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I'm planning to Boot Camp my MacBook Pro, strictly for gaming. I've been using XP on my iMac with excellent results in games like WAR and DDO. I'd prefer to put XP on the laptop as well, but if there's a convincing case to be made for Vista or even Windows 7, I'd like to know.

I've got a 2.66 GHz Core 2 Duo with 4GB and NVidia 9400/9600 video card, if that makes any difference. And I doubt I'll be playing much beyond MMOs on the Windows side.

I don't know but I been told... (Windows & gaming)

I'd stay away from Vista. I haven't tried Windows 7 though.

I don't know but I been told... (Windows & gaming)

If you're even thinking about Vista, just wait for 7. It's basically Vista service pack 2.

I don't know but I been told... (Windows & gaming)

Frankie said:

If you're even thinking about Vista, just wait for 7. It's basically Vista service pack 2.

Click to expand...

But there is a Vista SP2 for realz. It's not that bad actually.

I don't know but I been told... (Windows & gaming)

Wait for Windows 7. Hardware companies are slowly going to stop supporting XP and you will start to get crappy drivers for it. I've been using Windows 7 for probably 6 months through the beta and have had no problems with games. I also have the final version on my netbook and it runs just as good, if not better, than XP did.

I don't know but I been told... (Windows & gaming)

With Windows, without a 64 bit OS, you won't get your full 4GB of RAM (I think it chocks around 3.5GB). So with that, I'd say go with Vista/7 64bit, and really may as well go with 7 64bit since Vista is on it's way out. I personally haven't tried it, but a great number of the guys I do LAN parties with have and they like it over Vista (and they liked Vista as well).

I don't know but I been told... (Windows & gaming)

I have Vista (it came with my laptop) and I have to admit it is annoying and I prefer XP but after saying that Vista really isn't as bad as some would have you believe. Yes it can take up a lot of memory and stuff. Yes it annoyingly asks you every time you want to install/run a program. (make sure to deactivate that right away) And the list could go on but really every OS has it's flaws granted Vista has a huge list of them but it still isn't as bad as some would have you believe.

I don't know but I been told... (Windows & gaming)

hylian said:

And the list could go on but really every OS has it's flaws granted Vista has a huge list of them but it still isn't as bad as some would have you believe.

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I've been using Vista for well over a year now, and I'm not sure what the huge laundry list of flaws everyone claims it has are. Yes, it uses far more resources than it should (which Win7 fixes, so go with that) but it's got a lot of good points over WinXP. There are some little touches that I miss when I switch back to XP (for 32-bit or on my netbook), like Win+# hotkey for programs in the quick-launch toolbar, searchable Start menu, smarter file extension handling when renaming files, better navigation interface in folders, and more. Microsoft really made a lot of improvements to Vista over XP, but a lot of that was overlooked because geeks hate different.

ZenMonkey I'd definitely advise you to go with Win7. You'll get the same performance as XP with a lot of improvements in UI and better future compatibility with programs and drivers.

I don't know but I been told... (Windows & gaming)

figmentPez said:

searchable Start menu.

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That is my favorite feature, and I can't believe people refuse to use it. It only takes about 2 letters and the program shows up. I hate it when people who use Vista spend time trying to look through the damn program list.

I don't know but I been told... (Windows & gaming)

Have Windows 7 bootcamped on my 13" MBP. Runs fast as hell and smooth, though I haven't tried gaming with it yet (I really only play WoW on my laptop).

I don't know but I been told... (Windows & gaming)

figmentPez said:

I've been using Vista for well over a year now, and I'm not sure what the huge laundry list of flaws everyone claims it has are.

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The hating on Vista is all because when it launched it wasn't all that great and 3rd party driver support was lacking because they (not MS) were too lazy to make new drivers.
In about a year or so most things got fixed and Vista became a decent OS. The hate never seemed to fade though.
Win 7 is basically Vista, with some added improvements. So it you're going to install a new OS, get W7.

I don't know but I been told... (Windows & gaming)

Great, thanks for the responses, everyone. Looks like Windows 7 is the way to go.

So now it seems my next question is whether I should go with the 32- or 64-bit version of Windows 7. I'm going to be upgrading to Snow Leopard, which includes an upgraded Boot Camp that makes it a lot easier to choose 64-bit, but I'm not sure what all the pros and cons are. The laptop has 4 GB of memory.

Having 4gb makes the choice for you. 64bit enables you to use 4gb, 32bit means you'll end up with 3,25 or something. Besides 64bit is future proof, while 32bit is probably on it's last generation.

Go with 64 bit. I can't think of a reason not to anymore.

I said it once and I'll say it again, 64 bit is win/win.

As already been said by others, there really isn't any reason not to go 64 bit anymore. Programs run the same, it doesn't take any more resources to do it, drivers are rapidly coming out for 64 bit. I haven't found a driver that didn't have a 64 bit version for any of my stuff. Most programs are still 32 bit, but it doesn't really matter.

If you have any older apps that are strictly 32 bit and use low-level API calls, they can have trouble. I can't use some seismic processing software I paid a lot for on 64 bit windows. Even in emulation, because the low-level APIs bypass those nice high-level calls. Likely you don't have anything like this, but be aware.

Vista is perfectly fine now, but 7 is just better. Wait for that. And go 64 bit. No reason not to, at this point. VBasically, what eveyone else here has said.

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe Microsoft is going to be killing support for XP soon. Probably gradually as they get companies to leave it, but it will most likely happen on the consumer side faster than you think.

Good Riddance I say. Windows 7 finally brings Windows up to date with a modern consumer Operating System.

Yeah, I agree. I'm a Macophile, and I think Windows 7 is going to give OS X a user experience run for the money.

If you go with Windows 7 or Vista, go 64. There's no reason, as a casual gamer, to use 32 unless you're running old programs, old hardware, or an unusual configuration.

However, keep in mind that even though Windows 7 is the bees knees, there's going to be a ton of new-release issues, despite how happy people are with it compared to vista.

Personally I'd wait at least a year on any new MS OS if you don't want to deal with the little things that get in the way of actually using it. Being a bootcamp user you may feel this more keenly than others.

I think you'll be happier overall if you stick with what you know, and go XP Pro 32. It's just plain going to work, and you simply won't have to fiddle with it to do what you want to do, trolling help forums to find out why the last little problem won't go away.

-Adam

I'm running Vista 64-bit and I'm dual-booting XP 32-bit for a couple of reasons.
1. My, now dead, Palm Tungsten E doesn't have drivers for 64-bit OSes (Palm has no 64-bit support for USB syncing of any of it's products).
2. Gametap has a large portion of it's library that doesn't work on 64-bit because of the encryption it uses. (They have a new encryption system that they're migrating to, but as of yet there aren't any games using it. The first, Trine, comes in a few weeks.)

Other than that I haven't had any issues. (Well, my old digital camera / webcam hybrid doesn't have Vista drivers but I haven't used it in over a year.)

stienman said:

However, keep in mind that even though Windows 7 is the bees knees, there's going to be a ton of new-release issues, despite how happy people are with it compared to vista.

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Yeah, I'm not normally an early adopter, but since I'll be spending very little time Windows-side, just for gaming, I don't think I'll be bothered as much as someone who uses it as their primary OS.

Again, I appreciate all the advice. Looks like I'll be getting the 64-bit version.

ZenMonkey;258927][quote=stienman said:

However, keep in mind that even though Windows 7 is the bees knees, there's going to be a ton of new-release issues, despite how happy people are with it compared to vista.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm not normally an early adopter, but since I'll be spending very little time Windows-side, just for gaming, I don't think I'll be bothered as much as someone who uses it as their primary OS.

Again, I appreciate all the advice. Looks like I'll be getting the 64-bit version.[/QUOTE]
I have not experienced a single problem with the Win 7 RTM.
:arg: