questions

hi i'm new here and new to mac. im getting new black macbook. i was just wondering if i can run windows and leopard with bootcamp with only 1 gb of RAM. or do i need 2 GB. second can i play a very basic game without the video card thing(if you know what i mean) its blizzards "starcraft" not a very a advanced game so i think it can handle it but i need some answers


thanks

Yes and Yes

The minimum specs for 10.5 say you need 512mb of RAM. I am not sure how much XP or Vista need. 1GB should be sufficient. 2GB can't hurt.

If you are willing to invest in your machine, I say go for it. You will see a world of difference, I know I did!

EDIT: Here is a good deal for upgrading to 2 GB.

1GB will work fine overall as with Bootcamp you are either running Leopard or Vista. I have more doubt about Vista being totally smooth with 1GB than Leopard. 2GB like others have said can not hurt at all if you can afford it. I would get the stock Mac and purchase memory from say New Egg later as it will cost you a whole lot less.

That game should be playable on the Macbook.

1gb is OK with bootcamp. With Parallels it's AWFUL. You'll become intimate friends with the spinning ball . . .

Although 1 GB is sufficient enough for what you want to do, I would HIGHLY recommend 2 GB for any kind of multiple OS setup with specifically Vista.

Mac OS X runs beautifully with only 1 GB of RAM. XP runs fine with just 1 GB of RAM. Vista... well doesn't. To me, 1 GB for Vista is a minimum, not a recommendation.

With that said, in the case of a multiple operating system setup, Boot Camp allows dedicated hardware when running Vista. Even then you will have only 1 GB of RAM to run Vista. Even on Windows-based hardware, 1 GB is pushing it. I would recommend 2 GB.

If you are running any kind of "OS within OS" software (ie. Parallels or VMware Fusion) just remember that you will be running TWO operating systems at the same time. Vista Alone, at idle, uses about 60% of your available RAM if you only have 1 GB. That number drops to 30% if you have 2 GB. Imagine Vista taking up 60% of your RAM, and only having 30% to run everything else, including Mac OS X.

So... To answer your question, yes, 1 GB is sufficient to run Mac OS X and Vista on the same machine, no matter how you decide to run Vista. However, you may find yourself running into RAM shortages, especially if you are running Vista within Mac.

I recommend you opt for the 2 GB.