runs even better that a normal PC, is that right? Thanks a lot for your help. I hope this is the right place to post these kind of questions.

You heard right. ;D I've run XP Home SP2 on my MacBook and it does indeed run faster and performs better than my PC desktop and my Toshiba notebook.

Regards.

XP will run fine on any Intel Mac. Whether it's better than your 'old' PC will depend on the age and specs of your 'old' PC. If your PC has 4gbs of RAM and a 3.6ghz Quad Core processor, you might be dissapointed... ;D

The only other thing to consider is, what will you use Windows for? If it;s gaming plus anything else, bootcamp is the way to go. If it's Outlook and/or other 'office' apps, you might want to consider a virtual machine, like Parallels.

I have tried both Windows XP and Windows Vista with great success on my MacBook. I read some review saying that Macs was the best computers to run Windows on. Quite ironic actually. But it is true, it works good.

I would also look into the possibility to use vmware fusion or parallels, if the application you have to use dosent demand so much from your machine you might just use one of those. That way you dont have to reboot your computer every time you need that application.

I'll chime in as well on the virtues (including ease of installation) of using Fusion (or Parallels) rather than Boot Camp. I started with Boot Camp but soon tired of having to reboot my system every time I wanted to use a Windows app. Now, I can have my windows applications open alongside my Mac apps (including through my VPN at work) and it is much simpler. I am not a gamer, I just use business and productivity software. It made so much sense to me that I wound up deleting my Boot Camp partition and rely solely on my Fusion virtual machine. As for speed, on the apps I use, it runs just as fast as anything else.

Good luck and welcome to the forum.

Hello, I too am trying to decide if is a good idea to put windows on my macbook. I am addicted to playing online backgammon on msn zone. It is driving me crazy not being able to play it since I got my macbook a few weeks ago. I love everything else about my macbook vs windows. I am just soooo afraid I will totally mess my new macbook up by trying to add windows on it. Is it hard to do? What are the risks to doing it?

lisadperkins said:

Hello, I too am trying to decide if is a good idea to put windows on my macbook. I am addicted to playing online backgammon on msn zone. It is driving me crazy not being able to play it since I got my macbook a few weeks ago. I love everything else about my macbook vs windows. I am just soooo afraid I will totally mess my new macbook up by trying to add windows on it. Is it hard to do? What are the risks to doing it?

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lisa,

As they say, "A piece of cake."

You shouldn't have any problems as long as you read the pdf paper, "Boot Camp Installation and Guide" that you can find in Applications/Utilities folder in the Boot Camp Assistant.app... it's 25 pages but easy to read. Just heed it's words and you'll be OK...

If you prefer, you could install either Parallels or Fusion in OS X and then import Windows into it. Then use Windows on your OS X desktop - neat! Just go to their websites and check them out.

You'd probably prefer using Windows in Boot Camp for playing games, though - it's faster.

Noel

thank u Noel for your reply. Do you think it is very risky in causing long term problems down the road for my macbook if I do this? My macbook is 2.4GHz and 2 GB of memory. I don't want to make my computer so slow that it annoys me to even use it.

lisadperkins said:

thank u Noel for your reply. Do you think it is very risky in causing long term problems down the road for my macbook if I do this? My macbook is 2.4GHz and 2 GB of memory. I don't want to make my computer so slow that it annoys me to even use it.

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lisa,

Mine is a 2.2 and XP is running pretty good in Parallels. When I had it in Boot camp, at first, it was pretty zippy, faster than on my PCs...

I don't think there's any long term risk to having it on you Mac. It's just like any other application. if you use it in Boot Camp, it doesn't affect your Mac software at all, it's running natively in its own "cocoon," effectively separated from OS X.

If you want to speed up your computer some anyhow, upgrade yourself to 4GB memory. Don't buy it from Apple, though. Go to Newegg or some other 3rd party supplier to do that, much cheaper.

Noel

Oh thats sounds pretty kewl. Why did you take it off of boot camp if I may ask?

You say it runs in its own "cocoon" and does effect mac os x at all, so does that mean if I was to get a virus on the windows side, it would not affect my mac at all?

oh and how long does it take to do this?

Thanks a lot everyone for your replies!

Zoolook said:

The only other thing to consider is, what will you use Windows for? If it;s gaming plus anything else, bootcamp is the way to go. If it's Outlook and/or other 'office' apps, you might want to consider a virtual machine, like Parallels.

Click to expand...

Well Im a gamer, but I usually play in my Xbox 360, not a computer gamer, but maybe one or two games wont be bad. I might also need to use Office programs as well as other Windows applications. So what do you recommend? Is there any webiste in where I can found a list or something that mentions what is better to use depending on my needs?

Strukt said:

I would also look into the possibility to use vmware fusion or parallels, if the application you have to use dosent demand so much from your machine you might just use one of those. That way you dont have to reboot your computer every time you need that application.

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What do you mean reboot every time? This means that, for example, if Im using Microsoft Word and I want to switch to other program, game or application, I have to reboot the computer?

SammySlim said:

I'll chime in as well on the virtues (including ease of installation) of using Fusion (or Parallels) rather than Boot Camp. I started with Boot Camp but soon tired of having to reboot my system every time I wanted to use a Windows app. Now, I can have my windows applications open alongside my Mac apps (including through my VPN at work) and it is much simpler. I am not a gamer, I just use business and productivity software. It made so much sense to me that I wound up deleting my Boot Camp partition and rely solely on my Fusion virtual machine. As for speed, on the apps I use, it runs just as fast as anything else.

Good luck and welcome to the forum.

Click to expand...

Thanks Sammy And does Fusion Virtual work with every Windows program? Can I run whatever application, game, program, etc that I want?

Again, thanks all for your help and patience.

carloscane,

I think they mean you have to reboot your computer everytime you want to switch back and forth between windows and mac. Not between each program you use on windows

Fusion/Parallels create "virtual windows machines" in your Mac, that work like any other PC. Subject to any hardware limitations (e.g., a Macbook has integrated graphics so some gaming may be limited), it will run everything like any other PC.

And yes, what we mean is whenever you want to run a Windows app, in Boot Camp you need to reboot into Windows, and then reboot back when you want to run Mac programs. Can be quite a pain if you need to go back and forth.

Oh ok ok, I get it now. Thanks for the explanation. But its just that? A simple reboot to switch between OS's? That should take only about 2 minutes, shouldnt it?

When you use the virtual programs, is it easy to launch Windows based programs or applications? Thanks again for your help.

lisadperkins said:

Oh thats sounds pretty kewl. Why did you take it off of boot camp if I may ask?

You say it runs in its own "cocoon" and does effect mac os x at all, so does that mean if I was to get a virus on the windows side, it would not affect my mac at all?

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Lisa,

I went to Parallels because I don't play games that needed the extra speed of Boot Camp. And from what I heard of VMs, it sounded like the way to go. The direct interface between OSX and XP is really neat - I can have my Windows desktop and my OS X desktop both showing at the same time and I can drag between them.

If you get a virus in XP, it stays in XP. If it did get to OS X it wouldn't be able to read it because of the different languages. If you get a virus in Parallels/XP, it's isolated fron the OS X because of the way VMs work.

Hope this explanation helps. Noel

lisadperkins said:

carloscane,

I think they mean you have to reboot your computer everytime you want to switch back and forth between windows and mac. Not between each program you use on windows

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Correct!

Thanks a lot for your help. I have another quick question, I been reading about this a lot for still have some questions hehe. If I use boot camp I understand that you make a new partition, so my question is that if Im using Windows, can I acces my OS X files and/or viceversa?

Also, I couldnt find anything about this. What is the quality of the battery including in the MacBook? How much will they last on normal activity (not gaming)? Hope you can help me, thanks a lot.

carloscane said:

Thanks a lot for your help. I have another quick question, I been reading about this a lot for still have some questions hehe. If I use boot camp I understand that you make a new partition, so my question is that if Im using Windows, can I acces my OS X files and/or viceversa?

Click to expand...

No. From Boot Camp you cannot directly access OS X files or vice versa, but you can switch between Windows and OS X by re-booting. You'd need to use a VM like Parallels to directly interface and exchange files between the two OSes.

carloscane said:

Also, I couldnt find anything about this. What is the quality of the battery including in the MacBook? How much will they last on normal activity (not gaming)? Hope you can help me, thanks a lot.

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Macbook battery seems pretty decent to me - beats the heck out of my Windows laptops... I get anywhere from 3 - 4 hours on battery during normal activity.

Sorry for all the questions, I just want to make sure I have everything clear before a buy my MacBook hehe.

Will the MacBook have any performance drop when I install and/or use Parallels or Boot Camp? A friend told me someone recommended him not to use these type of programs. Thanks!