Please confirm that MacBook [Pro] can run Mac OS and Windows XP together (?)

[rudy45]

The Apple web site makes this claim. Is anyone doing it, i.e. running Mac OS and Windows together at the same time on a Mac Book or Mac Book Pro? Therefore, if this capability exists, and we are running Windows, then we can run, on the Mac Book, and application that runs under Windows, even if there is not a native Apple corresponding application?

Does the decision to run one or both operating systems have to be made at startup, or can you dynamically bring up the second operating system while the computer is running with the first one? Thanks.

[Mr. Jeeves]

Boot Camp requires a reboot into the Windows XP environment - you can't run both at the same time - it's either/or. You can use emulators under OS/X to run Windows applications, but they will run slower than under Windows.

[rudy45]

Thanks for the quick reply. Could you check this link and tell me if Mr. Mossberg is incorrect? He seems to imply, contrary to you, that the Mac application and the Windows application can run at the same time:
http://www.apple.com/getamac/windows.html

Here is the text:

That’s a prospect that has the Wall Street Journal’s Walt Mossberg very excited. “You can run any combination of Mac and Windows programs at the same time, on the same screen.” For example, you could “simultaneously download your corporate email in Outlook using Windows while editing a home video in iMovie using the Mac OS.” Or how about this multi-tasking example from Mossberg: “I was able to do email in Apple’s Mail program while simultaneously watching a baseball game in Internet Explorer.”

And the latitude Parallels Desktop for Mac lends New York Times tech columnist David Pogue has him raving: “I just can’t tell you how handy it is to be able to live in Mac OS X but have the flexibility to duck into the occasional Windows program without having to restart the Mac.” How’s that for opening up a whole new world of possibilities?

[ConservativeMind]

Boot Camp doesn't allow both to run at the exact same time, but combining Boot Camp with the Beta of Parallels, can.

http://www.macwindows.com/bcreview.html

[HAL9000]

I cannot personally confirm it because I haven't done it myself.

But to the best of my understanding, you can run Windows on a Mac Book in a choice of two modes -

1) As a dual-boot solution with Apple's free Boot Camp software. You decide which OS to boot at startup - Windows XP or Mac OS X.

2) As a virtualization solution with third-party software from Parallels, or with VMWare in the future. These products allow you to run Windows XP and Mac OS X concurrently.

Both solutions require Windows XP as a separate purchase.

Apple also has a web site with additional information - How to move your stuff from your PC to your new Mac.

[HAL9000]

If you can visit an Apple Store, they can probably give you a live demonstration of Windows on a Mac Book.

There are four Apple stores in Pennsylvania - Ardmore, King of Prussia, and two in Pittsburgh. See Apple's Shop Retail for specific locations.

[Mr. Jeeves]

No, he's right, but as I said you need a third-party emulator like Parallels. Either way, if you are thinking about buying a Mac, just do it. You won't regret it. ;)

[HAL9000]

Parallels is not a emulator. It is a virtualization product that runs much faster than an emulator.

[McLynnan]

Glad I found this thread. I am going to buy a MacBook for my daughter to take to college very soon. Her current computer is a one year old Dell desktop and she has her Windows XP disk that came with it. Can we install that on the MacBook, or is that a violation of the MS license agreement? Ditto for Microsoft Office. Or alternatively, do you have to buy a special version of XP for Mac? Can you tell I'm confused? It would sure save lots of $$$ if we can use her current software.

[Mr. Jeeves]

Sure, it's OK as long as you stop using Windows XP and Office on the Dell desktop - otherwise you are violating the license agreement. Any full version of Windows XP will work, you just have to download the Boot Camp software from Apple.

[ThePythonicCow]

she has her Windows XP disk that came with it. Can we install that on the MacBook, or is that a violation of the MS license agreement?

That's almost certainly a violation of the license, unless you decommission the Dell box, and consider the MacBook to be replacement hardware. Even that sounds like it's stretching the matter.

Is there a reason you need XP on the MacBook. Why not just run with the software that's on it, Mac OS X and Appleworks?

That Dell disk might be just to reinstall XP on the Dell box, not a full Windows XP. From the Apple Boot Camp web page you will need:

A bona fide installation disc for Microsoft Windows XP, Service Pack 2, Home or Professional (No multi-disc, upgrade or Media Center versions.)

If that Windows disk has Dell as the biggest words written on it, not Microsoft, and is labeled "Reinstallation CD - Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition", possibly with the additional line "Including Service Pack 1a", then it's both the wrong service pack level, and not a full installation disk anyway.

[McLynnan]

s there a reason you need XP on the MacBook. Why not just run with the software that's on it, Mac OS X and Appleworks?

Thanks to both of you. I am really green at this and totally unfamiliar with what software runs on Mac. I don't think she really needs XP from what she tells me. What she says she needs is MS Office on the Mac. Since we already own MS Office and XP I wondered if that would save us some $$$. Maybe the best answer is to suck it up and buy MS Office for Mac. I'm not at all interested in stiffing Microsoft, and it's possible that at some point I'll take over her Dell for my own use. Then if I have installed her XP on the Mac I'd be in absolute violation of the license agreement, right?

[Mr. Jeeves]

That depends on what part of Office she needs - if it's just Word and Powerpoint, then Apple iWork '06 with the applications Pages (exports documents in Word format) and Keynote is a lot cheaper, and you can get it preinstalled. If she also needs Excel, then you might as well get Office.

[ThePythonicCow]

buy MS Office for Mac

That would likely work better and easier than trying to run Windows on the Mac, yes.

Then if I have installed her XP on the Mac I'd be in absolute violation of the license agreement, right?

Yup - you'd need a second Windows XP license to do that.

[rudy45]

Thanks for these responses. I've learned a great deal.

The whole thing arose because my wife wants to be able to use Outlook on a Macbook. Is there a native Mac OS version? If not, does Apple have a corresponding program to which she can port her Outlook information? If the answer to either question is "yes," then maybe we don't have to worry about Boot Camp or Parallel. Thanks.

[McLynnan]

Again, thank you both. She needs MS Office for both Excel and Powerpoint. I think I'll go ahead and buy MS Office for Mac and then there will be no issues about XP license agreements. Apple is giving a free IPod Nano with the notebooks right now. Finally I'll have an IPOD, even if it is a little one, lol.

[HAL9000]

The whole thing arose because my wife wants to be able to use Outlook on a Macbook. Is there a native Mac OS version?

Microsoft Office for Mac includes Entourage, which connects to MS Exchange Server for email, contacts, calendar, etc.

For general purpose e-mail, Mac OS X includes Mail.app.