anybody had luck installing steam?

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I'm new here and just got a mac mini. My first mac, I had windows pcs for a while. Anyway, has anybody had luck installing steam?

Welcome to Steam I played games there a while back and wanted to get back into it since I've got more a more powerful machine now than I've had in a while.

thanks
CD
 
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Steam is never going to be supported by OS X. However, if you'd like to play steam you can use bootcamp and install a form of Windows OS.
 
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You can, however, use WINE based software such as Crossover to run Steam on OSX, and it does it pretty well.
I can say Crossover works nicely on my Macbook Pro.

Games like CS1.6 play with 100+ frames and without issues.
The higher end games, such as Source engine games, will work, but will run really crappy using Crossover.

If you use Bootcamp, it will run great.
You could make 100+ easily.
 
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so, you're telling me I am going to have to get Windows running (or emulated) on this Mac to play these games?
 

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so, you're telling me I am going to have to get Windows running (or emulated) on this Mac to play these games?

Yes. Of the two methods, I highly recommend installing Windows via Boot Camp so that it will run natively utilizing all the power of your GPU and 3D. While some lower level games will run OK using Crossover Games software, it will fall short on the more demanding graphic intensive ones.

Regards.
 
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So, I am going to need to get Windows 7? I'll need to set this machine up so that it runs Windows 7 and Mac OSX via boot camp? Once I get it booting to Windows 7, can I just put my copy of MS Office 2003 on the Windows 7 part instead of buying a OSX version of office?

Where do I get boot camp?

thanks for your help.
 
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Bootcamp is a built in utility of OS X. Look in your Utilities folder.
You can certainly install MS Office on the Windows side of your Mac Mini. However, installing MS Office 2003 on more than one computer depends on what the license agreement says. I have no idea cause I don't have it, so you'll have to wait for an answer from someone else or look it up.
 
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so I've only had this Mac a little while and I am wondering why I didn't get just get a windows machine to start with. I've got to dual boot to windows to play any games! Ti use any productivity software worth anything, I have to do the same to use MS Office (my current windows copy) or get MS Office for Mac (another $200)
 
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Sounds like you should have stuck with Windows. Not sure why you even considered the Mac if gaming and using your existing copy of Office for Windows was so important. Not sure what you consider "productivity software" so I am not even going to comment on that on. The good news is the resale value of the Mac is fantastic.
 

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It's sounds like you're seriously misinformed on what a Mac is.

Yes, the underlying hardware is very much along the same lines as what one would find a Windows machine. The differentiating factor is the operating system, OS X. OS X runs OS X software, just as Windows runs Windows software. There are games for OS X and games for Windows. Just like with an XBOX or a Playstation, some of those Windows games get ported to OS X, and some do not. Fortunately, if you want to play Windows only games, you can always run Windows on your Mac, but then you have the same old complications that you would on any Windows machine (the registry, tons of malware, constant need for maintenance, etc).

For the most part, there are equivalent productivity apps for OS X that are comparable to Windows-only apps. But as you've noted, you'll need to buy the Mac versions if you want to run them on OS X.

It's unfortunate that Windows has become so ubiquitous that people understand it to be synonymous with "a computer" and expect that regardless of the OS, they'll be able to run any application that falls under the category of computer software. That's simply not the case, nor was it when there was more variety in operating systems and hardware. For example, if you owned a Commodore 64 back in the day, you bought Commodore 64 software, with no expectation that it would run on an Apple II or an original IBM PC.

If you really grok Windows and the software associated with it, there's nothing you can't do that a Mac can. But if you're fed up with the Windows experience and you want something different, then by all means, a Mac is a great alternative. Just don't be shocked when you find that Macs don't natively run Windows software. I wish Apple did a better job explaining this, because clearly a significant portion of computer buyers these days don't understand that these are two disparate platforms. There was a time when computer buyers were by-and-large, technically savvy. But these days, beyond knowing the basics of using a computer, most buyers don't understand the nuts and bolts that make a particular platform what it is.
 
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cwa107, I couldn't agree more! What you said.

I will never give up the Mac for everyday computing. What a joy it is. But if I decided to get back into games I'd buy or build a PC just for that. Even the Windows OS is better for gaming. The reports I've read give Windows 7 a significantly better score than Snow Leopard for 3-D rendering and frame rates during game play. But those are the ONLY two areas where Windows 7 beats Snow Leopard. As an all around OS, Snow Leopard walks away with the prize.
 
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so I've only had this Mac a little while and I am wondering why I didn't get just get a windows machine to start with. I've got to dual boot to windows to play any games! Ti use any productivity software worth anything, I have to do the same to use MS Office (my current windows copy) or get MS Office for Mac (another $200)
You should of researched more before you made the purchase then. :)
 
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You could try and return it.

You could sell it.

You could wipe the hdd and install windows.

You could install windows with boot camp.
 

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