I know. It's just that some people said it was a waste of money to buy a Mac if I was just going to run Windows. Then they recommended me the Vaio X and I checked it out but found that it has weaker specs and costs $300 more.
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Installing Windows 7 on the Macbook Air 11.6 through USB
- Thread starter Dragynfyre
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I know. It's just that some people said it was a waste of money to buy a Mac if I was just going to run Windows. Then they recommended me the Vaio X and I checked it out but found that it has weaker specs and costs $300 more.
It's not. Mac is an all around better built machine, wheather you are running OSX or Windows. And unless you live in India, has much better customer support than Dell or HP.
Vaio X not good advice. While it cant be beaten on looks and weight, the Atom CPUz sucks big c**ks. I had one, and while it looked great on my desk, it was totally unusable as it was so slow.
With the MBA 11.6" I bought my first Apple computer, as for the first time Apple had something nobody else has (small, fast, quiet). Yet my biggest partition on my 64GB is Win 7. Why? Games! Most PC games run great on this little machine. And that's the one area where Apple computers are only catching up very slowly, and only very recently (Steam).
So as a staunch Windows man, recently Apple convert I'd say there's very good reason to be a MBA, even if you will run Win on it most of the time (which works so well!).
Glad to hear it's working out for you! Do you mind sharing exactly how you partitioned your drive space? I'm still trying to figure out if 64GB is enough or I need to go for the 128GB. Thanks!
So can anyone confirm if the USB install works? I reread the PDF and it doesn't mention being able to use a USB drive for installing Windows, just for copying support drivers and stuff to.
In case you are still wondering, I just found this:
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-31012_7-20020513-10355804.html
Do let me know how it goes!
Alright will do. It's gonna be a few days though since none of the Apple Stores, Best Buys, Futureshops, etc. have the new MBA in stock yet.
That CNet guide just came out today and it was tested specifically on the new MBA so it looks like it has a lot of potential.
Ouch. I just saw the Air at a local Apple store, and they are really gorgeous. Would love to have one, but not sure I can justify it, it's not like I really need a notebook at this point. But if I do ever get one, I'd definitely be installing Win7 on it.
I had some difficulty justifying getting a MBA since I'd only be using it for a couple hours at school every day but in the end I decided it was worth it. I'm tempted to just order from apple.ca but I want to take a look at it in person before I buy.
It's exactly like the recent MacBook Pros, only thinner and lighter. If you like them, the 13" is a no-brainer. The 11" screen is very usable, and I certainly felt that the slight decrease in screen size is a good compromise for more portability, but that will probably vary from person to person, so I agree it's better to check it out before buying. The keyboard, amazingly, appeared to be the same size on both models. I'd love to get one, but I've gotten fairly good at typing on my iPad, I just don't need a notebook anymore. I don't think I could take out the Air on a bus or subway and start typing, even the 11" one. And since I'm no longer in school, I'm never in a situation where I'm outside, have to type something, and have a flat surface to put a notebook on.
Anyway, good luck on getting ahold of one, and nice to know a fellow Windows-on-Mac user!
Where in Canada are you? All the Apple stores have had the MBA in stock and on display since Saturday in Toronto.
I gave 35GB to Win7 and the rest to MacOS (the games take a lot of space, and I don't really have any software for Mac, nor will I get any, it's word processing, email and browsing on the Mac (which is a great experience with the trackpad working so well)).
Why don't you install Office 2011 for MAC? It will use a lot more battery when you use Windows bro
BTW... Why would you want to get a Mac and install Windows JUST for OFFICE??
Strange!!
Why don't you install Office 2011 for MAC? It will use a lot more battery when you use Windows bro
BTW... Why would you want to get a Mac and install Windows JUST for OFFICE??
Again, because Macs are better built machines. Several PC publications state that the best Windows machines are Macs. My #1 reason is Apple's customer support.
I have acquaintances that wipe the hard drive on their Macs and use Windows only. I wouldn't do it just for Office, I use Open Office, but the OP made a ref to Ribbon.
Yes, exactly. I know Mac fans might find it hard to believe, but some users prefer Windows over OSX. Apple makes superior hardware, and OSX might be the better engineered software, but the user interface is just personal preference. You like curry, I like burgers. You can't believe I'd prefer to eat burgers when curry is so much more tasty, but I just can't stand the spiciness. But that doesn't mean I can't use the best dish to serve my burgers on, just because the dish maker intended the dish to be used for curry!
I just spent half the morning updating OSX -- and boy, am I glad to be back in Windows! And Windows looks beautiful on the big bright 27" iMac monitor, much better than on the 21" Dell monitor. And I'm finding that webpages open faster on IE in Windows than Safari in OSX -- not sure why, but MacForums pages took forever to load in Safari/OSX! And everything in Windows is where I expect it to be, I know all the keyboard shortcut commands to do everything I want to do, why should I torture myself trying to memorize an entire new set of shortcuts? I don't care if running Windows on a 11" Air only gives me 4 hours battery life instead of 5 -- those 4 hours are going to be the most enjoyable 4 hours I ever spent on a notebook.
I suspect, though, that Lion and subsequent iterations of OSX might eventually convince me to switch. I'm not pro-Windows or anti-Mac, I just want something that works for me. Right now, it just so happens that OSX isn't it.
Why don't you install Office 2011 for MAC? It will use a lot more battery when you use Windows bro
BTW... Why would you want to get a Mac and install Windows JUST for OFFICE??
I already have a copy of Office 2010 that I bought (Home and Student so I can install on 3 computers) so it's cheaper for my to use Windows. Plus the occasional game.
Well I use software that is Winblows only, so if I want to pay my child support...
Some specs are weaker, others are much better. VAIO X is thinner, much much lighter and has 3G. It also has extra battery which, combined with the main one, gives 15 hours battery life. People who want mobility may prefer VAIO X. If you are interested in performance, take a look at Acer 1830T-3721 which outperforms MBA in many categories according to PC Magazine. And it's cheaper than MBA.
The Vaio X is only lighter when you don't add in the extended battery. Also I don't need 15 hours of battery life. 5-6 is enough for me. I also don't need 3G because I'm a student and I always have WiFi Internet access. Plus the Vaio X can't do any light gaming when I want to and costs a whopping $300 more. The TimelineX 1830T is heavier and thicker and doesn't have a SSD (adding in one would cost $100 if I bought one and installed it myself). Also no good. The 11.6" MBA is more of a just right machine for me.
Anyways just posted to say I finally got the MBA last night and I used it for the first time at school today and so far I'm loving it. Now I just need to install Windows 7 so I can get off the OpenOffice crap.
Just finished installing Windows 7 and it worked like a charm using the CNET guide. I just used the Microsoft Windows 7 USB tool to burn the ISO onto my USB drive instead of following the first step in that guide though.
Good to hear! Yeah, I thought that first step was unnecessary, too. Guess the guy who wrote it wasn't aware of the Win7 USB tool. Do let me know how it runs. And after all the nay-saying, I'm really curious about how much battery life you get on Win7. But above all, enjoy your Air!