Apple will officially support Windows 7 in Boot Camp before end of year
By Paul Miller 
posted Oct 22nd 2009 6:59PM
posted Oct 22nd 2009 6:59PM
[Via Mac Rumors]
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It already works. Why would we care about Apple "officially" supporting it if it already works without their "official" support?
Of course they will...What will Apple say...No in not supporting it.
SP
Yep, I installed it a couple of weeks ago and it really didn't need the drivers on the leopard disc. Let's hope they don't "fix it"
Technically it doesn't if your using boot camp and windows 7 now your basically using Vista Drivers that are capable with windows 7
More stable drivers, possibly taking advantage of Windows 7-only features. For example, multi-touch gestures for the magic mouse.
That may sound unlikely, but even if you use Windows on your Mac, you're an Apple customer. They've been good about supporting MobileMe and other cross-platform products in the past, so there probably is something to be gained.
Seriously, WTF are you guys talking about? I'm running windows7 on a macbook pro via bootcamp with ZERO issues. EVERYTHING works, and the install was flawless.
I'm also running Windows 7 Ultimate in bootcamp on my 17in Macbook Pro without issues. I've even been playing games like Left 4 Dead, TF2, Halo, and Crysis. They don't run as good as they do on my PC, but I can still run them mid-high.
@Detox: I'm running all the drivers fine. I can read the Windows partition from the Mac side and the Mac partition from the Windows side. All the keyboard, camera, sound, etc drivers work fine as well. Everything just works. I used the drivers from the OS X Snow Leopard disc. I also have Linux on there (triple boot).
Details: Summer '07 MBP, Mac OS X Snow Leopard, Windows 7, Kubuntu 9
@Detox: Either you're making all that up, or Apple, the company you pray to nightly, gave you a crappy computer. I'll give you the choice, which one do you want to admit to?
why would they support windows in the first place???
OSX is the best os evarrrrr!
/sarcasm.
WIn 7 RTM (build 7600) 32bit works OK on a 2007 MacBook Pro. The trackpad is almost unusable, though. Two-finger-right-click works about 20% of the time, so shift-F10 is the new right-click, and the tracking is really whacked. Sound drivers were missing from both 10.5 and 10.6 install disks. Wireless is iffy, too. It works, but drops the signal if you breathe wrong.
The worst thing is power, Win 7 can't read the battery life and shuts down within minutes of unplugging from the wall.
None of these issues are insurmountable, though. I use Windows 7 exclusively and only boot to OSX to test platform issues in my projects.
But wait... why would someone want to put Windows on a computer with a 'Perfect' operating system? :P
Because you are the flaming Apple fangirl we all know you are and you would be on here trying to say Windows 7 does a BSOD all the time for you. BSOD are generally caused by faulty hardware, so either you have faulty hardware or you are the only person in the world who has been, for some reason, unable to install Windows 7 on their iMac. I find it to be too much of a coincidence that YOU would be the only person to have problems.
So again, either you're lying, or Apple, the company you claim never makes bad products, gave you faulty hardware, which one is it?
@Jordan
Just ignore Detox. Nobody gives a shit about his comments anyway. Everybody knows that he's just making up crap to make Apple look good. He has done nothing but point out negative things about anything non-Apple. If there's an article that points out a blunder by Apple, he won't appear. If there's an article about Microsoft scoring some praise, he'll jump right in and start inventing crap like a sissy girl.
He's clearly uneducated, and ridiculously blinded by his adherence to anything Apple, even if it means he'll trample on others to prove his point.
This is great, nobody downrank Jordan or Detox, it's like watching a monkey knife fight!
That being said, I REALLY hope that the bootcamp 'upgrade' isn't mandatory, because I'd really like to continue running 7 on my first-generation Intel iMac. I only really use it for schoolwork (dammit, LOGIC!), and I don't want to have to upgrade it.
Says the person who still hasn't answered my question
we dont have iTunes, Quicktime, and Safari installed on windows. dont even try that dude!!! lame.
winamp for music
quicktime?? r u kidding me? VLC ftw!
firefox for web.
Isn't this what's called "Giving the Devil his due?"
Unfortunately, if Windows 7 turns out to be somewhat more useful than Windows XP, I guess I'll be using it in BootCamp, too. Let's hope Apple gets all the Windows 7 BootCamp drivers working properly so it will run faster on a Mac than it does on those other companies cheap PC boxes.
Then I, too, may join the ranks of Microsheeples running Windows 7 with pride.
Well of those links you sent me, those people figured out how to get Windows 7 to work or what the problem was, so for the last time
Are you lying, or did Apple give you fault hardware?
I still find it hard to believe, seeing as 7 uses Vista drivers
But then I guess that would mean Apple wrote bad drivers in the beginning.
It already works, this is just Apple being childish.
my battery life is horrible on windows 7 on my unibody mbp. everything works fine, thats the only ish.
Shit, if you want to run Windows 7 in a stable environment, don't get a Mac? Is that your point?
This is just stupid. Most of you guys here are making shit up. How many of you here actually own a macbookpro and use a Win7 on it? I do and it sucks.
1st the audio driver is really bad, the volume is too low (even when maxed out) and the audio jack is useless (how the hel can the speaker work but not the jack?).
And then there's the ram allocation, i dont know if it's the hardware or the OS, but on my 2007 macbook my win7 reported 3GB usable ram but on my unibody mbp15" it only reported 2.7GB.
Multitouch pad driver also are poor at best. It only support 2 finger based input. At times it's wonky and tracking seems to be a problem too.
Speed, win7 on my mbp is slower than win7 on my macbook (in terms of application startup and win bootup/shutdown.
So yeah, apple official support on win7 better come sooner than later.
BTW, I'm one of those guys who hates apple (and their fanboys) and uses Windows XP/Vista/7 on mac products out of spite. But I always like their product built quality and perceived "air of superiority" that they carry. I also like the shock when fanboys see my older 07 MBP17" runs on winxp. Priceless...
It might work for you, grull27. I recently bought my copies of Win 7 32 and 64 bit from my Campus Computer Store (Univ of Texas) and On my Early 2009 MacBook (White), using Bootcamp or Parallels they both say "Invalid Product key". I TRIPLE checked it and the key validated perfectly on my PC Desktop install.
So there are issues that an update to Bootcamp would iron out.
Javanese, based of your description, it sounds like you have Win7 32 bit edition. It has a max RAM allocation you can have is 4GB in a 32 bit system.
If you were running 64 bit and had a 64 bit processor, you'd be able to see more than 2.7 or 3GB ram. The reason is that your video card and onboard motherboard memory allocation are also considered in that 4GB maximum. Not just your RAM modules. Hope that helps.
I still don't get why they wouldn't have ironed this out before hand.
I agree to I just hope this end of the year means christmas time but as of now all the drivers I have seem to be fine at the moment.
Well, for starters they just revamped their lineup, so device drivers may be an issue beyond their control in some cases.
The conspiracy theorist would say, why should they add any gleam to the Win 7 release? May as well put the brakes on for a few weeks at least.
I'm convinced that Apple does little things to crap on the Windows experience on their hardware. There's a bug in their trackpad drivers for the 2008 Macbook that causes a bsod, so I have to use an external mouse or face random crashes. The thread about it on Apple's forums is still unresolved.
tl;dr: Apple doesn't give a rat's ass about Boot Camp.
I agree with Barry. Ever try using iTunes in Windows. Horrible Horrible Horrible piece of software. Apple should have had this worked out by now, they've had months. If they want to say they fully support Windows, they need to fully support.
Nothing new, Apple pulls these stunts with every release of Windows to try to discourage people from buying.
http://www.engadget.com/2007/02/02/apple-sez-itunes-users-should-hold-off-on-vista/
@Jordan
I totally agree. iTunes on Windows is a terrible application. Somehow even the UI graphics are kinda flaky.
I don't get why you would want to run Windows 7 on underpowered hardware and a shitty GPU that all Macs have.
You know you would think Apple would know that some people buy macs for the hardware and then just install windows on it... I bought a new Macbook Pro because 1. I needed a new computer for school and 2. I needed a new gaming computer. And because of the dang Microphone problems in windows I can't use any type of voice chat programs which really hurts my gaming :( That's just my 2 cents :/ (BTW I haven't installed Win7 on my mac yet because of the trackpad problems mainly as I sometimes game in the car on my 4 hour trip to college. But I do plan on doing it within the next few days because I'm tired of vista :/)
Because Windows isn't Apple's highest priority? Don't overthink this, the answers are pretty obvious.
Kurian, don't be as dumb as the Apple hating stereotype. My Mac has an 8 core Xeon, I'm not sure how you would classify that as "underpowered" compared to ANY desktop processor. Also I have a GTX 285, so much for your "shitty GPU" theory.
Seriously, people like you just need to be less stupid.
How nice of Them ! Thank you Apple ! We love you too - in our bellies.
@Jordan: Apple DID write notoriously bad drivers for Windows... are you kidding? The sound is god awful, video support is in the pits. This is on the new '09 MBP, and the same poor support continues on the even newer 13" MBP that my girlfriend uses.
For everyone else: we use Windows for a reason. Its because everyone else does. Up until 10.6, Exchange support was non-existent in anything but a weekly supported and low performance IMAP interface. In 10.6, only Exchange 2007 is supported--so the good portion of businesses that can't upgrade 2003 to 2007 without significant changes is out of luck. The plight is no different from that of Linux; people want it, but due to poor support and copyright restrictions from Microsoft, we can't use it all the way.
Not everything Apple touches is golden, and not everything Microsoft touches is crap. Is this so hard to comprehend?? Use whichever one suits you better. If Windows 7 crashes constantly and you hate it, give OSX a try. If Windows 7 works great for you and you love it... keep on using it.
Your mileage *will* vary.
Redmumba - Complaining about Exchange? Really? What's stopping you from using Office on the Mac if you need Exchange so badly? Entourage is a fully Exchange-compatible client, has been for about a decade.
And I have no idea what the hell you're talking about regarding sound and video. I play Crysis in Boot Camp at the highest settings and still get 30 FPS. Does that sound like shitty video support to you?
Apple doesn't build their products.
Apple uses the Windows operating systems Because when push comes to shove, if you want to run much of the popular software, it only runs on Windows. Apple still has roughly just 8% of the market for computers. TRANSLATION: too costly and too limiting
Apple uses Intel chips
So WHY is anyone buying an Apple for anything other than appearances?? Is it REALLY worth the expense, just to be seen as "hip" and well heeled??
I buy Macs to meet women and now to start fights in Windows cafes.
I also drive a Volkswagen, sleep at Starbucks and wear black turtlenecks to bed. And when I'm sitting in Starbucks, I yell out, "And now for my next trick I'm going to TURN ON on my iPhone."
That's when the chicks run over.
I have been a windows user for around 10 years(since i was around 8) after using a mac, there is never any fuss with it, stuff just works, i've had countless notebooks and after a year or two of use they just start to fall apart, squeaking and feeling loose, i do have windows on my mac but just for gaming, other than that i have no reason to use windows, once you get past the whole mac hating scene, you can appreciate the quality of the product and peace of mind.
It's not just appearance. OS X and windows provide different experiences, as does Unix etc. There are differences both in the hardware and software. Quite significant imo.
@ detox
Now that was funny...
SP
@Detox,
LOL! Speaking of Starbucks, I recall seeing a woman in Starbucks clearly showing off her MacBook Air (heh). She would open and close it a few times, take it out and put it back inside her mesh bag, etc. Very pretentious and very stupid, I must say. She was the only one I had seen with the Air at that time, and today I saw the second person with an Air trying to get tech support over the phone about a website. She worked at a school and it must have been a school district webpage or something. From what I could hear, it looked like it was a Safari issue.
Hey troll,
What do I need Windows for? 99% of the population doesn't do anything that requires that you use Windows, unless your job requires you to run some specific CAD program that cannot be found on OS X. Most of our time is spent on the Internet, which is platform-agnostic. The servers serving up content are mostly running Unix anyway. You should count your blessings that you're able to view the content on your Windows dumb terminal.
As for productive stuff, actually getting work done, Windows is a huge hinderance to my job. I'd need to ssh into some host that I spend all day logged into to get actual work done. Fortunately I have an OS X machine on my desktop so I can easily jump from host to host, copy files around (without opening separate crappy GUI programs like secureCRT and winSCP, or, worse, dealing with Cygwin), run diffs on config files, whatever. If I was on Windows, I'd need to have a bunch of sessions open to a bastion host that I can use to do my actual work and interface directly with proper unix machines.
Compatibility with the world is just hacked-on additions to Windows. I've got a Win7 install in VBox but I haven't installed anything on it because I have no use for the world of proprietary Windows applications that do nothing well.
@Detox: Just because people liked your volkswagon "story" the first time doesn't mean we want you reposting it all the time. I know I know, you're not used to your comments being up ranked and probably didn't know what to do, but reposting them isn't correct.
Honestly, the only reason I can think of for purchasing a Mac specifically, all fangirlism aside, is for Final Cut. Other than that Windows is cheaper, and all in all much more stable and faster than it used to be.
I'm not sure if Detox is Paul A but whoever he is these comments are freakin funny, almost commercial grade
Detox, do mac owners all visit Starbucks? If that's the case I'm not missing nothing, the coffee sucks and I never met someone who actually spends time in a Starbucks or coffee depot or any other coffee place, most go in, buys coffee and get out. Do you live in a Starbucks? Does having a mac book gives rebates on crap coffee, or do you go there because you can't afford a internet stick after purchasing a mac book, so you go there for free wifi? Lame like your story.
Jordan, did anyone ever tell you that you have a sexy voice? It's soothing, like a breeze in December.
I'm sorry, no offense to you, but I'm not into men. Just not my thing.
But hey I'm sure there are a bunch of Mac using hipsters at Starbucks who would be your type.
Well, if you change your mind, there's a jumbo sized Trojan with your name on it.
You would like jumbo sized men
@ detox
Doesn't count if you pulled it out of your ass.
@Detox
Fine. Go green if you want. Swallow my snake.
Is this worthy to be posted on Engadget? Seems like something that should go on TUAW. Just Engadget trying to fit an Apple story whenever they can
This article is totally worthy to be on Engadget, as many Engadget readers are interested to know the information contained in it. I see no problem with the article, it's simple, straightforward, and devoid Apple fanboyism >>> "Unfortunately, Apple's excluded a lot of its 2006 Intel-based computers from this forthcoming update, and we're getting the vibe that this is a Snow Leopard-only affair. Basically, par for the Apple course."
I wonder what that means. Before I left AppleCare tech. support, the furthest we could really go in supporting Windows was instructing how to install it via Boot Camp and how to install the drivers. After that, I don't know how much more Apple can support unless they start giving training on Windows since after that any problems wouldn't necessarily be Apple's but either Microsoft or a 3rd party - it's not like Apple can instruct the user to pull .plist files, reset PRAM/SMC since they have no effect or is not applicable. Will be interested to see how this works out.
Ah, comprehension fail. They meant support as in drivers not actual support. Although the current Boot Camp drivers work fine though the trackpad still sucks.
Does this mean we'll get a Windows 7 whopper AND an apple? That'd be kinda nice.
27" imac + video input + xbox 360 + ps3 + snow leopard + windows 7 = a pretty nice looking setup for me
+1, but throw a nice pani elite or sammy thin LCD and you've got a game winner.
It's mini-DP in, so you'll have to find an adapter for the 360 and PS3.
Also, we don't know if it supports HDCP. Also, since it's over 1080p resolution, we don't know what scaling options are available.
I know i'm actually waiting for a full review to see how the video input works and if it all will work together but right now both my ps3 slim and xbox 360 are working perfectly on my samsung 22" so i think they would be able to scale even though it is a much higher resolution
Wait a minute... I can't use my 2006 Macbook Pro with Windows 7 even when it meets all the requirements, But I CAN use my 2006 Macbook Pro with Snow Leopard? Fuck you Apple.
They won't "support" it, but that doesn't necessarily mean you can't install it yourself manually.
Hopefully this will fix the bug that prevents you from right clicking on the taskbar in Vista. I can right click on the desktop, but absolutely cannot use the trackpad to right click on the task bar.
Yea this does suck but you know you can right click on the taskbar by clicking with 3 fingers.
Well I'll be a son of a gun. You are right, 3 finger clicks work as a right click. That is really stupid that they let you do two finger right click on the desktop but then 3 finger on the taskbar. Thanks for the tip.
That's a very old driver. Apple released an update a long time ago that addresses that issue. Two finger click is now right click like in OS X.
@andrew I'm using the drivers that came along with my Snow Leopard disc so I believe you are mistaken. This is a bug. It says "Two Fingers Secondary Click" in Bootcamp preferences in Windows but it simply does not work on the taskbar. You have to use 3 fingers.
Nope, just verified it, two-finger/secondary click works throughout the Windows 7. I too am running Boot Camp off Snow Leopard (Boot Camp services 3.0) and it's working so you might want to try a reinstall of some sort. I have it running on two MacBook Pro's.
I'm talking about Vista, not 7. Re-read my initial post. Good for you if it is working on your computer, but it isn't on mine. A simple Google search will show you that I'm not the only person with this problem.
Apple leaves bugs like that in their Windows drivers on purpose so that people think Windows is at fault.
Very weird. It was a bug that Apple has since fixed. Even though you are using Boot Camp 3.0, I would suggest you download the multi-touch trackpad 1.1 update just for kicks if you haven't done so already just to see if it will work.
I already have it installed in Virtualbox...
Seems to work fine on Leopard, but I can't seem to turn the keyboard backlight off all the way which kinda melts my tits. The multitouch trackpad really isn't all that special either (thank God for Logitech wireless mice!).
I wonder how many people with macs actually use Boot Camp. Everyone with a Mac that I know just uses OS X. (even those who are the least bit tech savy)
Some of us gotta get our Left for Dead/Team Fortress 2 fix.
I'm using Vista right now on my MBP. Operating system doesn't really matter as much these days because everything I do is in the browser.
That mockup looks pretty good.
apple doesn't support Windows 7, but Windows 7 does...
That makes no sense. Of course Windows 7 supports Windows 7.
So, our Mac friends, just wait a little and you'll be able to run real OS too :-) That should not be too disconcerning, you should be used to waiting for a lot of stuff (i.e. CPU upgrades, latest graphic card upgrades etc) this would be just one of them.
You're an idiot. Win 7 is a prettified version of Vista, and I've been running Win 7 RC in Boot Camp for months now. Believe me, it's nothing special. It's also slower than OS X on the same machine. I really have no reason to run Windows aside from playing Portal, HL2 and Crysis every now and then.
Why would I want to run Win 7 on under powered hardware....ick.
PS- MS should block this in the OS. The excuse they should use?
We want to maintain a certain quality of hardware and lacking a right mouse button will simply degrade the Windows experience. As such Mac users can suck it. You want Windows? Use a real PC instead of a fruit.
I could only image the reactions that would cause. *chuckles* Prolifers would probably be calmer during a rally then the resulting chaos. Hehe.
I give Apple's iTunes for Windows official seal of approval. Mr Jobs, will you come here please? I have my branding iron ready.
That's all very nice, but when am I going to be allowed to run OS X on my PC without Apple calling me a criminal? Come on, share the love Apple!
on a PC with more than one o/s installed you just pic the one you want to use when you turn on the PC ... isn't the Mac that easy?
Never looked at bootcamp because Macs are overpriced and underpowered ... the Mac o/s dock interface is wierd but i'm sure if i used it it would be fine.
If Windows 7 isn't running right it's becasue Apple has done something funky ... Apple uses standard PC parts in their machines ... not magic baby unicorn tear infused ones like they tell people. Their software is causing any problem people having ... not the PC parts.
Make it easy Apple ... i thought that was the point of your platform. A lot of people HAVE to run Windows sometime.
Windows 7 with Live stuff is a really good ecosphere to compute in. I could totally see myself using the new iMac 27" if it ran Windows 7 good.
It's pretty pathetic that Apple has to self certify their systems as "Windows Compatible". You won't ever see their hardware carrying a genuine Microsoft "Windows Compatible" sticker. For that to happen you would need to be able to install Windows on a separate partition and run it natively without resorting to crap like boot camp and all the bugs and quirkiness that come with running it Apples convoluted way. I guess Apples afraid of the idea of dual boot Macs that can run Windows natively... and they should be because it'll become the primary OS everyone uses. If that happens they won't be able to justify their overpriced hardware anymore.
So this is what Apple douchbag Phil Schiller meant when he said Windows 7 will be a great opportunity for Apple to increase its market share. Yeah, just as soon as they iron out the bugs that prevent Apples from running it! LOL
MS should do something to make windows inoperable on a mac, kinda like apple does to the palm pre to keep itunes from working.
No can do, a bunch of smug EU Apple toting eurotrash lawyers would sue them for anticompetitive monopolistic behavior...
the windows 7 desktop looks so much better than the mac os desktop.. not to mention the w7 one works better as well
Apple people keep saying that OSX is the best os out there.
Then why do they always want to "degrade" themselves by putting the "inferior" os Win7 on their Mac?
They seem to want to keep Windows at a high ranking of the os list everytime that the purchase, how many really do that?, and install it.
MAXIMUM COMPATIBILITY!
Windows 7 in bootcamp config runs better and faster on my MacBook Pro than native OSX. Have not had a single issue in 6 months.
you guys don't know the truth. windows xp and vista currently arent even fully supported by boot camp at the moment on 2009 unibody macbook pros. Apple released a half-assed cirrus audio driver for windows which lowers the volume dramatically and makes the microphone unusable. I'd be suprised if apple actually updates the drivers. This has been an issue since the june launch.
So cirrus audio won't run and its a wash?