W7 on an iMac

Willid1

Willid1

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David Williams
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Problem :

Need a newer / faster computer to process DPP RAW files, current computer is about 6 years old and really struggling (and want to buy a 7D - whose RAW files will cripple old computer)

I would like to buy an iMac but SWMBO has just got her head round W7 and says she's not going to learn anything else (ie how to use a Mac) any time soon.

I see you can use W7 on a Mac by installing it via BootCamp.

So apart from the "it's a waste of a Mac" comments has anyone done this and how is it in reality?.

I am quite pleased with W7 on our current computer apart from the speed issue.

Thanks

David
 
Just buy a faster PC. Much cheaper than the iMac.... I built a mega PC (SSD/16G/fastest i7 processor available which is faster/more memory than even the top of the range iMac) for £850 a couple of months ago (that was without power supply, graphics and case as I reused those). If you have Win7 64bit, you could even buy an OSless machine and transfer it across saving even more...
 
It's not a waste of a Mac, you get a very nice piece of hardware and a surprisingly capable PC too. it will cost you more bang per buck though, obviously.
 
You can run W7 thru parallels on the mac as well.
The reality is you dont need huge hardware to make a mac work well, and they also dont suffer from a constantly expanding registry which slows it down.

Very little support required, no anti virus subs, no anti spyware subs, no spam mail subs and no yearly upgrades needed to keep it running :)
 
ptholt said:
Very little support required, no anti virus subs, no anti spyware subs, no spam mail subs and no yearly upgrades needed to keep it running
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:nono:

This statement is so generalised and untrue it's actually disinformation and should be stricken from the thread. Hopefully, there won't be any need to explain why and we can just let this thread continue on a useful path for the original poster rather than another Mac v PC argument.

Sent from my iMac.
 
Ah am I adding fuel to an already simmering fire lol?

Well it's only in my opinion after 23 years as an it professional, with a family of five running both macs and pcs based on which ones run faster / need more upgrades and maintenance, but if your happy on windoze then go for it hehe
 
ptholt said:
Ah am I adding fuel to an already simmering fire lol?

Well it's only in my opinion after 23 years as an it professional, with a family of five running both macs and pcs based on which ones run faster / need more upgrades and maintenance, but if your happy on windoze then go for it hehe
Click to expand...

[sigh]

As an IT professional you should know very well the sentiments of those who wish to debate Mac v PC and the whole futility of it all. Why not let the OP skip all that (or go elsewhere for it) and just find out what they want to know.

Sorry, but telling me you're IT professional makes no difference to me. I work amongst other IT professionals of all abilities and appreciate just what a broad umbrella that term encompasses. I just go by what's posted.

Sent by an 'IT professional'.
 
ptholt said:
Ah am I adding fuel to an already simmering fire lol?

Well it's only in my opinion after 23 years as an it professional, with a family of five running both macs and pcs based on which ones run faster / need more upgrades and maintenance, but if your happy on windoze then go for it hehe
Click to expand...

simmering? try raging...
adding fuel? try driving a petrol tanker into it...

:lol:

faster/upgrades/maintenance is a debatable point with a whole tonne of variables but all irrelevent to the OPs question.

lets keep it on topic and we might have a thread that doesnt get locked ;)
 
Willid1 said:
I would like to buy an iMac but SWMBO has just got her head round W7 and says she's not going to learn anything else (ie how to use a Mac) any time soon.
Click to expand...

I've just recently made the swap to an iMac despite having the same misgivings as your wife about learning a new operating system. I can honestly say it turned out to be a non-event -the mac OS is pretty intuitive and in a couple of days she'll be clicking around like a vet.

As others have said, you can run Windows on the Mac anyway either natively or virtually so I don't really see that you can go wrong. No regrets here - far from it in fact.
 
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DigitalRelish said:
[sigh]
Sorry, but telling me you're IT professional makes no difference to me. I work amongst other IT professionals of all abilities and appreciate just what a broad umbrella that term encompasses. I just go by what's posted.
Sent by an 'IT professional'.
Click to expand...

Apologies DR, i will of course link my cv and linkedin profile next time before i make any sweeping generalisations, so any contained opinions can be verified and confirmed hehe. I can do house visits or compare accounts to show running costs over the years if you prefer... only joking, lifes to short and if it isnt broken don't fix it is a personal fave saying when talking about IT hardware.

The point i failed to raise sufficiently whilst unintentially upsetting DR, was that bootcamp was not the only option to getting W7 running on the mac, and that parallels has some nice benefits like being able to start W7 from inside the mac os and access windows files from the mac desktop.

Now obviously this has some performance impact rather than running it without the mac os running as well, but with 32gb of ram and 16 cores, i dont get any such W7 performance issues, but a smaller mac could well do, and in those cases bootcamp may be a more preferable option.

Before leaving my W7 install of CS4 on the mac when i first switched, i had various W7 apps running through parallels, the only problem i did have was a video setting in cs4 when working with large jpgs, and i had to turn a particular video setting off in the cs preferences to stop this glitch (was not displaying the image correctly)
 
Just do it, will cost you more than a PC of course, but it runs W7 beautifully. I have it on my MBP which is a far slower machine than the current crop of iMacs so you will have no problems.

BTW maybe and am saying just maybe you should wait for a tiny bit longer to buy your iMac. The new Intel procs that are in the latest MBPs are quite amazing really compared to just the generation before so it is only a matter of time before the iMacs get them too.
 
ptholt said:
Apologies DR, i will of course link my cv and linkedin profile next time before i make any sweeping generalisations, so any contained opinions can be verified and confirmed hehe. I can do house visits or compare accounts to show running costs over the years if you prefer... only joking, lifes to short and if it isnt broken don't fix it is a personal fave saying when talking about IT hardware.

The point i failed to raise sufficiently whilst unintentially upsetting DR, was that bootcamp was not the only option to getting W7 running on the mac, and that parallels has some nice benefits like being able to start W7 from inside the mac os and access windows files from the mac desktop.

Now obviously this has some performance impact rather than running it without the mac os running as well, but with 32gb of ram and 16 cores, i dont get any such W7 performance issues, but a smaller mac could well do, and in those cases bootcamp may be a more preferable option.

Before leaving my W7 install of CS4 on the mac when i first switched, i had various W7 apps running through parallels, the only problem i did have was a video setting in cs4 when working with large jpgs, and i had to turn a particular video setting off in the cs preferences to stop this glitch (was not displaying the image correctly)
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Much more balanced and useful :thumbs: Now, you can just drop your CV onto the pile already on my desk :p

If one person has to run Mac OS and another has to run W7 on the same machine then the options are pretty well covered here and in the linked thread.

Personally, my iMac i5 is plenty capable of running Windows XP using Parallels with enough performance for what I want to use it for. Hard to suggest any one particular option without knowing more about how each of you is going to use the computer, but running Windows in this way makes more sense for my requirements.
 
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