Need advice about MacBook Pro, Boot Camp, etc.

[jcampa]

Hi, with the help of all you guys I bought my Powerbook G4 (the 17" last one) last november, I tought it was a computer for many years, but now, I don't know what to do.
Why? because I really need to run windows sometimes, and knowing the new MacBook Pros run windows, I'm tempting to buy one, so here are some questions about it:

1. It's Parallels different from Boot Camp? I mean, I have to install Boot Camp to run parallels?
2. What you recomend me more, Parallels or just Boot Camp?
3. I have a lot of software from windows 98, it can run with XP in the Mac Book?
4. Will it runs Windows Vista when released?
5. Can I play Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004 without problems? Like in a PC with all the add ons? This will be the mainly reason to buy it I confess.
6. People says it works faster than a PC with the same configuration, it's true?

I'll appreciate all your help, I need a lot info to convince my wife for another expense like this, but the truth is I'll lo ve to run both systems with only one computer.

Thanks.

[blakbyrd]

1. BootCamp and Parallels are two different things. The first lets you dual boot between OS X and Windows XP. The second allows you to run XP inside a window on OS X. You have to have a copy of XP, though.
3. Yes, probably.
4. Yes, probably.
6. Mileage may vary.

[initialsBB]

5. get x-plane 8 (http://x-plane.com/)

[JayReding]

1. Boot Camp and Parallels are different things. Boot Camp installs Windows directly on your Mac, meaning you have reboot in order to go into Windows. Parallels lets you run a copy of Windows on your Mac desktop, so no reboots are required. Boot Camp is good for gaming, Parallels doesn't support 3D hardware, so it's not very good for anything but old games.

2. Parallels is great for office applications, testing with Internet Explorer, etc. If you game, Boot Camp is your only option. Parallels is also a bit on the pricey side.

3. It should.

4. Parallels does not support Vista yet, and won't until the next version. Boot Camp does support Vista, although I understand it takes a few tweaks at the moment.

5. I've played Flight Simulator 2004 under Boot Camp, and it works very well. You shouldn't have a problem with it at all.

6. I'm not so sure it's necessarily faster, but with Boot Camp, you're running Windows right on the hardware, so it's just as fast as any Windows PC with the same specs.

If you're gaming, I do recommend the MacBook Pro, since the regular MacBook only has Intel integrated graphics, which doesn't have the horsepower for gaming. If portability isn't an issue, the iMac Core Duo is cheaper than the MacBook Pro and has more than enough horsepower for gaming.

Remember, you can also purchase refurbished machines from Apple's online store at a pretty substantial discount. You get the same warranty as a new machine, and as long as you don't mind doing things like adding RAM yourself (you'll want at least 1GB of RAM regardless), that's a great way of getting a new Mac for a very reasonable price.

[jcampa]

1. Boot Camp and Parallels are different things. Boot Camp installs Windows directly on your Mac, meaning you have reboot in order to go into Windows. Parallels lets you run a copy of Windows on your Mac desktop, so no reboots are required. Boot Camp is good for gaming, Parallels doesn't support 3D hardware, so it's not very good for anything but old games.
So I see, Boot Camp is the way to go, I can use it to play games (rebooting the MBP), and use Parallels (without rebooting) for a less demanding PC software.

2. Parallels is great for office applications, testing with Internet Explorer, etc. If you game, Boot Camp is your only option. Parallels is also a bit on the pricey side.
I think it's worth the expense, at least for me, I'll be able to use PC programs while using Mac OSX (like as you say, IE, etc.)
3. It should.

4. Parallels does not support Vista yet, and won't until the next version. Boot Camp does support Vista, although I understand it takes a few tweaks at the moment.
Boot Camp is free for now (It's a fact I'll buy Leopard when released) and if Parallels works as it says, probably I'll buy the update.
5. I've played Flight Simulator 2004 under Boot Camp, and it works very well. You shouldn't have a problem with it at all.
Those are excellent news!! I can't wait to buy it, and all the add ons I can find!!
6. I'm not so sure it's necessarily faster, but with Boot Camp, you're running Windows right on the hardware, so it's just as fast as any Windows PC with the same specs.
Thats what I've heard, but is a heck faster than a Pentium 4 machine, right?
If you're gaming, I do recommend the MacBook Pro, since the regular MacBook only has Intel integrated graphics, which doesn't have the horsepower for gaming. If portability isn't an issue, the iMac Core Duo is cheaper than the MacBook Pro and has more than enough horsepower for gaming.
Yes, it will be the 17" MacBook Pro with 2 GB of Ram (I hope Apple shows new MBP's next monday, if not, I'll wait for the next revision) Don't you think?

Remember, you can also purchase refurbished machines from Apple's online store at a pretty substantial discount. You get the same warranty as a new machine, and as long as you don't mind doing things like adding RAM yourself (you'll want at least 1GB of RAM regardless), that's a great way of getting a new Mac for a very reasonable price.
I'm not from the US (México), so I can't buy online from Apple, I'm going to NY september the first, I hope I can find something, if not, I'll be in Chicago in October, so wish me good luck.

Thanks you very much guys.

[PB PM]

Umm you can buy online from Apple via the Mexico Apple store. There is a tab at the bottom of the Apple website for choosing the country you are from.

http://www.apple.com/mx/

[jcampa]

Umm you can buy online from Apple via the Mexico Apple store. There is a tab at the bottom of the Apple website for choosing the country you are from.

http://www.apple.com/mx/
Yeah, but if you see, it says "where to buy" theres not an official Apple Store in México, so you can't buy from here, besides, if you see the shipping terms in the US Apple Store, there's no shipping outside the continental US.
I wish we have it here, because the prices are not as high as anyone can think, for example:

The MacBook Pro 17" in the US costs $2,799.00 + Tax, and here it costs $2,920.00 + IVA (IVA is the mexican tax) but you can recover it, so basically it's only $120.00 more.

The only problem here is the availability, they arrive 2 or 3 months later than in the US.

[almost2mac]

5. I've played Flight Simulator 2004 under Boot Camp, and it works very well. You shouldn't have a problem with it at all.

6. I'm not so sure it's necessarily faster, but with Boot Camp, you're running Windows right on the hardware, so it's just as fast as any Windows PC with the same specs.


I'll second that. I got Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 running on my 17" iMac and there are no problems.

Only thing to watch for is integrated memory on the video cards.