If I bought a Mac Book...
Discussion
Would I be able to use remote desktop to dial into a Windows PC and run ALL of the software on it?
I'm really falling for their sales pitch online, and I'm starting to wonder if it's not the answer to all the problems I have with the work PC's
Only trouble is finding how the hell my bespoke software will work on a Mac... Ah well, nice to dream of a world without crashing, rebooting and product updates, security warnings etc etc... blah blah.
Are they as good as they look?
I'm really falling for their sales pitch online, and I'm starting to wonder if it's not the answer to all the problems I have with the work PC's
Only trouble is finding how the hell my bespoke software will work on a Mac... Ah well, nice to dream of a world without crashing, rebooting and product updates, security warnings etc etc... blah blah.
Are they as good as they look?
Yep. There's a Remote Desktop Connection client for OS X.
http://www.microsoft.com/mac/products/remote-deskt...
For the stuff you need locally, keep a copy of Windows XP chained up in a Virtual Machine with Parallels or VMWare Fusion. Runs very well (but buy lots of memory).
http://www.microsoft.com/mac/products/remote-deskt...
For the stuff you need locally, keep a copy of Windows XP chained up in a Virtual Machine with Parallels or VMWare Fusion. Runs very well (but buy lots of memory).
Edited by CommanderJameson on Friday 22 February 05:41
OSX itself isn't all that. FCP is good as is Aperture so my Macbook has now been relegated to a photo & video machine, for everything else I use a windows laptop (Dell XPS M1330). Tool for the job.
If you want to use windows apps then falling for the marketing and buying a Macbook will lead to a more frustrating computing experience than just buying a decent windows laptop IME.
If you want to use windows apps then falling for the marketing and buying a Macbook will lead to a more frustrating computing experience than just buying a decent windows laptop IME.
KingRichard said:
a Mac... Ah well, nice to dream of a world without crashing, rebooting and product updates
With that in mind, if you do get one remember to download the latest patch - from memory, I thought it was 180MB but checking the Apple site puts it at 343MB*. And while you're waiting for that to download, have a quick look at some of the problems it addresses.In fairness, I've not experienced any real problems with our two Macs - they've been just as stable and reliable as my Vista PCs
- just pointing out that they can have their own problems.The only issue I've had with my MacBook Pro is the rubbish wireless network performance, not sure if the MacBook suffers the same. This is one of the things that is supposed to be improved in the last patch, but I've not really tested it since.
* edit - I guess the 343MB will be a roll-up including November's 10.5.1 update.
Edited by jamieboy on Friday 22 February 10:34
m12_nathan said:
OSX itself isn't all that. FCP is good as is Aperture so my Macbook has now been relegated to a photo & video machine, for everything else I use a windows laptop (Dell XPS M1330). Tool for the job.
If you want to use windows apps then falling for the marketing and buying a Macbook will lead to a more frustrating computing experience than just buying a decent windows laptop IME.
A MacBook is a decent Windows laptop.If you want to use windows apps then falling for the marketing and buying a Macbook will lead to a more frustrating computing experience than just buying a decent windows laptop IME.
CommanderJameson said:
A MacBook is a decent Windows laptop.
With no backslash key and no hash key, rendering it bloody annoying for anyone wishing to map drives, use UNC paths or the hash key. Can you change the screen brightness when in windows from the keyboard, or use the volume keys on the keyboard? Nope.If you only want to use it as a windows laptop then it is a compromised and expensive choice. You can get more for less elsewhere.
If you want to use OSX then it is fine, the OP seems to want to use windows though and I don't see what the Macbook gives you over other hardware other than a frustrating user experience?
m12_nathan said:
[Can you change the screen brightness when in windows from the keyboard, or use the volume keys on the keyboard? Nope.
Of course you can. This is the point of the BootCamp drivers CD. It contains proper PC drivers for the Apple keyboard so that things like that still work in Windows the same as it would in the Mac OS. At least it does here anyway. I also have the keys you mentioned on my old Apple laptop. But maybe this changed on newer Apple laptops. I dont have one here to check.
P,
The volume buttons becomes function keys, as do the brightness buttons.
No '\' and no '#' keys - 100% certain of that, don't think they've ever been there on Mac Keyboards either.
Apples half hearted driver for windows means the touch pad doesn't work how it does in OSX too.
So what is the point of buying one to run windows on? The mac pro I can see would make an excellent windows machine as you can use whatever keyboard and mouse you want, the mac book I disagree on, if it was fine then I wouldn't have had to fork out for another computer.
The OP wants to run windows apps, what is better about OSX and a MacBook in that scenario?
No '\' and no '#' keys - 100% certain of that, don't think they've ever been there on Mac Keyboards either.
Apples half hearted driver for windows means the touch pad doesn't work how it does in OSX too.
So what is the point of buying one to run windows on? The mac pro I can see would make an excellent windows machine as you can use whatever keyboard and mouse you want, the mac book I disagree on, if it was fine then I wouldn't have had to fork out for another computer.
The OP wants to run windows apps, what is better about OSX and a MacBook in that scenario?
m12_nathan said:
The volume buttons becomes function keys, as do the brightness buttons.
No '\' and no '#' keys - 100% certain of that, don't think they've ever been there on Mac Keyboards either.
On the MacBook Pro, you can go in through the Bootcamp tray icon and configure these - I've got mine set so that F5=normal Windows F5, but Fn+F5 means increase the brightness.No '\' and no '#' keys - 100% certain of that, don't think they've ever been there on Mac Keyboards either.
There's a '\' on the MBP keyboard too, but no '#', nor any easy way to generate one either as far as I know, happy (very happy) to be told if there is one.
m12_nathan said:
The OP wants to run windows apps, what is better about OSX and a MacBook in that scenario?
Absolutely nothing at all. I really like the look and feel of my MBP, but for running Windows the best I could say is that it's not much worse than a 'normal' PC. I believed the "it's like a normal Windows PC, only better" hype before I bought it, but I doubt that many of the people shouting about how good it is have tried to use for work all day, every day.On a current generation iMac now - and certainly has / and \ keys...
No hash key on mine but cant remember the last time I needed it.
As for upgrades and general stability - my Mac is MUCH better than my Windows laptop. I recently changed my laptop from Windows 2000 to Vista (complete upgrade - no upgrade path) and had massive problems. Seems that the updates from Microsoft screwed it up and could not be recovered. Restored to downgrading to XP which seems to be running OK. Took a days worth of patching and rebooting to get it to the latest level too, and I started with XP SP2!
That is not to say that Mac OS X isnt without its problems. Mine has been utterly reliable and I am really pleased with it. However, for others the recent upgrades have been problematic. Though I would suggest that there are fewer major issues with Macs than with Windows.
Its horses for courses at the end of the day. A decent well setup Windows laptop is a good cost effective machine to use. However, things are so hit-and-miss sometimes. Take my Dell D630 laptop - it uses the Intel Pro chipset for WiFi which works OK but its utterly rubbish. It often takes 3 minutes to pick up my WiFi access point and its sat right next to each other! Other WiFi drivers work much better and quicker, so its not Windows as such but a combination of the drivers and components used - which you cannot necessarily know before you actually use one. The problem is that when you start spec'ing up a Windows laptop to the better levels then you are in Macbook levels there is virtually nothing in it on the price.
Would I swap to a Mac laptop for my main work machine? Damn right, unfortunately I don't have a choice.
No hash key on mine but cant remember the last time I needed it.
As for upgrades and general stability - my Mac is MUCH better than my Windows laptop. I recently changed my laptop from Windows 2000 to Vista (complete upgrade - no upgrade path) and had massive problems. Seems that the updates from Microsoft screwed it up and could not be recovered. Restored to downgrading to XP which seems to be running OK. Took a days worth of patching and rebooting to get it to the latest level too, and I started with XP SP2!
That is not to say that Mac OS X isnt without its problems. Mine has been utterly reliable and I am really pleased with it. However, for others the recent upgrades have been problematic. Though I would suggest that there are fewer major issues with Macs than with Windows.
Its horses for courses at the end of the day. A decent well setup Windows laptop is a good cost effective machine to use. However, things are so hit-and-miss sometimes. Take my Dell D630 laptop - it uses the Intel Pro chipset for WiFi which works OK but its utterly rubbish. It often takes 3 minutes to pick up my WiFi access point and its sat right next to each other! Other WiFi drivers work much better and quicker, so its not Windows as such but a combination of the drivers and components used - which you cannot necessarily know before you actually use one. The problem is that when you start spec'ing up a Windows laptop to the better levels then you are in Macbook levels there is virtually nothing in it on the price.
Would I swap to a Mac laptop for my main work machine? Damn right, unfortunately I don't have a choice.
Each to their own I guess, some may use it for 10 mins and declare it is fine, for me it drives me bloody mad to the point of buying a proper computer where I can map drives without using the network discovery tat and create regions and pragma info in Visual Studio, or even just google for c# issues without finding a hash and cutting and pasting []
Thinking about it may have a \ key but I can switch keyboard maps to have either a \ or a #, but can't have both at the same time if you see what I mean. As using both is a pretty fundamental part of what I wish to use it for it is annoying and not as good as a dell for example.
]Thinking about it may have a \ key but I can switch keyboard maps to have either a \ or a #, but can't have both at the same time if you see what I mean. As using both is a pretty fundamental part of what I wish to use it for it is annoying and not as good as a dell for example.
m12_nathan said:
OSX itself isn't all that.
Do you waggle your head from side to side when you say that and are you a black American lady? Even the PC mags admit it's the best consumer O/S
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2207556,00.as...
There is nothing I can't do on the Mac that you can do in Windows.
off_again said:
The problem is that when you start spec'ing up a Windows laptop to the better levels then you are in Macbook levels there is virtually nothing in it on the price.
Hmmm.I bought a Dell XPS M1330 for £716, this included £95 for HSDPA and £42 for an LED backlit screen so exclude those for the moment as they aren't options on the macbook and you get
£579 inc vat and delivery for:
Core2Duo 2.0
2GB Ram
160GB Disk
DVD-RW
Intel AGN Wireless
Biometric finger print reader
webcam
Macbook is much more expensive.
I have a macbook black and it is good for some things but running windows apps regularly (all day every day) isn't a strong point.
Editted to amend figures I took off to include discount.
Edited by m12_nathan on Friday 22 February 14:38
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