pc or mac.

[Greg Barringer]

I run Windows 7 Pro 64 bit and Vegas 11 on a Mac Pro. I used Bootcamp to install Windows on a 2TB internal HDD. The Mac Pro holds four internal HDD, I have one dedicated to Windows. It works very well.

[Al Bergstein]

I’m really glad to hear that. Might give it a try.

Al

[Greg Barringer]

Here’s the easiest way to install Windows 7 to a dedicated internal HDD on a Mac Pro.
Note: This will format the entire HDD, it should only be used if you want a dedicated HDD for Windows.
The other three internal HDD’s will remain the same. Make sure you select the proper HDD.

I have a March 2009 Mac Pro dual quad core running Win7 Pro 64 bit. I have Windows installed on a dedicated internal hard drive. There are no partitions, the entire drive is for Windows use.
Here’s how I installed it, I did not start with BootCamp. Make sure the drive you’re going to use for Windows doesn’t have any important files on it because it will be formatted.

1. Update OSX
2. Place the Windows cd in the Super Drive
3. Shut down the computer
4. Remove all the hard drives except the one you want Windows installed on. Keep track of the order they are in and at the end replace them in the same order.
5. Boot the computer holding down the Option key
6. Boot to the Windows cd
7. Install Windows and format the drive to NTFS
8. When Windows needs to restart during installation you’ll need to hold the Option key and boot to Windows, not the Windows cd.
9. After Windows installs, place your OSX disc in the Super Drive
10. The Drivers for Windows will be installed along with a Windows version of BootCamp.
11. Go to Start > All Programs > Apple Software Update
12. Update again until it’s done.
13. You’ll also find BootCamp under Control Panel, check it out.
14. Shut down the computer and replace the hard drives in their original order
14. Now if you turn on the computer it will boot to OSX, but if you hold the Option key during boot you can select Windows or Mac.

[John Rofrano]

Greg that’s brilliant and probably what I’ll do when I get a Mac Pro (waiting for the new ones to come out next year).

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com

[Al Bergstein]

Greg, thanks, maybe this will give new life to my little used Mac Pro. I still have some needed Mac apps on it.

Quick Question: Does it matter which drive you format for NTFS? For example, my Mac has three drives in it, one OSX and two RAID1. (the fourth bay is dead, but don’t ask why…).

If I migrate the RAID1 to an external cabinet, does it matter whether I’m putting the newly formatted NTFS drive in bay 0 or not? (essentially replacing the OSX drive? Or should I put it in bay 1 or 2 instead. It would seem to me that it won’t matter if I replace the two RAID drives with two new hard disks, use one for Windows 7 and one for the Mac. (and the third for data).

The biggest problem I see in doing this at all is that the Windows partition won’t see and write to the Mac formatted drives, correct? And the Mac OS won’t be able to write to NTFS drives. Do you have external NTFS drives you connect when you are booting into Windows?

What am I missing in this equation?

Al

[Dave Haynie]

I have a bunch of opinions.. big surprise.

These days, the hardware is identical. Apple does a fine job making it, but they charge more. They make about 5x as much profit per PC as the average PC reseller (HP, Dell, etc). I do a better job building a PC just for me, but most people won’t — I used to design personal computers for a living. The average PC sold is way cheaper and lower quality, in various ways, than the Macs. But they’re updated far more often, and most of Apple’s offerings are based on laptop hardware, which is more costly, lower power, but also lower performance.

In the workstation market, Apple used to be a very good thing.. a big company, with big company volumes, playing in a relatively small market. Not so much lately, though, because Apple frankly hasn’t been promoting professional use. The current Mac Pro got a spec update last spring, but it was just slightly faster CPUs in the two+ year old motherboard. They’re still shipping with a consumer-grade AMD 5000-series GPU as your only GPU choice. There’s some hope (fueled by a few vague comments) that Cook may reverse this plan, but I’d wait until that hardware actually materializes.

As for John’s comment about MacOS’s UNIX legacy — sure, it’s good. They’re actually using CMU’s Mach kernel, and as a CMU alumni, I can’t say much against that — it’s actually a better UNIX. On the other hand, Windows as it exists today uses Dave Cutler’s NT kernel, which is just as advanced, if not moreso, than Apple’s stuff (Cutler was a key guy at DEC on VAX/VMS). They’re actually both fairly modern microkernels, with capabilities not yet in mainsteam UNIX or Linux.

But that’s just the kernel. Apple is probably more stable over all, but they’re usualy way behind on new features. For example, video acceleration. Microsoft added the video acceleration API back in Vista… Apple put their’s in last year, and it still has issues. Apple’s remained very protective — MS seems almost like a free-for-all, since MS is concerned, always, about someone else solving the problem in Windows. Apple doesn’t care, since 3rd party standards win on MacOS without Apple’s blessing.

With all that said — and keep in mind, I’m a hardware guy — choose your applications first. Then pick a computer to run them on. The application is the thing you’re dealing with, daily. If you want Vegas, you’re picking a PC… could be an HP or Boxx workstation, or a very high end gaming machine, or something handed down by your uncle, depending on you budget. But if the application is one you’re good with, it’ll never be the wrong decision.

-Dave