(Noob) Advice on turning 2016MBP into Windows 10 Bootcamp machine for AoE2

[neurophysicist]

Hello,

I've retired my old 2016 MBP and replaced it with a 2024 Mac for daily usage. I want to give my 2016MBP new life since security updates will be stopping soon for Monterey. I am thinking of installing Bootcamp, Windows 10, and steam, in order to play Age of Empires 2 definitive edition. I'm pretty out of the loop when it comes to gaming (haven't played any Mac/Windows games in 10 years or so, and I believe the last time I did was with a Windows 7 Parallels VM on a 2011 MBP, to play the Age of Empires 2 "HD Edition" on Steam).

1. From my searches online it looks like Bootcamp works with Windows 10 and Windows 10 is still getting security updates until 2025; is Windows 10 sufficient for just turning this into an age of empires machine, or do you recommend I setup Windows 11? From what I've seen online getting Windows 11 to work has some more hoops to go through and I won't have any other use for this machine, so I don't mind sticking with Windows 10 if I have to.

2. Being unfamiliar with Windows versions, what version (Home, Pro, etc.) do I need? I would assume the lowest tier (Home) is what I would choose after installing Windows via bootcamp

3. Is Windows 10 now free to use without purchasing from MS? Does it just give some watermark or other notice about purchasing?

4. Unfortunately this 2016 model has had AMD graphics issues in the past, so I'm a bit worried how it will do; from what I read Bootcamp only uses the discrete GPU; is this true? (I assumed the integrated graphics card would be sufficinet for an old game like AoE2, though it is remastered).

5. The specs I found here https://store.steampowered.com/app/813780/Age_of_Empires_II_Definitive_Edition/ suggest at least an AMD HD 5850; can someone give me a ballpark of how the Radeon Pro 460 on my 2016MBP will hold up? If it's the lowest graphics settings I don't care, just want to make sure the game runs smoothly.

6. The HD edition ~2014 or so ran extremely hot back then on my 2011 MBP in parallels. I'm not sure what to expect from the Definitive Edition, though I'm hoping installing via Bootcamp may alleviate some of these issues. How has everyone's experiences been as far as heat/fan usage when running Windows on Bootcamp (ideally with something like AoE 2 Definitive Edition on a 2016 machine)?

7. Is there any manual installation needed for drivers on the Windows side after I install via Bootcamp?

Thank you!

 

[Queen6]

Want to keep your 2016 MBP up to date search out OpenCore Legacy Patcher for Unsupported Macs. FWIW my close to 13 year old 2011 15" MBP has yet to be compromised and it's up 24/7 as it's our media server.

W10 will be depreciated soon enough, so I'd opt for a limited install of W11, use a script to kill the garbage and keep the security. Will reduce the load and improve gaming performance.

Q-6

 

[neurophysicist]

Want to keep your 2016 MBP up to date search out OpenCore Legacy Patcher for Unsupported Macs. FWIW my close to 13 year old 2011 15" MBP has yet to be compromised and it's up 24/7 as it's our media server.

W10 will be depreciated soon enough, so I'd opt for a limited install of W11, use a script to kill the garbage and keep the security. Will reduce the load and improve gaming performance.

Q-6

Thanks for the heads up regarding OpenCore Legacy Patcher, though (without getting too off topic): I'm not planning on using macOS on this older system; I would want to do a bit more research before installing something like that; and I would much rather install a supported OS (Windows, Ubuntu) than something unofficial which also brings its own security risks.

Speaking of Windows, is there anything official in Apple's documentation regarding support for Windows 11 for bootcamp? I just see this webpage that mentions Windows 10 https://support.apple.com/guide/boo...newer-mac-boot-camp-bcmp173b3bf2/6.1/mac/12.0

Edit: typos

 

[Queen6]

Your over thinking, OCLP is just a tool to install current versions of macOS on hardware Apple wants to depreciate to force sales. Security is delt with by the OS not the patcher, is all out there just need to look it up.

W11 is an iteration of W10 so should be a non issue and if security is an issue macOS & OCLP is a far better option... Windows will always be the primary target due to it's footprint and legacy support. Gaming wise Windows is the best option and will likely remain so.

Having multiple systems makes life easy one for games and one for the rest. Former you dont need to worry too much about, just dont use it for anything outside of gaming or casual browsing.

FWIW my media server is a 2011 15" MBP on High Sierra, it's up 24/7 and has never been compromised. It's not about the HW or SW it's far more about the user. For the most part computers get infected by malware due to the actions of the user, unless deliberately targeted...

Q-6

 

[neurophysicist]

Your over thinking, OCLP is just a tool to install current versions of macOS on hardware Apple wants to depreciate to force sales. Security is delt with by the OS not the patcher, is all out there just need to look it up.

W11 is an iteration of W10 so should be a non issue and if security is an issue macOS & OCLP is a far better option... Windows will always be the primary target due to it's footprint and legacy support. Gaming wise Windows is the best option and will likely remain so.

Having multiple systems makes life easy one for games and one for the rest. Former you dont need to worry too much about, just dont use it for anything outside of gaming or casual browsing.

FWIW my media server is a 2011 15" MBP on High Sierra, it's up 24/7 and has never been compromised. It's not about the HW or SW it's far more about the user. For the most part computers get infected by malware due to the actions of the user, unless deliberately targeted...

Q-6

Thanks for the response. I'm well aware that phishing and downloading things people should not are primary issues for malware. There are plenty of counterarguments to your recommendation on OCLP, but it's not really relevant: I want to install Bootcamp and Windows, and I really don't have any plans of using the old macOS partition, as I mentioned in my previous post. My questions of interest are in the first post

 

[Huntn]

I used to be very fluid with this, but gave up on Mac Gaming about 10 years ago, however you may find some good info in this "Windows Gaming on a Mac" thread I used to shepard:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/mrs-guide-windows-gaming-on-a-mac.1766882/

 

[neurophysicist]

I used to be very fluid with this, but gave up on Mac Gaming about 10 years ago, however you may find some good info in this "Windows Gaming on a Mac" thread I used to Shepard:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/mrs-guide-windows-gaming-on-a-mac.1766882/

Thank you!