Questions about Macbook Pro? New to Macs

Hey guys, I'm new to the forum and new to Macs. I'm think about getting a macbook pro. I was thinking about getting the basic 2.2ghz, with 2 gb ram, 160 gb hard drive...

My main concern is compability issues...

I am majoring in electrical engineer and using a windows based system is in high demand especially in engineering. I know there is parallel and bootcamp so I can run whatever windows OS.

-How do the two rate? Is parallel better or bootcamp better? Is it very efficient and effective? Any lag? Disadvantages?


Also, could you tell me about the hard drive format compability between mac and windows. I have a lacie NTFS external hard drive that I use, and I know that mac will be able to read the NTFS format but it will not write. I heard about mac fuse.

-How effective is mac fuse? Is there any other format that windows and mac are both able to read and write?


Thanks in Advance!!!!

dcwang3 said:

Hey guys, I'm new to the forum and new to Macs. I'm think about getting a macbook pro. I was thinking about getting the basic 2.2ghz, with 2 gb ram, 160 gb hard drive...

Click to expand...

Welcome. What are your reasons for wanting to switch to a Mac?

My main concern is compability issues...

I am majoring in electrical engineer and using a windows based system is in high demand especially in engineering. I know there is parallel and bootcamp so I can run whatever windows OS.

-How do the two rate? Is parallel better or bootcamp better? Is it very efficient and effective? Any lag? Disadvantages?

Click to expand...

Parallels runs Windows in a so-called virtual machine. Performance is very good and very usable, but since the hardware is virtualized, you will not get the same performance as you will in Boot Camp. The advantage of Parallels is that you can run Windows simultaneously with Mac OS, and even integrate the two to some extent with "coherence" mode. With Boot Camp, you're simply installing Windows directly on your machine in a dual-boot configuration. That is, you can choose which OS you want to run at boot time, but not run both simultaneously. The main advantage is that you get to take full advantage of the hard, including full 3D graphics support.

Also, could you tell me about the hard drive format compability between mac and windows. I have a lacie NTFS external hard drive that I use, and I know that mac will be able to read the NTFS format but it will not write. I heard about mac fuse.

-How effective is mac fuse? Is there any other format that windows and mac are both able to read and write?

Click to expand...

You can read NTFS partitions natively in Mac OS. MacFUSE will allow you to write as well. You can also format your drive in FAT32 (using the Mac, since Windows enforces an artificial limit on partition size) for compatibility between the two OSes.

Also, currently in beta testing is Paragon NTFS for Mac, which is an easy to install commercial product that will retail for $30. It allows for full write support in Mac OS.

Thanks in Advance!!!!

Click to expand...

Sure. Definitely weigh this carefully though - Macs are not the same as Windows machines even though the hardware is now very similar since Macs use Intel processors. If you are not willing to try something new, then do yourself a favor and stick with Windows. We see a fair number of people who switch on a whim, only to find disappointment because not everything works the same way they're used to it working in Windows.

Thanks for the reply!! It really helped me out...

I am switching to a mac because ever since vista came out, it is so terrible...Plus macs seem to be highly reliable and defintiely more stable than a PC-windows based system.

With the dual booting, windows/mac os, it ultimately gives me more versatility. Most likely, I will use the mac os mainly for multimedia and ease. I will use the windows os for things I can't do on a mac, especially with being an engineering major with windows based software etc...


Also, i was reading about VMware Fusion...how is that compared to Parallel? But I suppose boot camp is better just because it is not a virtual machine, but parallel and fusion have the ability and convenience to swicth between OSes without rebooting, correct?

Sure. Definitely weigh this carefully though - Macs are not the same as Windows machines even though the hardware is now very similar since Macs use Intel processors. If you are not willing to try something new, then do yourself a favor and stick with Windows. We see a fair number of people who switch on a whim, only to find disappointment because not everything works the same way they're used to it working in Windows.

Click to expand...

What kinds of things do you mean by this?

Thanks!

Also, how is the leopard OS? What is your take on it?

dcwang3 said:

Thanks for the reply!! It really helped me out...

I am switching to a mac because ever since vista came out, it is so terrible...Plus macs seem to be highly reliable and defintiely more stable than a PC-windows based system.

With the dual booting, windows/mac os, it ultimately gives me more versatility. Most likely, I will use the mac os mainly for multimedia and ease. I will use the windows os for things I can't do on a mac, especially with being an engineering major with windows based software etc...


Also, i was reading about VMware Fusion...how is that compared to Parallel? But I suppose boot camp is better just because it is not a virtual machine, but parallel and fusion have the ability and convenience to swicth between OSes without rebooting, correct?

Click to expand...

Parallels and Fusion are very similar in terms of technology and capability. Parallels is a more mature product, and as I understand it, allows for better 3D support. With that said, Fusion is produced by VMWare which is a pioneer in the VM field - and so I'm sure their product will mature very quickly.

Oh, and it's not switching - you literally run the virtualized OS at the same time as Mac OS. To be quite honest, I see no reason to use Boot Camp unless you're playing games where full 3D support is needed. Otherwise, everything runs just fine in Parallels.

What kinds of things do you mean by this?

Thanks!

Click to expand...

For example: the close, minimize and maximize buttons are on the left side of the window in Mac OS. They also don't behave exactly the same way as they do in Windows. That doesn't mean that the Windows way is the right way, it just means that they're different - and it's something you need to get used to as a switcher.

We see a lot of people go on rants, complaining about trivial differences like this. When you switch, you're switching because you want something different than Windows - so, don't be surprised when you find that it is, indeed, different

dcwang3 said:

Also, how is the leopard OS? What is your take on it?

Click to expand...

There's a lot of great new features, but just as with any new OS release, there's still plenty of bugs too. But if you need a new computer now, I wouldn't let that hold you back.

I appreciate the feedback!

cwa107 said:

We see a lot of people go on rants, complaining about trivial differences like this. When you switch, you're switching because you want something different than Windows - so, don't be surprised when you find that it is, indeed, different

Click to expand...

Wow!!! This statement should be chizeled into stone, and securely screwed, glued and mounted at the top of this forum. I don't think that any statement has made more sense, or been more applicable to this forum EVER. Kudos!!!!!