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MMOs on my Mac - Windows XP vs. Windows 7
Fellas,
I really appreciate all of the responses you guys provided re: my search for a new MMO. Now I have a software/platform issue.
I am going to purchase VMWare Fusion 3 to run windows on my mac. My question for you guys is, should I purchase Windows XP (which I have used for years and with which I am familiar), or should I go ahead and give Windows 7 a try?
I guess I would like to get some feedback as to whether Windows 7 causes any problems with gameplay, etc. I am planning on creating trial accounts for LotRO, Aion, AoC, and EVE...so any feedback concerning your experiences with those games on windows XP or Windows 7 would be appreciate. As always, thank you in advance for any suggestions/advice/experiences you have to offer.
Best,
Lctwo
Comments
VMWare won't even run WoW at more than 5 FPS.
It can't take control of your GFX card, it only emulates it and emulates it poorly. It's just good enough to get games to run, but not actually play them. Idk about EVE, but you're NOT going to be able to play LoTRO, Aion, or AoC on VMWare.You have to understand what it was developed for, it was made to allow for multiple users to have their own dedicated machines while using 1 machine's hardware. Such as a webserver, when you rent a dedicated webserver, you're actually just renting a VMWare instance. (not including big expensive servers, the average user)
Does mac not have a Wine type setup? Otherwise, you may have to bootcamp or w/e you Mac guys call it and just dual boot into 7. As far as your question, 7 is very nice and it's alot better than XP, plus it also supports DX11 where XP only supports DX9.
Like Trading Card Games? Click Here.
Can't go wrong with w7, best performance in any Windows version so far.. imo anyway.
If you can read this please, i beg you please! 01000111 01100101 01110100 00100000 01101100 01100001 01101001 01100100 00101100 00100000 01100100 01110101 01100100 01100101 00101110 00101110 00101110
Ok I have learned how to utilize Bootcamp...so VMware Fusion is out. However, when I pulled up my "Bootcamp Assistant," it read as follows:
"The Bootcamp Assistant helps you install Microsoft Windows XP or Windows Vista operating systems on an Intel-based Mac computer."
Do you think this means that bootcamp is not yet compatible with Windows 7.
Again fellas, I really appreciate the help. Clearly you guys can tell that I am not as techno-savvy as I should be.
Lctwo
I think you can actually download a 7 free trial actually. You can try it. Idk how bootcamp works AT ALL, but if it's just a different name for a "dual boot" it will work fine.
Like Trading Card Games? Click Here.
Try Crossover Games (www.codeweavers.com/products/cxgames/) instead.
You don't need any copies of windows
I use this at work on my Mac Intel Pro to play LOTRO at lunchtimes, works a treat!
/signed for Crossover Games
I've even gotten Ryzom and EvE running in it. Not well, but playably. Not to mention EvE is supported, as well as MegaTen, DragonSky, Guild Wars and several others.
Check out the MUD I'm making!
A little clarification, most of the DirectX 9.0c emulation that is done either through VMWare Workstation 6.5, VMWare player and Fusion are not completely emulated in the truest sense of the word. It is an optional component turned off by default because it allows DirectX calls to be passed through to the host operating system. ESX and ESXi (the server version of VMWare called vSphere) do not completely support this feature, simply because the host operating system is a standalone linux "busybox" that runs the VMWare guests for you. So, comparing the server version and workstation/fusion is comparing apples and oranges.
That being said, I would think that a PC host using a VMware guest would be much faster since DirectX is native to the PC. The Mac would need to translate the calls in real-time to OpenGL on the host. Which is slow, but not that slow. I used VMware for two MMOs in the past. Istaria before it was completely compatible with Windows Vista and Dark Age of Camelot, which would allow me to run more than 2 clients on a single PC.
I would recommend Boot Camp, as you just figured out how to use it along with Windows 7. Windows 7 seems to be compatible with all of the recent MMOs that have come out. The only ones that would not be compatible would be ones that are still not compatible with Windows Vista (the oldies, but goodies category). Windows 7 is very simular to Mac OS X, so it will be more seemless of an environment for you. It's also more forgiving and will recover from video driver failures.
Check out this link guys:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3920
Also, from what I have been reading, there seems to be a distinction between Bootcamp being able to "support" Windows 7, and bootcamp being able to run Windows 7. From what I can tell, whether bootcamp can officially "support" windows 7 has more to do with whether Apple will help you out if crap hits the fan. But I have found plenty of websites/blogs where people discuss having successfully installed Windows 7 with bootcamp.
Decisions, decisions. Someone give me the go to get in my car and go buy Windows 7. Otherwise, I will wimp out and buy Windows XP home instead.
Best,
Lctwo
As mentioned before, just download the Windows 7 trial and try it out. You have nothing to loose except a few hours of your time. On the plus side, if you do use Win7 with BootCamp, you will also gain the benefit of running other PC programs that may come by that you can't pick up on the Mac.
Wow this afternoon has been frustrating. So after driving to the apple store and the bestbuy store, I decided to download the Windows 7 trial before investing $200 in the OS.
So after signing up here -> http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/cc442495.aspx , i found out that I would first need to download and install Firefox in order to download the Windows 7 90-day free trial. I did that, opened firefox and proceeded to sign in with the passpost.com email address the above link provided me, only to find out that the download was available only to those who are currently running a Windows (Vista, XP) platform.
Does anyone have any suggestions? At this point I am thinking I will just ask everyone in my family to give me BestBuy gift certificates for Xmas so that I can use them to defray the cost of purchasing Windows 7. Ugh!
Best,
Lctwo
Yes, just us Crossover Games man!
First off, why would you purchase vmware? That is just stupid. You have virtualbox for a free download, and for client OS implementation is just fine. Also, if you are gong to "buy" xp or 7, why the hell would you run it in a virtual machine to play games in the first place. You would be better off simply duel-booting the mac into a windows OS to play games.
Note, you are not stupid. You at least know how to run a VM, but your plan? It's just not a good one.
Played (more than a month): SWG, Second Life, Tabula Rasa, Lineage 2, Everquest 2, EvE, MxO, Ryzom.
Tried: WoW, Shadowbane, Anarchy Online, Everquest, WWII Online, Planetside
Beta: Lotro, Tabula Rasa, WAR.
Yes, just us Crossover Games man!
Kayless. Better to run them natively don't you think? I have used crossover, cedega, wine (of which the previous two culled). That is not good advise. He/She might as well just use the VM, which like your suggestion, will not work.
Played (more than a month): SWG, Second Life, Tabula Rasa, Lineage 2, Everquest 2, EvE, MxO, Ryzom.
Tried: WoW, Shadowbane, Anarchy Online, Everquest, WWII Online, Planetside
Beta: Lotro, Tabula Rasa, WAR.
First off, why would you purchase vmware? That is just stupid. You have virtualbox for a free download, and for client OS implementation is just fine. Also, if you are gong to "buy" xp or 7, why the hell would you run it in a virtual machine to play games in the first place. You would be better off simply duel-booting the mac into a windows OS to play games.
Note, you are not stupid. You at least know how to run a VM, but your plan? It's just not a good one.
Correct, Dalevi1. In a subsequent post I stated that I am just going to purchase Windows 7 and use it through Mac's bootcamp. I definitely understand that my initial plan was dumb!
Looks like I am going to have to wait for Xmas holidays though, as I really cannot afford to drop $200 on Windows 7 right now. Hopefully I can amass enough gift certificates to purchase it for free!
Best,
Lctwo
Yes, just us Crossover Games man!
Kayless,
Thanks again for the recommendation. I checked out their website and it looks like while LotRO and EVE online are supported by Crossover, Aion and Age of Conan are not. I would rather be able to trial all four before deciding which one I am going to sub, so I am going to bite the bullet and purchase Windows 7 (hopefully with gift certificates received from family over the holidays)!!!
Lctwo. Do you have a CD of windows xp laying around? If so, and you have the license key usually stickered to the machine it came from, then you have a valid license for a bootcamp installation of windows on your mac.
My question, why would you buy a Mac if you are game oriented. Security? Running a windows VM does make the virtual OS more sucure, sorta...and running a native windows OS on a mac makes you as secure as every other PC gamer.
If you love to boot and reboot, enjoy your new toy. I just don't get the logic behind the purchase.
Played (more than a month): SWG, Second Life, Tabula Rasa, Lineage 2, Everquest 2, EvE, MxO, Ryzom.
Tried: WoW, Shadowbane, Anarchy Online, Everquest, WWII Online, Planetside
Beta: Lotro, Tabula Rasa, WAR.
First off, why would you purchase vmware? That is just stupid. You have virtualbox for a free download, and for client OS implementation is just fine. Also, if you are gong to "buy" xp or 7, why the hell would you run it in a virtual machine to play games in the first place. You would be better off simply duel-booting the mac into a windows OS to play games.
Note, you are not stupid. You at least know how to run a VM, but your plan? It's just not a good one.
Correct, Dalevi1. In a subsequent post I stated that I am just going to purchase Windows 7 and use it through Mac's bootcamp. I definitely understand that my initial plan was dumb!
Looks like I am going to have to wait for Xmas holidays though, as I really cannot afford to drop $200 on Windows 7 right now. Hopefully I can amass enough gift certificates to purchase it for free!
Best,
Lctwo
Ignoring my "why did you buy a mac" statement. All of the games you want to play are XP compatible. If you have a previous license, use it for bootcamp! There are ays to get 7 much cheaper than retail. Check your local college, etc.
Again, XP is fine for the games you want to try. No use dropping $200 for what most people legally get for free
.
Just sayin.
Played (more than a month): SWG, Second Life, Tabula Rasa, Lineage 2, Everquest 2, EvE, MxO, Ryzom.
Tried: WoW, Shadowbane, Anarchy Online, Everquest, WWII Online, Planetside
Beta: Lotro, Tabula Rasa, WAR.
I Also support Windows 7.
HOWEVER, Apple will not support DX11 for years to come. Apple is always behind the game and unknowing users pay 3x for a computer that they can get for 1/3 of the price with windows7.
Shame how ignorance and money work together -facepalm-
First off, why would you purchase vmware? That is just stupid. You have virtualbox for a free download, and for client OS implementation is just fine. Also, if you are gong to "buy" xp or 7, why the hell would you run it in a virtual machine to play games in the first place. You would be better off simply duel-booting the mac into a windows OS to play games.
Note, you are not stupid. You at least know how to run a VM, but your plan? It's just not a good one.
Correct, Dalevi1. In a subsequent post I stated that I am just going to purchase Windows 7 and use it through Mac's bootcamp. I definitely understand that my initial plan was dumb!
Looks like I am going to have to wait for Xmas holidays though, as I really cannot afford to drop $200 on Windows 7 right now. Hopefully I can amass enough gift certificates to purchase it for free!
Best,
Lctwo
Ignoring my "why did you buy a mac" statement. All of the games you want to play are XP compatible. If you have a previous license, use it for bootcamp! There are ays to get 7 much cheaper than retail. Check your local college, etc.
Again, XP is fine for the games you want to try. No use dropping $200 for what most people legally get for free
.
Just sayin.
Again, Ignorant MAC users..
Windows 7 Home Pre. - $105
Ok.... I am currently dual-booting both Windows 7 and Snow Leopard on my new iMac. Because "bootcamp" doesn't support windows 7 doesn't mean it won't work. The only driver I haven't been able to get working natively in windows 7 is the bluetooth driver for the wireless mouse (magic mouse). Any other mouse will work though.
The only think Bootcamp does is partition the drive and set Mac's bootloader.
Your best bet is to go with bootcamp. Windows 7, being the most up to date OS will run things like DX 10 and 11 (Windows XP has no DX10 support). Cedega and other virtual emulations can be very touchy (as I found when I ran Linux on my old Windows Box). I'ts a bit of a pain to boot into windows (only because you have to wait for it it reboot anytime you want to play). I honestly just started playing WoW again because I got sick of rebooting when I wanted to play LOTRO (not saying that you should do that). But running in a native environment though Bootcamp and Windows 7 will give you the best performance/least headaches. It'll also be the most expensive if you go out and purchase Windows 7 (seeing as it's crazy expensive).
Yes, because $105 is crazy expensive when macs are litterly 2x to 3x overpriced for there hardware.
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105 is a great deal more than 39 for an upgrade of Leopard to Snow Leopard, or 30 for Cedega (crossover games).
First off, why would you purchase vmware? That is just stupid. You have virtualbox for a free download, and for client OS implementation is just fine. Also, if you are gong to "buy" xp or 7, why the hell would you run it in a virtual machine to play games in the first place. You would be better off simply duel-booting the mac into a windows OS to play games.
Note, you are not stupid. You at least know how to run a VM, but your plan? It's just not a good one.
Correct, Dalevi1. In a subsequent post I stated that I am just going to purchase Windows 7 and use it through Mac's bootcamp. I definitely understand that my initial plan was dumb!
Looks like I am going to have to wait for Xmas holidays though, as I really cannot afford to drop $200 on Windows 7 right now. Hopefully I can amass enough gift certificates to purchase it for free!
Best,
Lctwo
Ignoring my "why did you buy a mac" statement. All of the games you want to play are XP compatible. If you have a previous license, use it for bootcamp! There are ays to get 7 much cheaper than retail. Check your local college, etc.
Again, XP is fine for the games you want to try. No use dropping $200 for what most people legally get for free
.
Just sayin.
Again, Ignorant MAC users..
Windows 7 Home Pre. - $105
Remote desktop, and a full image backup are not featured in windows 7 home premium. These two things are important to me, perhaps not you. I was telling him his games are compatible with XP. Who is ignorant?
Played (more than a month): SWG, Second Life, Tabula Rasa, Lineage 2, Everquest 2, EvE, MxO, Ryzom.
Tried: WoW, Shadowbane, Anarchy Online, Everquest, WWII Online, Planetside
Beta: Lotro, Tabula Rasa, WAR.
First off, why would you purchase vmware? That is just stupid. You have virtualbox for a free download, and for client OS implementation is just fine. Also, if you are gong to "buy" xp or 7, why the hell would you run it in a virtual machine to play games in the first place. You would be better off simply duel-booting the mac into a windows OS to play games.
Note, you are not stupid. You at least know how to run a VM, but your plan? It's just not a good one.
Correct, Dalevi1. In a subsequent post I stated that I am just going to purchase Windows 7 and use it through Mac's bootcamp. I definitely understand that my initial plan was dumb!
Looks like I am going to have to wait for Xmas holidays though, as I really cannot afford to drop $200 on Windows 7 right now. Hopefully I can amass enough gift certificates to purchase it for free!
Best,
Lctwo
Ignoring my "why did you buy a mac" statement. All of the games you want to play are XP compatible. If you have a previous license, use it for bootcamp! There are ays to get 7 much cheaper than retail. Check your local college, etc.
Again, XP is fine for the games you want to try. No use dropping $200 for what most people legally get for free
.
Just sayin.
Again, Ignorant MAC users..
Windows 7 Home Pre. - $105
Lucky Potato,
Thank you very much for the link to Newegg.com's offer of Windows 7. I am sorry for being an ignorant Mac user, but I guess I must be willing to concede to that description.
Just out of curiousity, how can newegg afford to sell Windows 7 at that marked down price...everywhere else I have found it sells it for $199. Is it a version similar to those they made and sold for XP where you can buy it at a discount but only install the OS once, and if it screws up you are s*&% out of luck?
Thanks again for helping out. I really appreciate it.
Best,
Lctwo
First off, why would you purchase vmware? That is just stupid. You have virtualbox for a free download, and for client OS implementation is just fine. Also, if you are gong to "buy" xp or 7, why the hell would you run it in a virtual machine to play games in the first place. You would be better off simply duel-booting the mac into a windows OS to play games.
Note, you are not stupid. You at least know how to run a VM, but your plan? It's just not a good one.
Correct, Dalevi1. In a subsequent post I stated that I am just going to purchase Windows 7 and use it through Mac's bootcamp. I definitely understand that my initial plan was dumb!
Looks like I am going to have to wait for Xmas holidays though, as I really cannot afford to drop $200 on Windows 7 right now. Hopefully I can amass enough gift certificates to purchase it for free!
Best,
Lctwo
Ignoring my "why did you buy a mac" statement. All of the games you want to play are XP compatible. If you have a previous license, use it for bootcamp! There are ays to get 7 much cheaper than retail. Check your local college, etc.
Again, XP is fine for the games you want to try. No use dropping $200 for what most people legally get for free
.
Just sayin.
Again, Ignorant MAC users..
Windows 7 Home Pre. - $105
Remote desktop, and a full image backup are not featured in windows 7 home premium. These two things are important to me, perhaps not you. I was telling him his games are compatible with XP. Who is ignorant?
You :] $140 not 200.
Hey you should be thankin, not hatin' im saving the guy money.
Ignorant simply means you dont know, its not an insult.
Windows 7 Pro - $140