Anyone use their MacBook primarily on windows?

[H0MEY]

It's probably a weird question but I like to think of OSX as a "bonus" to mess around with but am going to be using Windows 90% of the time. Anyone in this situation? and is it worth the hassle.

Some issues I've heard so far that I don't know of work arounds are:
1) no right click (can you get the two finger click to work in windows? i've heard you can maybe do ctrl click...but I think that's kind of a hassle)
2) no windows key....yes I actually use this thing a fair amount
3) hibernate doesn't truly work....only stand by does (and I use hibernate a lot)

So yeah this might not be the right forum but I figured I'd ask a mostly pc base first before going over to the mac fan boys.

Thanks

 

[ingenuiti]

I'm actually in that position right now, since I primarily use the Office Suite and it's much better in Windows than OS X.

1) The latest set of drivers from bootcamp allow you to do a two finger on the trackpad right click.
2) The two Apple keys at the left and right of the spacebar function as a Windows key.
3) Not sure.

 

[TMoney468]

Answer to question #3:

There's an option called Safe Sleep which is essentially hibernate for Mac. I've used it a lot with my notebook, works pretty well except for a couple times it hasn't booted up after coming out of hibernate. Here's an article:

http://andrewescobar.com/archive/2005/11/11/how-to-safe-sleep-your-mac/

 

[AmigaMan]

Originally posted by: TMoney468
Answer to question #3:

There's an option called Safe Sleep which is essentially hibernate for Mac. I've used it a lot with my notebook, works pretty well except for a couple times it hasn't booted up after coming out of hibernate. Here's an article:

http://andrewescobar.com/archive/2005/11/11/how-to-safe-sleep-your-mac/

he's talking about in Windows.

OP, while I like Windows, it's just not stable enough for me to use primarily on my MBP. I play games and do some small things in Windows but that's about it. Now that I've gotten a bigger external HD, I plan on doing some .Net development in it to see how it handles it.

The Windows key on your MBP should work, I've used it before. Try the alt/option button which is next to the apple key. Office 2004 on the Mac isn't bad, but it is slow since it's still a PPC app and not a Universal Binary.

Good luck if you do try it. Perhaps with the next release of OS X, Apple will improve the Bootcamp drivers to the point where it's completely stable.

 

[TheStu]

My main complaint about the bootcamp drivers is that although you do get 2 finger scrolling, and 2 finger right click, you can't just tap the pad, you ahve to hit the button, and that honestly is annoying. And with the two finger scrolling it is so damn sensitive that i barely even use it. To the best of my knowledge there is no way to adjust that sensitivity either.

So far, I have been running Vista Business on my macbook and haven't been missing the drivers too much. I think that the main reason for that is because I use a mouse in windows most of the time because I was never able to get the trackpad to have the same characteristics in both. But, I do use OS X most of the time. Though most of that comes from the fact that I am still adjusting to Office 2k7 (Got to love free schwag!)

 

[nombrecinq]

I don't much like macs because OSX is quite lame IMHO, but over the weekend I happened to have a chance to play with my friend's Macbook Pro, and what he uses for hibernate is called "Deep Sleep." It seems to work well, and you can find more info here:
http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/status/deepsleep.html

 

[cw42]

If I could get WinXP running solid on a MBP, and get at least 2.5hrs battery life i'd totally buy one. But from what I understand, SpeedStep dosn't work properly so that battery life is terrible.

 

[TheStu]

I usually get about 3 hours or so when I am windows, and the experience is pretty solid.

 

[ubercaffeinated]

Originally posted by: nombrecinq
I don't much like macs because OSX is quite lame IMHO, but over the weekend I happened to have a chance to play with my friend's Macbook Pro, and what he uses for hibernate is called "Deep Sleep." It seems to work well, and you can find more info here:
http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/status/deepsleep.html

don't understand why you think osx is lame. it's pretty great, and i'm no apple fanboy. i just think it has it's strengths and weaknesses, just like windows does and it's good to be able to use both.

 

[hamidjunior]

(In windowz) does anybody have issue with MacBook showing core speed fluctuating all the time? I ran CPU-Z and it shows me my core speed on T7200 goes up and down between 997mhz and 1997 mhz (with multi x6 and x12)and does so randomly. I know a notebook can go in power saving mode, but it is on the AC power right now and has the same programs running constantly while doing this crazy crap.