I am considering a MacBook Pro but running Windows 7 on it. Does bootcamp slow down Windows 7 due to an extra layer compared to using similar "PC" hardware? Also does the Mac OS run in parallel? I am concerned both about memory and especially HD space as the MacPro only comes with very expensive SSDs.
iPhone 5
No. Boot Camp is just a mechanism for dual-booting Windows or OS X.
No, Windows in a Bootcamp partition runs the same as Windows on a similarly speced Windows PC. Windows installed using Bootcamp Assistant is installed natively, it uses all your computer's hardware resources including all its ram. OSx and Windows are not "layered". They do not run simultaneously. You boot into either OSx or Windows depending which you want to use.
Thanks for the responses. I read that bootcamp is part of OS X. So while OS X does not need to run along Windows it still needs to be installed to run bootcamp. Is this correct? I am asking because I am concerned about it taking away the little and very expensive space on the SSDs.
Also if I run Windows does the touchpad understand left and right mouse clicks or will I be limited to just one (left) mouse button? If so I assume I can still use a wireless bluetooth mouse with left/right buttons and scroll wheel.
hamama wrote:
Thanks for the responses. I read that bootcamp is part of OS X. So while OS X does not need to run along Windows it still needs to be installed to run bootcamp. Is this correct?
Boot Camp Assistant is part of OS X. You can install Windows without running the Boot Camp Assistant, just shrinking the OS X volume and creating the Windows volume through the Windows installer, but it's risky. Boot Camp Assistant simplifies this process.
hamama wrote:
Also if I run Windows does the touchpad understand left and right mouse clicks or will I be limited to just one (left) mouse button? If so I assume I can still use a wireless bluetooth mouse with left/right buttons and scroll wheel.
Boot Camp drivers include a trackpad driver that will allow you to use left and right trackpad clicks. You can get these drivers from Boot Camp Assistant or from the Apple website
Thanks for the quick response. I guess I should stick with the Boot Camp Assistant. How much space does this occupy incl. OS X (which I will not use). I am planning on a 256GB SSD and need to know how much I will have left for Windows.
I recommend you to give Windows at least 80 GB if you want to run Windows correctly. It's important to give Windows the space you need, because you will have to use third-party apps if you want to resize the Windows partition
I am quite familiar with Windows and will need considerably more than 80GB. My question is how much space will I have left for Windows on the 256GB SSD if I use Boot Camp Assistant which seems to require the installation of OS X?
Note that I will NOT use OS X except for taking advantage of Boot Camp Assistant. I will always boot into Windows (which I assume can be set as default boot partition).
Give Windows 200Gb
In that case, give to Windows the maximum amount of space you can assign, for example, 200 GB. If you aren't going to use OS X, you will be fine with that.
Boot Camp Assistant will set up your Windows volume as the startup disk automatically, so you won't have to do anything else. If you want to start up in OS X, hold the X key while your MacBook is starting up
Bootcamp is not a program that "runs along side of" OSx. Bootcamp Assistant creates a Bootcamp partition onto which you install Windows. Windows and OSx are completely separate operating systems and one does not impact the other,. The impact is that your hard drive gets partitioned so each operating system only has the hard drive space allocated to OSx and the Bootcamp partition respectively.
I understand from all the other helpful posts that OSx does not run when I run Windows (unlike Parallels which is not what I want). Bootcamp is simply a boot loader that allows me to select into which OS I want to boot to with Windows being the default if I don't do anything (like pressing X). That's all great!
However, it seems that Bootcamp is a program in OS X, i.e. in order to install the boot loader I need to install OS X and run Bootcamp. In other words, it is not possible to boot from an OS X installation CD (from an external CD drive as there is none built in) or thumbdrive and only install Bootcamp without installing OS X. Is this correct?
Once I installed Bootcamp and boot into Windows can I see the OS X partition? If so could I use some Windows tool to delete that partition and add it to my Windows partition that I created with Bootcamp? That would allow me to get the full 256GB of the SSD for Windows.
If that is not possible then based on the above posts the minimum size for OS X seems to be around 50GB as that leaves me with 200GB for Windows.
Boot Camp emulates a BIOS, so you can install Windows in your MacBook. Macs use EFI and Windows doesn't work properly in EFI mode with the MacBook Pro, at least, with Windows 7 or earlier.
Boot Camp Assistant is a program in OS X that helps you download the drivers you have to install in Windows and create the partition to install Windows.
hamama wrote:
However, it seems that Bootcamp is a program in OS X, i.e. in order to install the boot loader I need to install OS X and run Bootcamp. In other words, it is not possible to boot from an OS X installation CD (from an external CD drive as there is none built in) or thumbdrive and only install Bootcamp without installing OS X. Is this correct?
There isn't any bootloader installed after running Boot Camp Assistant. It just set the Windows DVD as the startup disk, and during the Windows installation, Windows installs its bootloader in order to start Windows with the emulated BIOS.
hamama wrote:
Once I installed Bootcamp and boot into Windows can I see the OS X partition? If so could I use some Windows tool to delete that partition and add it to my Windows partition that I created with Bootcamp? That would allow me to get the full 256GB of the SSD for Windows.
After installing the Boot Camp drivers, you will be able to see your OS X partition in Windows, but you will only be able to read it. You mustn't delete it because you will need it to install firmware updates, so leave it. Also, it's at the top of the hard disk, making it difficult to unify with your Windows partition
Got it. So I must have and keep OS X. I did some googling and it seems the minimum partition size is 8GB but people recommend at least 20GB for OS X. That leaves me with about 220GB for Windows.
I guess the only question is about the comment that Windows 7 does not work properly on a MacPro. That's a bummer because that is exactly what I was planning to use. Again I did some googling but did not find much besides issues with the initial installation (due to lack of drivers to see the external DVD drive).
Btw, when I connect a bluetooth mouse will Windows see the two buttons and scroll wheel on my mouse? Same with any Windows printer. I would assume this all works because boot camp emulates the BIOS so Windows really does not know it's running on a Mac. I just wanted to double check, though.
I suggest 20 to allow for OSX to run correctly and have space to perform updates when required.
Windows on a supported Apple computer installed in a Bootcamp partition runs like Windows runs on a Windows computer.
Does bootcamp slow down Windows 7 compared to similar PC hardware
