Installing XP on the 2011 Macbook Pros!

[secretanchitman]

starting with the late 2010 macbook airs, apple dropped support for windows xp and vista. unfortunately, this trend has also continued to the new early 2011 macbook pros, so now windows 7 is now the only "official" supported version. though windows 7 is the current version, i still prefer xp!

i noticed that most of the drivers have an xp version available, so i figure those wouldn't be an issue i would imagine taking the fn functions like brightness and sound would work from the original snow leopard xp drivers too. however, there is just one big colossal problem - when i load xp into the drive, partition the drive, and start up boot camp, the computer just hangs at "setup is inspecting your hardware configuration..."

i know you can install xp on the late 2010 macbook airs with a little patience, but is there really no way to install xp on these new macbook pros? would love to hear suggestions!

 

[gorcorps]

Why are you sticking with XP? Windows 7 does everything better, and if you just don't like the look of it you can change the look, layout, and feel back to how windows XP was.

 

[Patranus]

Why are you sticking with XP? Windows 7 does everything better, and if you just don't like the look of it you can change the look, layout, and feel back to how windows XP was.

Windows 7 cost money if you already have a copy of XP?

 

[secretanchitman]

i dont really like windows 7. i actually do have xp pro, vista ultimate 32/64, and 7 ultimate 32/64. i just prefer using xp.

 

[Paperlantern]

i dont really like windows 7. i actually do have xp pro, vista ultimate 32/64, and 7 ultimate 32/64. i just prefer using xp.

First and only time Iv'e heard anyone say that, BUT, to each their own i suppose.

It wouldn't surprise me if apple made it so XP installs would fail, that way they don't support it, and they know they won't ever have to.

Apple's definition of "doesn't support it" is usually a little different then most other company's.

 

[TheStu]

It might have to do with EFI and firmwares and BIOS emulation, and perhaps even the space-time continuum. I don't really know, just throwing out technical terms.

I assume that you have already tried the MBA method that you say works?

Ok, here is an idea, partition the drive in OS X, using FAT32. Then put said drive into an enclosure and attach it to a PC. Reformat the partition to NTFS, put it back into the MBP and try it again.

 

[Emulex]

XP SP3 right?

 

[secretanchitman]

emulex - yep, xp pro sp3. the same disc ive been using to install xp for years on my windows machine and even older mbps.

thestu - tried the mba installation on macrumors guides (http://guides.macrumors.com/Install_Windows_XP_on_2010_MacBook_Air), and it fails at "setup is inspecting your hardware configuration". when you install xp on the mba, it proceeds past the install, and doesnt get stuck at the very beginning.

paperlantern - very true. im probably going to have to go to 7 in boot camp or just use vmware/parallels to boot into xp if i truly cant find a way for xp to work.

 

[TheStu]

emulex - yep, xp pro sp3. the same disc ive been using to install xp for years on my windows machine and even older mbps.

thestu - tried the mba installation on macrumors guides (http://guides.macrumors.com/Install_Windows_XP_on_2010_MacBook_Air), and it fails at "setup is inspecting your hardware configuration". when you install xp on the mba, it proceeds past the install, and doesnt get stuck at the very beginning.

paperlantern - very true. im probably going to have to go to 7 in boot camp or just use vmware/parallels to boot into xp if i truly cant find a way for xp to work.

Assuming you don't have wacky needs for XP, or gaming needs, then I would imagine that the system is powerful enough to make it feel like it is at near native speeds if you virtualize.

 

[speg]

Uhhh.... it's time to move on.

 

[Paperlantern]

Uhhh.... it's time to move on.

I would tend to agree here but I digress.

I use XP in a virtualbox VM on my Air, but that is mostly because it is much more lightweight and I only use it to remote into the office when needed. THe Air only has 2GB of RAM so 7 wasnt a great choice. If I had a 4GB model I would have chosen 7. The most it really runs is an RDP connection, and the occasional Ambercat Helpdesk instance to connect to my home database anyway. Unless it is necessary, like in my case needing an OS that uses less RAM because the host doesnt have that much, then I don't see the point in using XP anymore. THe OS is 11 years old.

 

[deanx0r]

I was a diehard XP user until I tried OSX. Windows management under OSX is a breeze and really improved my workflow. If you really have to run XP because of some legacy app, your best bet is Virtual Box or Parallels.

 

[RobertPters77]

7 pro XP mode.

 

[secretanchitman]

yeah, i tried everything yesterday, and nothing worked. eventually gave up and went to 7 ultimate x64.