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davelanger

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Mar 25, 2009
832
4
I am getting the quadcore with 8gbs of RAM and the better graphics card.
Does WOW run better in osx or windows 7?
 
with that system it won't matter.

I run WOW on an i5 with 8gb under X with custom settings; as in some details are cranked higher than sliders can set.
 
Windows 7 does have better drivers due to DX11. However, the Mac OS X version supports video recording within the World of Warcraft application, which is obviously better for machinima. Basically, Windows 7 is better for playing, OS X is better for recording videos.
 
Windows 7 does have better drivers due to DX11. However, the Mac OS X version supports video recording within the World of Warcraft application, which is obviously better for machinima. Basically, Windows 7 is better for playing, OS X is better for recording videos.

Is that a built-in feature you are talking about vs. 3rd party? Many people record videos and post them on Youtube. And I doubt all of them are Mac users. And the Beta videos show the DX11 in the works so it must be Windows. It's prolly free.
 
For OSX the vid recorder is built into WoW and is not an outside application like how you have to do on Windows.
 
Windows 7 does have better drivers due to DX11. However, the Mac OS X version supports video recording within the World of Warcraft application, which is obviously better for machinima. Basically, Windows 7 is better for playing, OS X is better for recording videos.

What is DX11 do you have to DL something? Sorry Im a newb
 
What is DX11 do you have to DL something? Sorry Im a newb

It's a software thing that allows game programmers to use the video card (need to be compatible) to process certain graphics features...and quickly.

Direct X 11 is built into Windows 7...and via a free automatic update in Windows Vista from DX10.

Windows XP cannot be updated past DX9.

The "competitor" is OpenGL, which is supposed to work on various OS's. It lags in most cases because it's "open" and doesn't have the market or budget that Bill Gates created.
 
I've read how Windows versions tend to be better than OS X ones Lord knows how many times now, just on Mac fora, so I presume it's true.

Mac gamers naturally want the best on their relatively expensive Macs, so it's disappointing, isn't it? Particularly when you see how great older Mac games like "Age of Empires 3" look with everything maxed out. :rolleyes:
 

Most games are made for Windows and then ported to Mac, meaning that the performance will suck because it's not optimized for OS X. Valve has started to make games that run natively on OS X but they are still behind Windows. I would guess because OS X isn't as known platform as Windows for gaming so they are still "learning". Another issue is the GPU drivers which have always been pretty bad for OS X though Apple seems to be developing them all the time. They are still behind the monthly releases of ATI Catalysts though.
 
Most games are made for Windows and then ported to Mac, meaning that the performance will suck because it's not optimized for OS X. Valve has started to make games that run natively on OS X but they are still behind Windows. I would guess because OS X isn't as known platform as Windows for gaming so they are still "learning". Another issue is the GPU drivers which have always been pretty bad for OS X though Apple seems to be developing them all the time. They are still behind the monthly releases of ATI Catalysts though.

Blizzard has demonstrated expertise and commitment to the Mac for even longer than Valve. The driver issues are real, as well as the fact that even Blizz has limited resources, and will sometimes optimize Windows performance before Mac performance. However, since WOW is subscription-based, Blizzard has shown in the past that they are highly motivated to continually improve the product between major releases.
 
WoW is one of those games that will allow you to run it in the MacOS just fine. I think it would be a shame to waste that opportunity.
 
WoW is one of those games that will allow you to run it in the MacOS just fine. I think it would be a shame to waste that opportunity.

Very much agree. It's amazingly convenient to listen to my iTunes library (think only the Mac version of WOW has iTunes integration) or check my IM, email, etc intermittently while gaming if I wish. Even more useful, when I come across a quest I'm confused about, an item I don't know how to use, or a newfound ability I'm not sure how to best implement, I can Command+M and look it up in Firefox. If I played WOW in Windows, I'd have to maintain a separate set of all those apps (IM, email, Firefox, etc), and it would be difficult or even impossible to sync them with OSX. It's incredibly inefficient and cumbersome. So when you have a game like WOW that you can play in a Mac, and isn't too graphically demanding (it's actually not as light on the GPU as you'd think for a 6yr old game), do it in OSX.
 
Blizzard has demonstrated expertise and commitment to the Mac for even longer than Valve. The driver issues are real, as well as the fact that even Blizz has limited resources, and will sometimes optimize Windows performance before Mac performance. However, since WOW is subscription-based, Blizzard has shown in the past that they are highly motivated to continually improve the product between major releases.

This is kinda "technical", but it appears as though something "cross platform" like OpenGL would compromise between being optimized for a single platform...and otimized for many platforms. (Java anyone?) Direct X is a Windows "native". It only works on Windows and is designed to be optimized for Windows and nothing else. So in a sense, it's not Valve's or Blizzard's fault for not reaching the same level of competativeness to Windows versions. The truth is that they can't.

The only way to solve this is if Apple develops a native OSXGL or something and works on it like M$ does. Although it's based off *nix (originally design with little "graphics" thought), I'm not sure how feasible this is without modifying a huge chunk ofthe core.

There is always the nice theory that you can make something "standard" and plug it into anything and it will work great. The truth is that in practice, specialized components often outshines generic components. That's how technology works.

Also, to add to the uphill battle...who uses a lot Macs? A bunch of artists. Who uses Windows alot? A bunch of engineers. So which area would have the brunt of the programming talent pool? hmmm...
 
For OSX the vid recorder is built into WoW and is not an outside application like how you have to do on Windows.
You are correct.
And to further explain it, I made a video a while ago. Not edited, just recorded it. Now with this forum thread, it reminds me to put it on YouTube. You could clearly read the text on 480p.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yt71LV9gafc

While I can't record in-game while compression, I also took a screenshot from the compression, so you have a better idea of the screen recording built into the game. (shown below)

At that time, I wasn't into addons, so you may be sure that this is really native on the mac.


ScreenShot_030810_222627.jpg
 
You are correct.
And to further explain it, I made a video a while ago. Not edited, just recorded it. Now with this forum thread, it reminds me to put it on YouTube. You could clearly read the text on 480p.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yt71LV9gafc

While I can't record in-game while compression, I also took a screenshot from the compression, so you have a better idea of the screen recording built into the game. (shown below)

At that time, I wasn't into addons, so you may be sure that this is really native on the mac.


ScreenShot_030810_222627.jpg

That's the cleanest WoW interface I've even seen in a while. :p
 
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