DH Article: Apple Macbook Pro / Windows XP

***Zardon*** · Apr 23, 2006, 08:44 AM

Read the article here
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Apple moving to Intel Processors and supporting the end user to run Windows XP on their machines? Whatever next? Bill gates as Apple chairman?

Danny has taken a look at a new Macbook Pro and spent some time with it over the last week. He has installed Windows XP Professional and given it a going over with some game titles as well as giving his views on the machine.

LeanWolf · Apr 23, 2006, 01:08 PM

The presentation looks very cool, but I don't like the huge screen image combined with tiny text, too difficult to read. There should be a link to this discussion thread somewhere, and for me at least there was no navigation menu. All that aside, very cool looking machine!

germanjulian · Apr 23, 2006, 01:09 PM

hehehe cool design..

***Zardon*** · Apr 23, 2006, 01:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LeanWolf

The presentation looks very cool, but I don't like the huge screen image combined with tiny text, too difficult to read.

Yeah I know some people will have a problem with it. however I did test it with 5 or 6 people before publishing and only 1 said he had a problem reading it. I felt in this case it would be a cool design, however it wont be a standard design for the future. Just a little concept idea I had - and the font is specially chosen as one of the sharpest out there.

Quote:

There should be a link to this discussion thread somewhere, and for me at least there was no navigation menu.

Yes you are right with the link, ive added one to the last page/ last line, thanks. As for the navigation menu, I didnt really feel the need to add one to this as there are only four pages (screens?) in the review. there are links back and forward which should suffice.

Quote:

All that aside, very cool looking machine!

Im sure Danny will be pleased to hear !

***Zardon*** · Apr 23, 2006, 01:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by germanjulian

hehehe cool design..

What do you think of the machine, tempted? ever played with OSX ?

Sandok · Apr 23, 2006, 01:25 PM

I've always been tempted to be honest... I've played around with a few but this article just makes me want to try them out even more

Anyone wanna send donations for Sandok?

LeanWolf · Apr 23, 2006, 01:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zardon

Yeah I know some people will have a problem with it. however I did test it with 5 or 6 people before publishing and only 1 said he had a problem reading it. I felt in this case it would be a cool design, however it wont be a standard design for the future. Just a little concept idea I had - and the font is specially chosen as one of the sharpest out there.

It's readable, but I try to avoid any unecessary eye strain. I could zoom, but that means I'd have to scroll horizontally... It does look cool though, but I'm glad to hear it won't be standard

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zardon

Yes you are right with the link, ive added one to the last page/ last line, thanks. As for the navigation menu, I didnt really feel the need to add one to this as there are only four pages (screens?) in the review. there are links back and forward which should suffice.

Yeah I meant to say that with it's length the nav menu probably wasn't necessary, I just mentioned in case it was an oversight.

Again very cool looking review and machine!

***Zardon*** · Apr 23, 2006, 01:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LeanWolf

Again very cool looking review and machine!

Very impressive machine, would you be tempted or is it still nothing that interests you?

also did you see this?

http://www.madshrimps.be/forums/show...threadid=23453

Local forum member Gamer casually posted his first overclocking results with an Intel Duo Core T2600 clocked default at 2.16Ghz. Using a modified subzero cooling he was able to push the CPU to 3.4Ghz and run a CPU intensive SuperPi 1Mb calculation in 17.75 seconds; which is slightly faster than the current world record hold by Tom Holck with a P4 670 at 7.2Ghz! With less than halve the CPU cycles the new Duo Core proves to be quite the performer!

LeanWolf · Apr 23, 2006, 01:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zardon

Very impressive machine, would you be tempted or is it still nothing that interests you?

Oh I'd definately be interested, I have some Mac-mates so I've heard the benefits and played with OSX a little. I'd carefully compare prices and do more research first though before making any type of leap...

evrt63 · Apr 23, 2006, 03:39 PM

tried to read but started getting a headache, too bad looked interesting.

brutusmaximus · Apr 23, 2006, 03:48 PM

great review, and nice presentation. good to see this site trying to push some boundaries instead of black text on white backgrounds. easy to read on even a cheap LCD

Nicely written swimtech, id been looking at one of these machines for a while but didnt know how it would perform as you cant believe apples jargon on their site of "4x faster" bleh.

Good job !

swimtech · Apr 23, 2006, 03:48 PM

This laptop is, because it is so flexible and pretty fast, I think Apple's best value in laptops ever. Besides the extra ram, it is stock as presented at their website for this model (2.0Ghz model), and stands in comparison in features and speed to most any other brand (for the first time ever...). I'm definitely not trying to sell 'em, just giving my honest opinion about the configuration.

To add to the article, its 1440x900 display cranks at 60hz, and runs dead quiet except while I was in the middle of the Futuremark benchies, and even then was not annoying, making a whooshing rather than whirring noise...

BTW folks, click on the icons in the dock within the article, taken together they provide a nice tour of the apps that come with OSX Tiger - besides being just plain cool (love that trash can!) - Zardon really outdid himself on the presentation of this article - simply outstanding!

**dj_stick** · Apr 23, 2006, 09:53 PM

Very nice review Danny, I look forward to my own similiar experiences towards the end of the year

overall that presentation was excellent, and done very quickly too…

IvanV · Apr 24, 2006, 03:56 AM

A very nice review. I'll agree with dj_stick that it was rather a short one, perhaps a little too short for such a pretty piece of hardware I won't be able to hold in my hands, but that's just me.
I'd say that this review is speaking for my theory that Apple is going to turn into a mere PC assembler - not a word about OS X performance. Although, since more native apps may soon appear, I may be prooved wrong.
The design is good too, the only thing I dont like is that 1280 is no longer a sufficient screen width. I understand that all the text had to fit on one "notebook screen" and stay readable and I'm not complatining much, I just hope you won't make this a rule in the near future.

***Zardon*** · Apr 24, 2006, 07:12 AM

it wasnt an indepth laptop review it was an article on installing XP on a macintosh and an approximation in performance when running it.

Falstaff · Apr 24, 2006, 07:31 AM

My daugher likes Apples, I like Apples...what is the big deal about them except the price really, I like the finish and the OS takes a few minutes to get used to. I would use one soley for creating and editing and perhaps email.

studbagel9 · Apr 24, 2006, 09:13 AM

Just thought I'd throw it out there, in the article it said that there was no ctrl-alt-del option for xp... but if you use the ctrl + shift + escape combination you can bring up task manager that way too. Anyway, I enjoyed the article, aside from lack of punctuation in some places that is. Looks like Intel is in for a couple of lucrative years eh? Thanks for the review!

swimtech · Apr 24, 2006, 10:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by studbagel9

Just thought I'd throw it out there, in the article it said that there was no ctrl-alt-del option for xp... but if you use the ctrl + shift + escape combination you can bring up task manager that way too. Anyway, I enjoyed the article, aside from lack of punctuation in some places that is. Looks like Intel is in for a couple of lucrative years eh? Thanks for the review!

Yes! That works! Thank you!

Glad you liked the article - and the unique presentation - I really like it too. Allan is exceptionally talented and I am blessed by his work on the piece.

As I learn more about the machine, you can count on my comments over time here in the forums. Apple just released another firmware update too (1.01).

pr0digal jenius · Apr 24, 2006, 04:23 PM

very interesting stuff there, Danny.

and a very unique presentation Allan

...now if only I had access to anything Mac to play with

bananaman · Apr 24, 2006, 04:47 PM

brilliant presentation Z - looked great

I am tempted with the MacBook but i think I will go Mac Mini if anything :P

[hobo]eclipse · Apr 24, 2006, 08:54 PM

looks fun n all, and id certainly like to try out a MAC OS. Can someone explain what is different between the hardware that makes Apple Apple? and windows not compatible with it till now, and the MAC OSs not available on a PC. Like the difference between a PC and a MAC?? really im pretty clueless in that area an wanderin.

Zinnaria888 · Apr 24, 2006, 09:14 PM

Been wanting to know how well this works...and thanks Swimtech for an insight and also for the interesting presentation from Zardon. Think it will be my next computer investment....PC Gaming here I come!

IvanV · Apr 25, 2006, 07:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by [hobo]eclipse

Can someone explain what is different between the hardware that makes Apple Apple? and windows not compatible with it till now, and the MAC OSs not available on a PC. Like the difference between a PC and a MAC?? really im pretty clueless in that area an wanderin.

It used to be completely different, both the hardware and the software. Macs had CPUs with different instruction sets, the hardware inside used different interfaces etc. Then PC adopted some of the Mac technologies and vice-versa, so the CPU remained the only truly different piece of hardware. Finally, Macs adopted x86 (PC) CPUs. So it's down to OS and other software (except for high-end Macs, which still have IBM G5 CPUs).
What makes new Macs incompatible with Windows is EFI, which can be thought of as an advanced type of BIOS - apparently, that thing is not 100% compatible with WinXP, and it is incompatible with older Windowses.
And the only thing that prevents Mac OS X from running on a normal PC is some artificial protection - probably a device ID it reads from the mobo or some other part (like the protection that prevents ATi FireGL drivers from being installed on regular Radeons even if the hardware is more or less the same).
So, apart from some marginal and artificial differences, the difference between a Mac and a PC is the same as the difference between two PCs, out of which one is running Windows and the other Linux.