computer advise

[jtodd]

Hello all! I am in the market for a new laptop and I am currently starting my graduated degree in CIS. I was considering a Mac book pro. Is there a way to run visual basic and other microsoft programs on it. How well does boot camp work? Will I need a windows machine also? Thanks in advance for the advise!!

[ctaylo21]

If you have the money to afford a macbook pro then go for it. Boot camp works just fine in my opinion. Once that is up and running, you should be able to run any windows program on your macbook pro. You don't need a windows machine, just a windows operating system disk. Just get yourself a copy of Windows 7 and follow the instructions for boot camp. Good luck.

[Gamerpro001]

Welcome Jtodd! Ctaylo is right, if you have the money for a Mac, then go for it. They are more reliable and can even run Windows within itself. I have had my iMac G5 running 10.4.11 since December of 2005 and it still is in amazing condition for being to OS systems out of date. You do NOT need an entire windows machine, just simply the Windows 7/XP/Vista install disc (legitimately preferably, but I'm not one to judge). In my opinion Boot Camp is the best way to run Windows on your Mac, because rather than using an application like Parallels, you don't have to be running your Mac OS in the background while using the Windows side, rather JUST booting in Windows, without Mac even opening. For instance if you wanted to play a high RAM using game like Call Of Duty, you would have higher connection and less lag using Boot Camp.

Hope This Helps,

David :)

[blud]

As stated with the previous replys, Apple computers are a great purchase, and would highly recommend them. Using Parallels desktop or VMware fusion, will allow you to run visual studio without even rebooting into a windows install. If you still want a native install, bootcamp is wonderful, and will do the job just fine.

[jtodd]

Thank you all for your advise! I did buy the macbook pro and I am very happy with my purchase. I installed Windows 7 using boot camp for my VB needs and I have been using OS X for everything else. Thanks again for the great advise!!

[bigriver]

You do NOT need an entire windows machine, just simply the Windows 7/XP/Vista install disc (legitimately preferably, but I'm not one to judge). In my opinion Boot Camp is the best way to run Windows on your Mac, because rather than using an application like Parallels, you don't have to be running your Mac OS in the background while using the Windows side, rather JUST booting in Windows, without Mac even opening.Thank you all for your advise! I did buy the macbook pro and I am very happy with my purchase. I installed Windows 7 using boot camp for my VB needs and I have been using OS X for everything else.

[James82]

If you have enough budget,macbook is a good choice.

[ksharp25]

I have a PowerBook G4 with Leopard (10.5.8) for over two years now and its partitioned and set up with Boot Camp for Windows XP (I did not have 7 at the time). I run anything you can think of in that Windows environment. And its smooth as silk. I even have ZBrush 3 running on there (3D sculpting) without hiccup. In fact, due to the Intel architecture of how Apple makes it, not to sound too fanboy here, Windows and its installed apps run better over my Mac laptop then it does on non-apple firmware (Standard IBM based PC with Windows).

[BradleyScott]

You do NOT need an entire windows machine, just simply the Windows 7/XP/Vista install disc (legitimately preferably, but I'm not one to judge). In my opinion Boot Camp is the best way to run Windows on your Mac, because rather than using an application like Parallels, you don't have to be running your Mac OS in the background while using the Windows side, rather JUST booting in Windows, without Mac even opening.