How can I install Windows 7 on this thing? I know I can do that complicated USB method but is that the only way to install for boot camp? Can I use a VM to install but still be able to boot in via boot camp? Merry christmas!
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Installing Windows 7
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I just did this using a USB thumb drive. This method really is not that complicated.
I had Windows 7 installed on my iMac already so the first step was to follow these instructions to format the USB thumb drive:
http://www.intowindows.com/how-to-install-windows-7vista-from-usb-drive-detailed-100-working-guide/
After that all I did was:
-Run the Boot Camp assistant on my MacBook Air and save the drivers to an external HD
-Drag and drop the files from the Windows 7 dvd to the thumb drive
-Install rEFIt on my MacBook Air
-Plug in the USB drive, reboot, select the USB drive, and install like you normally would.
-Once installed, plug in the external HD and install the drivers.
If you had an external superdrive I would imagine that you could just boot from the install drive instead of the USB thumb drive. You also probably would not need to install rEFIt.
Hope this helps!
I had Windows 7 installed on my iMac already so the first step was to follow these instructions to format the USB thumb drive:
http://www.intowindows.com/how-to-install-windows-7vista-from-usb-drive-detailed-100-working-guide/
After that all I did was:
-Run the Boot Camp assistant on my MacBook Air and save the drivers to an external HD
-Drag and drop the files from the Windows 7 dvd to the thumb drive
-Install rEFIt on my MacBook Air
-Plug in the USB drive, reboot, select the USB drive, and install like you normally would.
-Once installed, plug in the external HD and install the drivers.
If you had an external superdrive I would imagine that you could just boot from the install drive instead of the USB thumb drive. You also probably would not need to install rEFIt.
Hope this helps!
Yeah I will do the USB method if necessary but I'd rather get hold of a Superdrive somehow.
Sticking with OSX. Which is pretty much made of fail in any non-artsy business environment.
I own 4 macs, 1 Mac Pro, 1 iMac, 1 MBP, 1 MBA, all running W7.
OSX is nice for children, hipsters and designers(oh HI 64 bit Creative Suite, NOT!) but Windows will remain king of "I actually make money" jobs.
Below this line: children defending OSX
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agree with xeperu - windows is a necessity at work for me - otherwise i cannot run my medical record programs.
You sound like my last boss. If you smart capitalists would just realize 1 good nerd with a DC full of anything but windows is cheaper than outsourcing to India, maybe youd have paid cash.
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I wouldn't call him ignorant. He definitely has used both operating systems. Maybe you are more ignorant than he is? It is just his opinion, he just said it in a way that is offensive.
Windows 7 is actually an extremely good OS for getting things done. Things get done very quickly and efficiently. But, it's not for every one.
I'm going to agree with all of that, even though he's just asking to get attacked. OS X is exactly those people, anybody who thinks otherwise is a fanboy who owns all Apple products. Windows is king of ''I actually make money'' jobs, not because it's better but because it was just adopted and is now the standard. But it is better is many ways, Mac OS X is pretty good for basic ''kids'' stuff though. Safari, Mail, etc.
explain, he seems to be knowledgeable not ignorant
windows 7 is alot faster at running stuff, 64bit adobe anything runs MUCH faster on windows than osx, ALL games runs faster on windows
the above chart is OSX and windows running on the same system with identical settings, windows just slaughters osx
explain, he seems to be knowledgeable not ignorant
windows 7 is alot faster at running stuff, 64bit adobe anything runs MUCH faster on windows than osx, ALL games runs faster on windows
the above chart is OSX and windows running on the same system with identical settings, windows just slaughters osx
Benchmarks are all well and good, but it's not real world to be honest, and anybody worth their salt knows it's all rubbish. It's like racing drivers quoting 0-60mph times of their cars, it means nothing, its what happens on the track that counts.
I've been using both (and other) platforms for so many years, and whilst Windows has it's uses for some things, for general day to day use for your average consumer Mac OSX is much better. Windows is better for some things and for developing on, but it's unstable and once you add virus programs etc it slows down incredibly. My PC probably needs a full OS re-install every 6-9 months, which is shocking.
explain, he seems to be knowledgeable not ignorant
windows 7 is alot faster at running stuff, 64bit adobe anything runs MUCH faster on windows than osx, ALL games runs faster on windows
the above chart is OSX and windows running on the same system with identical settings, windows just slaughters osx
And the game on OSX was probably a port of the PC version so it's naturally going to perform lesser...
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So yeah, lets get back to that "ignorance" thing and just list some of this things I've found that OSX is better for 1 thing.
1. iTunes. On Windows this piece of software is so slow it's almost unworkable, it's laggy as hell. Maybe just purposeful bad programming on Apple's part.
In the past I would have agreed that OSX was king in the design world, but these days many of my suppliers (I'm in publishing) use W7 on their macs. The speed and flexibility is just so much better. This in turn of course locked them in licence wise and I'll doubt they'll be reverting back to OSX any time soon.
OSX is GREAT for your average mom and pop store and the average home user, but when money comes playing around we'll stick to a real operation systems thank you very much.
So yeah, lets get back to that "ignorance" thing and just list some of this things I've found that OSX is better for 1 thing.
1. iTunes. On Windows this piece of software is so slow it's almost unworkable, it's laggy as hell. Maybe just purposeful bad programming on Apple's part.
In the past I would have agreed that OSX was king in the design world, but these days many of my suppliers (I'm in publishing) use W7 on their macs. The speed and flexibility is just so much better. This in turn of course locked them in licence wise and I'll doubt they'll be reverting back to OSX any time soon.
OSX is GREAT for your average mom and pop store and the average home user, but when money comes playing around we'll stick to a real operation systems thank you very much.
I always thought people were trying to compare using practical applications. Throwing game performance scores doesn't show much more than how nice Direct X is still compared to Open GL in terms of game performance. They hardly affect how well they do the rest of the applications. I actually am fine using both OSs on my MBA. However, I do rather use main applications on my Mac, while the Windows (or more specifically Direct X) excels in the game front.
Still, you use what you have to use when it comes to support. Software support is usually where it comes down to, in the end. Not necessarily the OS itself. Windows tends to love thrashing HDs for no good reason though. I spend more time waiting for stuff to launch while it's doing who knows what with the HD on Windows than in OSX. Still, I use it because some programs you just got to use on it. I often look for the MacOS equivalent, though. Especially for laptops. Nothing like using a program that works just as well and yet you get hours of battery life back while using it.
Still, you use what you have to use when it comes to support. Software support is usually where it comes down to, in the end. Not necessarily the OS itself. Windows tends to love thrashing HDs for no good reason though. I spend more time waiting for stuff to launch while it's doing who knows what with the HD on Windows than in OSX. Still, I use it because some programs you just got to use on it. I often look for the MacOS equivalent, though. Especially for laptops. Nothing like using a program that works just as well and yet you get hours of battery life back while using it.
See it all depends on the consumer, I feel that for myself, my family, my business, my employees, etc. windows is much better for every day use in both business and personal aspects. But apart from what is completely opinion it's a bit annoying to hear these myths that Windows is less stable than OSx or that it is slower, these are clearly not true. I've had Windows 7 installed on about 15 different machines of varying hardware configurations ever since the day it was released, and they run just as snappy as on day one, every single one.
But in the end it's the intelligent mature savvy user who USES WHAT HE NEEDS. ie: if tomorrow OSx fit my needs better I'd ditch windows in a second and switch over, but today windows suits my needs much better. From a hardware point of view there are no manufacturers who even come close to the hardware so I choose Apple hardware, but I feel Windows is a more intuitive and useful OS and it's what I run on all my hardware, simple enough without any fanboyism.
It's the person who plants their flag on one side or the other then blindly spouts off that their whatever is the best who is usually the worst person to listen to. Not saying that's you, but it's just funny in these types of threads lots of those people pop up.
I do agree that VIsta was quite a hard drive thrasher before SP2, and even after that. But Win7 is quite stable, fast and doesn't thrash the hard drive any more than OSx does if you have enough memory installed. Not sure what hardware you are running though, that might be the issue.
ok, well i'm not sure if you're in agreement with me or not, but I certainly do hope you're not referring to me as a "fanboy"?
Either way, the myth I refer to of using W7, is personal experience, I have owned many Windows machines in the past, and as I said above they have their place but they do have serious flaws too. Neither is better than the other per se, but the flaws I referred to with Windows are real. There a re many flaws and limitations of OSX too, but they don't affect me at the moment with what I need to do, but it might again one day.
One thing I do find interesting, which I challenge anybody to deny, is this:
In the last 15 years, Apple and it's OS has grown hugely in what was a Microsoft dominated world, with only the very dedicated designers and picture desks using Macs. Now, lets take average Joe Bloggs, he uses a computer for, web surfing, email, storing mp3 and photos etc, he doesn't give a monkey's uncle about SQL servers, configuring networks, screen gamut or front side bus. He wants a computer that starts up quickly, with as few errors as possible, that doesn't require him to be a Microsoft Certified Engineer in order to have the system working to it's optimum after 12 months.
You can dispute the above, but I'm afraid it's fact, Apple's, for the general public (which is the majority of people that buy Apple these days) are more reliable and easier to use, which after all is what everybody wants in a consumer product isn't it. Apple appeal to these people, which is why Apple have grown from strength to strength and now have around a 10% market share.
Call me a fanboy all you like, but the facts are there, and popular opinion is backed up by unit sales.
That's my point also, but with windows. Windows, for the general public (which is the majority of people that buy Windows these days) are more reliable and easier to use, which after all is what everybody wants in a consumder produce isn't it. Windows appeal to these people, which is why Windows still has around a 90% market share.
Sarcasm aside, I rarely see any slowdown or any other issues on my windows machines that I don't see on a mac, at that point it's more an issue of hardware, not enough memory, bottlenecks, etc etc., than it is of software. I have found Windows 7 to be extremely reliable, fast, and very intuitive, in many ways quite a bit more than OSx. Once again they are both good OS' and different users will prefer one or the other for a myriad of reasons. But the old argument that Windows OS is slow and unreliable just doesn't stand up to empiric scrutiny anymore, even if arguably it ever did. At this point it usually doesn't end up being a fact based argument, but more of an anecdotal flag waving diatribe. But I think a large part of my point is why do people even argue to begin with? Use whatever OS suits your need, enjoy it and be happy.
Well I'm glad you've convinced yourself.
Logic and common sense have a way of doing that.