MacPro for Vista = insanity?

chaoticz · 6th July 2008, 11:28 PM

A friend of mine was really interested in my idea of getting MacPro. Now he's planning to do the same BUT.. he wants to run Vista on that machine. As I understood he doesn't want to use OSX at all. Then why the heck Mac? I've asked. It's quiet and powerful. Is he insane?

+++ · 6th July 2008, 11:34 PM

He's probably ignorant. It would be a foolish mistake for a DAW. Help him!

dannygold · 6th July 2008, 11:57 PM

I think he's a closeted mac lover. He's mac-curious.

Autotune Prophet · 7th July 2008, 12:11 AM

It doesn't sound THAT insane to me...

I've got a Macbook (not the Pro version...) and installed Windows XP (Bootcamp) on it. I run both XP and OSX.

Now, believe it or not:

I've never had a more stable Windows than I have now on my Macbook... and I have quite a history as far as Windows pcs are concerned (Windows 3.11, 95, 98, ME, XP... screw vista).

I can only recommend to your friend a mac... if money is not an issue. Even if he only plans to run Windows on it. Macbooks are just as stable as it can get. I love mine, although I wish it was a little bit more powerful. Core 2 Duo 2,16ghz is just not enough for me anymore.

But, for DAW applications, wether it's a PC or a Mac, I would advise him to stay as far away from Vista as possible.

BLUElightCory · 7th July 2008, 12:20 AM

I don't understand it either.

OSX is an amazing operating system with an EASY learning curve. Vista makes me want to throw the computer out of a f***ing window.

Tell him to get the Mac Pro and spend a week learning OSX; I'm sure he won't go back.

steveESM · 7th July 2008, 01:04 AM

As far as I know the bootcamp drivers don't work with Vista. If I'm wrong then someone please correct me.

clonewar · 7th July 2008, 01:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by steveESM

As far as I know the bootcamp drivers don't work with Vista. If I'm wrong then someone please correct me.

Bootcamp has official support for Vista. So.... you're wrong.

borg64 · 7th July 2008, 02:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by clonewar

Bootcamp has official support for Vista. So.... you're wrong.

32-bit version only, I think. But with a MacBook (Pro) you won't be going past 4GB RAM anyhoo. Yet.

andsonic · 7th July 2008, 02:49 AM

We're running an 8 core MacPro with Windows XP. It's definitely a very stable PC. Since my DAW just came out with a version that supports 8 cores, I've been in heaven.

As far as the money thing goes, have you priced an HP workstation with the same specs? It ain't cheap. We're a dual OS shop, we saved money by not having to buy a 2nd computer.

DivineMusic · 7th July 2008, 03:03 AM

its not crazy, insane, ignorant or anything dumb for that matter
why does he want to buy the mac?
great hardware, silent, powerful and best of both world...
right now he doesnt care for the osx side.. ok cool.. he'll find software that he does like on the osx side and use both...

vista doesnt run to bad on macpro's. but still as an os its eats up ram for no reason.
but you can have a vista system with more than 4 gig vs an xp system, though i havent found a reason for 4gig of ram if not doing digital animation... no need dealing with music...

a pc with 8 cores cost a lot more than 2800 of the macpro too.. so its a no brainer

tekn0 · 7th July 2008, 03:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DivineMusic

though i havent found a reason for 4gig of ram if not doing digital animation... no need dealing with music...

that must be a nice feeling, as i run out of ram in every single session i do in pre production... never fails, with bfd2 at realistic velocity layers, kontakt2 with 6+ velocity layered pianos and string sections, guitar rig3's and waves gtr all over the place, samplers and synths, that ram gets used very fast for me, and the worst part about it is that windows XP on Bootcamp (how i run it now) or on other pc hardware pro tools 7.4 still does not access the page file correctly and keeps all the data in ram instead of dumping it into virtual memory. and the worst part about it is that as soon as that threshold is reached the entire session becomes unstable and access violations/ crashes happen, so we are all stuck with only 1.5gb of ram in pro tools on windows XP untill 64bit os's unless digidesign realizes that pro tools is coded with low memory support as there is a switch used in compiling to allow more memory to be used per application in windows, funny how every build and cs update it seems digi forgets to flip it..

DivineMusic · 7th July 2008, 03:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tekn0

that must be a nice feeling, as i run out of ram in every single session i do in pre production... never fails, with bfd2 at realistic velocity layers, kontakt2 with 6+ velocity layered pianos and string sections, guitar rig3's and waves gtr all over the place, samplers and synths, that ram gets used very fast for me, and the worst part about it is that windows XP on Bootcamp (how i run it now) or on other pc hardware pro tools 7.4 still does not access the page file correctly and keeps all the data in ram instead of dumping it into virtual memory. and the worst part about it is that as soon as that threshold is reached the entire session becomes unstable and access violations/ crashes happen, so we are all stuck with only 1.5gb of ram in pro tools on windows XP untill 64bit os's....

thats a pro tools issue...
pro tools eats up ram for no reason.

everything you just listed i do on a rather often too and i've never ran out of ram even back when i had 2 gig.. i have 4 gig in my laptop and 4 gig in both my daws.. no issues whats so ever
i had a session in pt that wasnt even fully mixed. not automation and 42 tracks.. it was taking over 700mb of ram...
yet a 64ch mix with automation and a bunch of different plugins in nuendo 4 only took 350-400mb...

ETM Dude · 7th July 2008, 03:49 AM

Good luck with the driver's and other BS. Some people like to make life difficult for themselves, i'll never understand it. Whatever floats your boat

andsonic · 7th July 2008, 05:48 AM

Quote:

Good luck with the driver's and other BS. Some people like to make life difficult for themselves, i'll never understand it. Whatever floats your boat

I don't know about Vista. But XP is very stable. No issues with drivers, etc. I just have a very powerful PC. Or I can reboot and open my client's Logic files. no worries

chaoticz · 7th July 2008, 09:01 AM

I've tried to talk to him. He just doesn't want to give up on some programs which are win only. Some beloved vst's or something.

DivineMusic · 7th July 2008, 09:42 AM

nothing wrong with that and vice versa.
i have things that i like on the windows side, i have things that i really like on the mac side like logic and final cut

Altitude909 · 7th July 2008, 12:42 PM

Check the processor support for Vista. The way it worked with XP was that only pro supported 2 physical processors. If the same thing applies for vista, than only pro will see both xeons.

andsonic · 7th July 2008, 06:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Altitude909

Check the processor support for Vista. The way it worked with XP was that only pro supported 2 physical processors. If the same thing applies for vista, than only pro will see both xeons.

I have a buddy with the exact same machine as I have, except he put XP Home on it. Windows XP Home only sees one quadcore. I loaded our MacPro with Windows XP Pro. It sees both quadcores. I would hope that Vista would be the same.

In any case, I would check with your DAW's technical support. In my case, it is not recomended to run our DAW on Vista yet. It will run, just not as well as XP.

I set up my sister-in-law's laptop last week. It has 3 gigs of RAM and Vista Home Premium. With it just sitting there, without any programs running, new out of the box, the OS was using 1.5 gigs of RAM.

This would not be acceptable in a production environment.

JPeters86 · 7th July 2008, 08:43 PM

Boot Camp is known for its stability. The MacBook Pro was even awarded with the 'most stable Windows computer' in 2006 or 2007 if I remember correctly. It his however (in my opinion) an inferior OS and it's blasphemy to use it as the only OS on a Mac.

DivineMusic · 8th July 2008, 10:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by andsonic

I have a buddy with the exact same machine as I have, except he put XP Home on it. Windows XP Home only sees one quadcore. I loaded our MacPro with Windows XP Pro. It sees both quadcores. I would hope that Vista would be the same.

In any case, I would check with your DAW's technical support. In my case, it is not recomended to run our DAW on Vista yet. It will run, just not as well as XP.

I set up my sister-in-law's laptop last week. It has 3 gigs of RAM and Vista Home Premium. With it just sitting there, without any programs running, new out of the box, the OS was using 1.5 gigs of RAM.

This would not be acceptable in a production environment.

my vista laptop(HP) too has 3gigs of ram in it with vista premium on it. i just made a lot of things stop loading on startup but still im only sitting at 470 mb of memory being used at this point online with avant brower and encoding an avi into a dvd...
dont know why her laptop is taking 1.5 gigs worth of memory..

TBlizz · 9th July 2008, 09:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chaoticz

I've tried to talk to him. He just doesn't want to give up on some programs which are win only. Some beloved vst's or something.

SM Pro Audio V-Machines Stand Alone VST-Players should be available in September this year. I'm hoping I can finally use the PC-only OtiumFX VST plug-ins with my Mac.

BTW, typing this in Windows XP on my MacBook; I love BootCamp

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6th July 2008, 11:28 PM	#1
chaoticz Gear Head Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 56	MacPro for Vista = insanity? A friend of mine was really interested in my idea of getting MacPro. Now he's planning to do the same BUT.. he wants to run Vista on that machine. As I understood he doesn't want to use OSX at all. Then why the heck Mac? I've asked. It's quiet and powerful. Is he insane?

6th July 2008, 11:57 PM	#3
dannygold Lives for gear Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 824	I think he's a closeted mac lover. He's mac-curious. __________________ Danny Gold www.myspace.com/polystarmusic

7th July 2008, 12:11 AM	#4
Autotune Prophet Gear maniac Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 182	It doesn't sound THAT insane to me... I've got a Macbook (not the Pro version...) and installed Windows XP (Bootcamp) on it. I run both XP and OSX. Now, believe it or not: I've never had a more stable Windows than I have now on my Macbook... and I have quite a history as far as Windows pcs are concerned (Windows 3.11, 95, 98, ME, XP... screw vista). I can only recommend to your friend a mac... if money is not an issue. Even if he only plans to run Windows on it. Macbooks are just as stable as it can get. I love mine, although I wish it was a little bit more powerful. Core 2 Duo 2,16ghz is just not enough for me anymore. But, for DAW applications, wether it's a PC or a Mac, I would advise him to stay as far away from Vista as possible. __________________ "When I'm doing more indie tracks, I use a mic with less fidelity to match the musical production value..." "As a professional I think "man thats a dumb a** question" but then I realize hey if everyone was like me then the competition would be nuts. lol.. Jk."

7th July 2008, 12:20 AM	#5
BLUElightCory Lives for gear Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 571	I don't understand it either. OSX is an amazing operating system with an EASY learning curve. Vista makes me want to throw the computer out of a f***ing window. Tell him to get the Mac Pro and spend a week learning OSX; I'm sure he won't go back. __________________ Cory Spotts / BLUElight Audio\|Media bluelightaudio@cox.net http://www.myspace.com/bluelightaudiomedia

6th July 2008, 11:34 PM	#2
+++ Gear Head Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 35	He's probably ignorant. It would be a foolish mistake for a DAW. Help him!

7th July 2008, 01:04 AM	#6
steveESM Gear interested Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 1	As far as I know the bootcamp drivers don't work with Vista. If I'm wrong then someone please correct me.

7th July 2008, 02:49 AM	#9
andsonic Gear addict Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Greater San Francisco Posts: 452	We're running an 8 core MacPro with Windows XP. It's definitely a very stable PC. Since my DAW just came out with a version that supports 8 cores, I've been in heaven. As far as the money thing goes, have you priced an HP workstation with the same specs? It ain't cheap. We're a dual OS shop, we saved money by not having to buy a 2nd computer. __________________ J Andrews Studio E Northern California

7th July 2008, 03:03 AM	#10
DivineMusic Lives for gear Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Hotlanta Posts: 1,437	its not crazy, insane, ignorant or anything dumb for that matter why does he want to buy the mac? great hardware, silent, powerful and best of both world... right now he doesnt care for the osx side.. ok cool.. he'll find software that he does like on the osx side and use both... vista doesnt run to bad on macpro's. but still as an os its eats up ram for no reason. but you can have a vista system with more than 4 gig vs an xp system, though i havent found a reason for 4gig of ram if not doing digital animation... no need dealing with music... a pc with 8 cores cost a lot more than 2800 of the macpro too.. so its a no brainer __________________ DivineMusic 2-23-07 ppl wanna praise protools like its the best thing since pu$$y

7th July 2008, 03:49 AM	#13
ETM Dude Gear maniac Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 201	Good luck with the driver's and other BS. Some people like to make life difficult for themselves, i'll never understand it. Whatever floats your boat

7th July 2008, 09:01 AM	#15
chaoticz Gear Head Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 56	I've tried to talk to him. He just doesn't want to give up on some programs which are win only. Some beloved vst's or something.

7th July 2008, 09:42 AM	#16
DivineMusic Lives for gear Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Hotlanta Posts: 1,437	nothing wrong with that and vice versa. i have things that i like on the windows side, i have things that i really like on the mac side like logic and final cut __________________ DivineMusic 2-23-07 ppl wanna praise protools like its the best thing since pu$$y

7th July 2008, 12:42 PM	#17
Altitude909 Gear maniac Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Michigan Posts: 239	Check the processor support for Vista. The way it worked with XP was that only pro supported 2 physical processors. If the same thing applies for vista, than only pro will see both xeons.

7th July 2008, 08:43 PM	#19
JPeters86 Lives for gear Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Netherlands Posts: 707	Boot Camp is known for its stability. The MacBook Pro was even awarded with the 'most stable Windows computer' in 2006 or 2007 if I remember correctly. It his however (in my opinion) an inferior OS and it's blasphemy to use it as the only OS on a Mac. __________________ Best wishes, JPeters86

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