Should I buy a MacBook Pro?

I use a Windows laptop as a 'desktop replacement'. I'm fed up with it randomly bluescreening after changing from Vista to Windows 7 and am considering replacing it with a MacBook Pro. However, I use a shed load of Windows software which would be very expensive - or impossible - to replace with Mac versions. So if I bought a Mac I would be permanently running it in Windows mode or running most of my software under something like VmWare. Is it worth going for the Mac or would I be better buying a better Windows machine? Any thoughts would be gratefully received.

Despite a hatred of Bill Gates' software I too have lots of legacy software so run Windows. I now have two machine running Windows 7 (a netbook and an Intel i7 6 core setup, so either end of the spectrum) and have found it as stable as my old XP Pro set up on both systems - unlike Vista which was useless!

I suspect your blue screen problems are hardware related - either fix your current machine or get a new Winows PC - MUCH cheaper than a Mac plus all that new software.

If you don't mind buying Parallels/ VMWare or the free Sun (Oracle I guess) virtual machine - or going he dual boot root via Boot Camp route - you can have the best of both world. Tell MS you have had a disk failure and need to reinstall windows, install it either as a VM or a boot partition, and reinstall all your software on the VM or partition.

Two machines in one. Job done. You can then explore the Mac at your leisure and discover the truth of the axiom "Once Mac Never Back" for yourself.

(I do know a couple of Windows dev who use MBPs as there machine 'cos it runs Windows faster than any other machine (according to them - never tried myself))

Out of interest, what 'doze software are you tied to? Quicken?

I think you're attacking the wrong problem. Windows 7 is very stable - easily as good as OS X in that respect. It would be no more stable on a MacBook Pro than it is on a good PC. I can tell you, hand on heart, that I have never had a crash on my Windows 7 setup.

Your best bet is to try and sort out the problems with your current PC. Almost certainly one of your drivers is causing the problem; make sure that all are updated to the latest version and that you have applied all Windows patches. Failing that, just buy a new one. If basically all you want to do is run Windows software you will get much better value, and better results, that way.

Or, if you really want to try a Unix-style OS, you could always try Linux on your current PC. Arguably that's the most stable of the current desktop operating systems (arguably because I would say that one of the free BSDs is the most stable, but they are not what I would call mainstream). A lot of Windows programs run quite happily under Wine. That's a zero-cost option.

If you are still interested in the Mac option then compare hardware, price for price, with similarly specified PC hardware. I believe you will find a discrepancy in favour of the PC. Buying a Mac just to run Windows programs makes no sense IMO.

(I do know a couple of Windows dev who use MBPs as there machine 'cos it runs Windows faster than any other machine (according to them - never tried myself))

There have been periods when Macs have been the fastest notebook PC to run Windows - like when the Core architecture effectively premiered on them. But the march of progress on the Generic PC side is inexorable, so Apple are more often behind than they are ahead, because they only have a single line of high-performance laptops and aren't able to update them every month.

One disadvantage of the Mac is that while Windows is permitted it is not actively supported. If you have a mainstream vendor like HP or Toshiba, you can get support if Windows is playing up. With a Mac you can only really get support if MacOS is playing up. If there was a situation like the OP reported - random Blue Screens - running an unsupported OS on an esoteric platform (EFI/Boot Camp) he would be even more out on a limb.

Edited by deleted (Fri 24-Jun-11 11:53:24)

Got to agree with the other posters that there is no inherent stability problem with Windows 7.

I've been using it on a work-supplied laptop for quite some time. Don't want to tempt fate, but I seem to have fewer problems than I'd grown accustomed to on previous versions of Windows.

I don't think it has ever bluescreened since I switched, and I can't remember the last time it hung (although I'm sure it did once).

Thanks for your thoughts everyone. Will try and sort out the stability problems on my current PC, although it's kind of difficult to know where to start as it just seems to crash at random.

In reply to a post by ian_c:

You can then explore the Mac at your leisure and discover the truth of the axiom "Once Mac Never Back" for yourself.

I think im the only person to brake the saying i had a mac for 2 month and couldn't wait to move back lol i found my self using windows 7 on boot camp 90% of the time so sold it to a friend who was doing graphic design at college and went back to a pc.

in fairness though i dident mind osx its self just wasn't for me in the end

Also to the op i agree with other posters ive been using windows 7 all the way from the beta and never once had any problems with it. Ive only ever seen one blue screen and my graphics card caused it (needed replacing)

You tend to find that Macbook Pros have better graphic chips than PCs with similar specifications.

I don't know why but some PC laptop makers cheap out when it comes to the graphics hardware. So unless you go for a top of the range laptop or an alienware then the Macs perform very well.

Not to mention they're quieter, look nicer and don't have an ugly black brick on a rope for a power supply.

Although buying one to run Windows seems a bit daft. Windows 7 is only more reliable than previous versions due to it validating like mad when the computer is idle. So saying Windows 7 is more reliable than another OSX would be like a car manufacturer saying their car was very reliable due it having a weekly service and oil change.

BSOD = bad hardware or drivers. It can also be bad RAM modules.

Run a full error scan on the hard disk before you do anything else.