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ok, so I'm getting closer to taking the plunge..as with so many other people, I'm still concerned about backwards compatibility with whatever I have going on with my current XP machines. Let's just say that I have the $$ (within reason) to do whatever I want to do. I'm thinking of getting a Mac Pro (don't want an Imac, already have a nice monitor and a KVM switch), as well as a MBP. Intending to let one of the third party resellers like MacMall do all the grunt work of configuring Boot Camp, Fusion, and partitioning according to whatever scheme I direct them to. So..
If you were in this spot and had the following Windows needs, how much hard drive space, and how much RAM would you allocate to make the experience as transparent as possible?
- Occasional need to run real-live Office for Windows 2007
- Occasional need to run DVD-burning apps such as the SlySoft suite--AnyDVD, CloneDVD, etc
- Occasional need to run online poker clients and associated software under Windows--I'm aware that all the big sites have Mac clients now--but unfortunately the auxiliary datamining programs haven't caught up with that yet (programs like PokerOffice and PokerTracker require that the user be running Windows, I believe).
- Occasional need to access propietary stock/currency-trading systems which may only support Windows
My plan (assuming I buy), is to do this within the next couple of months, before EOL on XP SP2 (I don't want Vista anywhere near these machines). As soon as I take delivery on them, I'm going to let my brother load up all the anti-malware and similar apps. He's the classic "Apple is crap, Windows is the best" type fanboy (hard to believe, right?), but he sure as heck knows more about this stuff than I do. I figure I can just bring the machines over to him, boot them via Boot Camp, and then just tell him he's working on an XP SP2 machine;D ...any changes/enhancements/newly-installed apps added via Boot Camp should be picked up ok by Fusion, right? He'll just grouse about the lack of right-click..and what's the other issue that everyone always complains about? The reversal of where the "meta-keys" are on Windows vs PC keyboards? The clock sync issue between the two OSes has been resolved, right?
Have I forgotten anything else I should be considering here? I'm hoping over time to get more comfortable with Mac and leave XP behind altogether, as more stuff gets developed for it. Gaming is a total non-issue for me, fortunately--to the extent that I do games, I have a Wii and a 360, so that's enough for me there.
If anyone else has been where I am in the past few months, let me know, I'd be very interested in hearing what the right solution is. I'd especially like to end up with only one laptop to check at security when I fly--I keep having nightmares about having to run both a MBP and my Lenovo laptop through those stupid scanners at the airport.
Thanks for any help or encouraging words of wisdom.
If you were in this spot and had the following Windows needs, how much hard drive space, and how much RAM would you allocate to make the experience as transparent as possible?
- Occasional need to run real-live Office for Windows 2007
- Occasional need to run DVD-burning apps such as the SlySoft suite--AnyDVD, CloneDVD, etc
- Occasional need to run online poker clients and associated software under Windows--I'm aware that all the big sites have Mac clients now--but unfortunately the auxiliary datamining programs haven't caught up with that yet (programs like PokerOffice and PokerTracker require that the user be running Windows, I believe).
- Occasional need to access propietary stock/currency-trading systems which may only support Windows
My plan (assuming I buy), is to do this within the next couple of months, before EOL on XP SP2 (I don't want Vista anywhere near these machines). As soon as I take delivery on them, I'm going to let my brother load up all the anti-malware and similar apps. He's the classic "Apple is crap, Windows is the best" type fanboy (hard to believe, right?), but he sure as heck knows more about this stuff than I do. I figure I can just bring the machines over to him, boot them via Boot Camp, and then just tell him he's working on an XP SP2 machine;D ...any changes/enhancements/newly-installed apps added via Boot Camp should be picked up ok by Fusion, right? He'll just grouse about the lack of right-click..and what's the other issue that everyone always complains about? The reversal of where the "meta-keys" are on Windows vs PC keyboards? The clock sync issue between the two OSes has been resolved, right?
Have I forgotten anything else I should be considering here? I'm hoping over time to get more comfortable with Mac and leave XP behind altogether, as more stuff gets developed for it. Gaming is a total non-issue for me, fortunately--to the extent that I do games, I have a Wii and a 360, so that's enough for me there.
If anyone else has been where I am in the past few months, let me know, I'd be very interested in hearing what the right solution is. I'd especially like to end up with only one laptop to check at security when I fly--I keep having nightmares about having to run both a MBP and my Lenovo laptop through those stupid scanners at the airport.
Thanks for any help or encouraging words of wisdom.
