Any XP program that won't run on a Mac??

[fjs08]

My wife has a 4 yr old ThinkPad. Her hard drive is going. Usually takes 40 minutes to boot up after repeated tries. Error message says hard drive. I'm purposely not being too much help because I want her to get a Mac to replace the ThinkPad. I have a MacBook Pro and love it. I've used Apple stuff since '82 or so. Anyway, she does have our office payroll/checkbook program that we HAVE to use running on XP. Has anyone found any XP programs that will run on a traditional XP box that will not run on XP via BootCamp, etc on a Mac.

btw, as to whether an XP program will run on a Mac, is BootCamp, Parallels, etc the key or doesn't that matter at all?

Thanks. I'm going to need all the info I can get to get her to switch. But I'm sure she'll love a Mac once she gets there.

Frank

 

[siurpeeman]

I think the best thing you could do to convince her is to show her. Install windows on your macbook pro, and show her that a mac can, indeed, do everything she needs.

edit: i know i didn't really answer your question (at all). i'm sorry about that, but i am trying to be helpful.

 

[fjs08]

>>I think the best thing you could do to convince her is to show her.<<

Good thought!!

Frank

 

[RemarkabLee]

You have two realistic choices when running Windows applications on the Mac.

1, Virtualisation: This is using Parallels Desktop or VMWare to use a virtual Windows machine on top of Mac OS X. For your purposes, this would be ideal as it allows you to run a specifc application on the Mac, but allows you to still use Mac OS X other features at the same time.

2, Bootcamp: This would mean bypassing OS X altogether and running only Windows XP/Vista natively. This is only required when you need the full speed for Windows (i.e. games or hardware intensive applications).

The third option is I believe called translation, from Crossover/Wine. This is kind of like a best of both worlds, but is very application specific and can be very buggy. I'd avoid this until it matures.

 

[chrisbeebops]

When a Mac is running Windows through Bootcamp, it acts like any other Windows computer. It can run any program that other Windows computers can with similar hardware. (Realistically the only thing you need to worry about is graphics intensive applications like games. You should easily meet the system requirements for everything else.)

When a Mac is running Windows through Parallels, it also acts like any other Windows computer. However, applications will run slower because you are running both OS X and Windows at the same time and Parallels has to do translation work for Windows. Most programs will work fine in Parallels (with the exception of graphics intensive applications).

My suggestion would be to show her everything a Mac can offer over a PC, but don't force her into buying it. She is going to be the one using the computer, so while you would be helping her by forcing her to switch, if something goes wrong it'll be your fault if you force her into it. (Learned this by experience.. damn printer drivers...)

 

[dylanemcgregor]

Definitely don't force her, or even suggest too hard. Macs are nice, but they aren't for everyone, and running Bootcamp on the Mac (especially a laptop) is only a partial solution.

I primarily use XP on a Macbook via Bootcamp, and while I haven't come across any program incompatibilities that doesn't mean using Windows on the Mac is just as good as on a Windows PC. Things like key placement, lack of a dedicated delete key, no touchpad tapping when in Windows all make for not the best experience if you are using it daily.