Boot Camp = WinXP + Mac OSX on MacIntels

I'll be danged if they didn't deliver the MacBook Pro this morning after Friday afternoon order.

Busy setting it all up now with updates, applications, Boot Camp, XP Pro.

I have separate XP Pro disks I bought for Virtual PC, and the separate SP2 update disk and hope those will work with Boot Camp.

Later - Bo

Cant wait for the update!!!!!!!!!!! There is a mac store here in town that has one that I could get.... Might have to copy you by the end of the day. Although I was thinking I might wait for the 17" that will be coming out

Ben

The new MacBookPro in 15" form now has the same pixel resolution of my earlier 1.5 ghz 17" PowerBook (2+ years old) of 1440 pixels across.

I decided I didn't want the extra weight and size of the 17" after having one for 2 years.

The 1440 pixel screen is OK for 2 pdf or text document pages side by side, and good for CAD, so I chose the 15" as being my best compromise.

Bo

Good point, I can always add a flat panel for static work

So.... how is the install going? Had SW up yet?

Ben

Make sure you have POWER cord installed and the green light "ON" on the connector during the install process on a MacBook Pro.

I have been very careful in reading the info and making sure I don't blow it somehow. I read all the documents on Apple's Boot Camp area and the 17 page pdf file on installing.

I have also kept a detailed outline log of what I did in case I blow it somehow.

Creating the Driver CD for loading in Windows after its install if finished is trivial.

I have a USB keyboard and Mouse to use during installation, but I don't think I really needed it with the MacBook Pro, but I had them connected in case I needed them, but Apple's admonition on this wasn't something I really understood completely. (The $30 Adesso Mini Multimedia keyboard is a small MacBook sized Windows keyboard you can get in USB or PS-2, and would work fine for travel work if you want or need an external keyboard on the road.)

I am surprised that everything went as smoothly as it has with no ambiguous installation instructions or instructions on the pdf that don't match the screen. All in all, an amazingly smooth install.

The longest dead time (about 20 minutes) is just waiting as the WinXP Pro SP2 installer does its NTFS formatting of the previously created 30 gig partion I made for Drive C (be sure you select ONLY drive C or you erase your Mac OSX partition & get to start over...from scratch & reinstall Mac OSX).

After the NTFS formatting is done, all the standard Windows Installer Setup files get thrown on just like any PC install. All of this seems to happen just like on my Dell M60 when I last did a clean install on a new Hard Drive not too long ago, at about the same speed, and both HDs are 7200 rpm drives.

At the end of the Windows Install it will reboot, so hold down the Option key on your MacIntel to pick which Partition to boot from, Pick Windows and awaaaaaay you go, sort of, as it tells you it will take another 39 minutes to complete the install.

I'll post info on the SolidWorks install & running later.

Bo

Just interested why you are installing it to NTFS not a FAT32. MAC OS's can read NTFS but can't write to them, so you won't be able to write to that partition when in MAC.

At least that's been my, very limited, experince.

John Layne

www.solideng>> So.... how is the install going? Had SW up yet?

SolidWorks always recommends NTFS as the most stable file format.

Just use the MacDrive 6 from MediaFour, or similar software.

So far SolidWorks runs very very similar to my Dell M60. I'll post more info later this evening (my time) as I get the SP 3.4 upgrade done, and some SolidWorks data files moved in.

Thanks - Bo

Bo kirjoitti:

How about "Limited number of accelerated windows" with Radeon..is it there?

regards Markku

The perfs FOR GAMES seem far from an Athlon64 3000+, from the benches of this site:

Anything from SW use?

My .01 Eu

I've dumped about 6 gigs of SolidWorks files into the MacBook Pro with Win XP Pro2 and started by opening a dozen assembly and part files for a product composed of corrugated tubes and curved plastic parts (Respirator circuit) with a 17 meg final assembly and other assemblies from 4-10 megs.

I note on the video end that whether it is just the main assembly or with all 12 files open that the full rotation time on my MacBookPro or on the Dell M60 (both SWks 2006 SP3.4), that a full rotation of the assembly takes 10 seconds.

No video anomolies or other things are noted yet. I haven't had time to thrash SolidWorks through all sorts of constructions and assemblies.

I do note that the difference in resolution of the MacBook Pro @ 1440 pixels versus the Dell @ 1900 pixels is such that the images on the Dell provide a smoother looking screen and screen shot image.

The RadTech BT500 BlueTooth Mouse works in the MBPro on both MacOSX and on Windows XP Pro SP2.

In a sum total opinion, I think that the MacBookPro running Windows XP is as nearly as clean and fast as I could possibly imagine for a laptop. It will not affect heavy duty desktop use, but the later MacIntel Desktops will certainly be more powerful, yet only time will tell how they work.

I am tickled pink over this, as now one MacBookPro Laptop can now run Linux, MacOSX, & WindowXP...EFFICIENTLY.

More info later.

Bo

I've dumped about 6 gigs of SolidWorks files into the MacBook Pro with Win XP Pro2 and started by opening a dozen assembly and part files for a product composed of corrugated tubes and curved plastic parts (Respirator circuit) with a 17 meg final assembly and other assemblies from 4-10 megs.

I note on the video end that whether it is just the main assembly or with all 12 files open that the full rotation time on my MacBookPro or on the Dell M60 (both SWks 2006 SP3.4), that a full rotation of the assembly takes 10 seconds.

No video anomolies or other things are noted yet. I haven't had time to thrash SolidWorks through all sorts of constructions and assemblies.

I do note that the difference in resolution of the MacBook Pro @ 1440 pixels versus the Dell @ 1900 pixels is such that the images on the Dell provide a smoother looking screen and screen shot image.

The RadTech BT500 BlueTooth Mouse works in the MBPro on both MacOSX and on Windows XP Pro SP2.

In a sum total opinion, I think that the MacBookPro running Windows XP is as nearly as clean and fast as I could possibly imagine for a laptop. It will not affect heavy duty desktop use, but the later MacIntel Desktops will certainly be more powerful, yet only time will tell how they work.

I am tickled pink over this, as now one MacBookPro Laptop can now run Linux, MacOSX, & WindowXP...EFFICIENTLY.

More info later.

Bo

Sorry, I didn't mean to hit the send button twice.

A separate USB PC keyboard with a PC key layout including a Delete key will likely be desirable for most SolidWorks users on a MacIntel. That is easy and cheap.

In testing the Rotation time of a large assembly (both Mac & Dell = 2 gigs RAM), the Mac uses only 50% of the CPU in the Task Manager as opposed to 100% on the Dell. That is the first significant difference noted between MacBookPro & Dell M60. There is no way for me to know if this is accurate or reflects anything of value.

Later - Bo

USB keys, keyboard, and mice on the MacBookPro when running Windows XP Pro SP2 all mount without incident or complaint to date.

Bo

Given that Apple will release the MacBook replacement for the iBooks sometime in the next 1-2 months, I fully expect that a sub-$2000 MacBook will finally allow effective speedy MacOS X and WinXP Pro use with SolidWorks for use in the field without spending an arm and a leg out of your checkbook.

The only item I am looking at right now is how to emulate the PC "Delete" function on the MacBookPro when in SolidWorks. No obvious solution right yet, though Right Click usually allows Delete options where it is needed.

Current release of Boot Camp does NOT support getting the time right on each startup and this is a known issue.

Tried to do Standby and it worked with the MacBook Pro Sleep light functioning normally. Hitting "any key" then resumes normal WinXP/SolidWorks.

Bo

In addition there are questions about how well the Fan in the MacBook Pro is managed under XP Pro right now, so it would pay to watch temperature manually.

I have no doubt there may be some patches in Boot Camp or in XP itself made shortly to address this issue.

Obviously, I would not want to run SolidWorks for hours on the MacBookPro, until this issue is addressed.

The real key value I see here for me is being able to now go into the field, to a vendor, hospital, tool shop, supplier or whatever and get some things detailed or shown to someone, without taking 2 machines, while still maintaining a high degree of connectivity for anything I need.

The diehards on Windows make the point that I can do that now with my Dell Laptop, but managing a Windows machine on the Interent is just too intensive these days. Between the malacious key logger rootkits and the next back door through Windows, I don't need the hassle, time, study, and implementation time loss to make Windows reasonably bulletproof. Even Microsoft has finally admitted some of the virus, spyware, adware corruptions are just not practically fixable anymore. It is simpler to reinstall XP from a server in a business environment.

Maybe it will change with Vista, but I somehow doubt it. Windows has become the megalopolous of the 21st Century attempting to Be All and Work with All Hardware for Any Use, and in the process it has become BloatWare by anyone's definition.

Things are Looking Up - Bo

I suspect the 50% is the dual core thing, as SW will only run on one CPU then the max it could see is 50% of the puters total cpu usage

You do have a dual core right?

Ben

Bo wrote:

I use a spacepilot and I think that you could program the delete function into that to make up for the loss of the key

Ben

Bo wrote:

Ben, that is right, all the MacBook Pros are dual core Intels.

Bo

Something like that will likely work.

Quickeys for Windows, which I use, may let me remap the Delete key, which I will check.

I know there is a little utility for the Mac which one of the guys at the AppleStore mentioned, though I've forgotten it now.

Bo