Windows games on osx

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Ok, so i'm thinking of buying a mac pro. I have a few questions though.

1) I know it's possible to run windows games on mac, but how does the performance compare? I think you have to run windows in a VM and in my experience with VM's the performance is crap. I dont play my games unless they're on ultra and if i cant play on ultra, i upgrade.

2) If i'm going to spend $3k on a computer i want it to last. How are the single cpu quad core xeon's compared to a top of the line amd phenom x4? How many years will this $3k machine last me?

3) How well does it run linux?

4) How well does the android sdk run on mac? i know it's a bit buggy on linux, or was.

in case you are wondering, i need it for iOS and OSX development as well as windows, linux, and android development.
 
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There are rumors going around that Apple is going to discontinue the Mac Pro. Apple havent updated this computer in almost two years ... so if I were you I would wait. It is waaay to expensive compared to what you get in my opinion.
 

cwa107


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Ok, so i'm thinking of buying a mac pro. I have a few questions though.

1) I know it's possible to run windows games on mac, but how does the performance compare? I think you have to run windows in a VM and in my experience with VM's the performance is crap. I dont play my games unless they're on ultra and if i cant play on ultra, i upgrade.

The best way to run Windows games is to do it under Windows (natively) by installing it via Boot Camp. But even then, the Mac Pro hardware is not optimized for gaming. You'd be much better off building a custom gaming rig for half to a third of the price of the Mac Pro dedicated to gaming. If you really want a Mac for iOS development, you could pick up a Mac Mini with the money you saved.

2) If i'm going to spend $3k on a computer i want it to last. How are the single cpu quad core xeon's compared to a top of the line amd phenom x4? How many years will this $3k machine last me?

It depends on what your criteria is for replacement of a machine. If it's based on how well it does in gaming, then I'd say it's already obsolete. The Mac Pro is many things.... but a gaming rig is not one of them.

3) How well does it run linux?

Apple has no special magic in the Mac to make it a Mac. It uses commodity x86 hardware with custom firmware. So, it will run Linux just as well as any other machine with equivalent hardware.

4) How well does the android sdk run on mac? i know it's a bit buggy on linux, or was.


in case you are wondering, i need it for iOS and OSX development as well as windows, linux, and android development.

I think your best solution would be to keep a Windows box for your gaming needs and pick up a cheap Mac and a KVM switch for doing iOS development. A Mac Pro is just not a good fit for what you're doing.
 
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Thank you for the replies.

I was wanting to avoid the mac mini simply because it doesn't seem like a very reliable machine, but it could just be my perception of the small size. To me, it seems like with it being so small that it would have a low end i5 that doesn't function as fast as i'm used to due to the small power supply. I may see about buying a used mac if i can find a good price.

I really wish they would just release the iphone, ipad, ipod sdk for windows and/or linux. Imo, it seems like apple is hurting their market by not doing that, as well as, not allowing java on their products. I feel like apple could dominate the computer industry if they wanted to.

EDIT: Could i develop iOS software on a G5?
 
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Apple hurting their market?

I would think not as a shareholder. Apple simply does not want to 'dominate' the computer industry. One of the main problems with Windows, and I use and have Windows machines also, is the operating systems are built to cater to the lowest common denominator in order sales are made to the cheapest computers. This leads to all the virus and other problems that abound.
 
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One of the main problems with Windows, and I use and have Windows machines also, is the operating systems are built to cater to the lowest common denominator in order sales are made to the cheapest computers. This leads to all the virus and other problems that abound.
Personally, I consider Windows more "scalable" than "lowest common denominator"...

Regardless, the real point I mean to make is that developing iOS Apps on a Windows machine would not make iOS any more susceptible to PC viruses than running PCs & Macs on the same local network would make the Macs more susceptible; they're still completely distinct environments (even more so in the case of iOS than OS X).

Computer viruses aren't like biological viruses that could theoretically mutate from one organism to another, the presence of the SDK wouldn't allow a Windows virus to jump to iOS...
 

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