Questions about Macbook Pros and OSX

[Martin]

As part of my tuition, I'm getting a Macbook Pro with all of the software I need for school. This, and the fact that I have limited experience with OSX is the reason I have a few questions.

Does iTunes operate with fewer bugs on OSX than it does on Windows?

iTunes has been little but a pain in my ass ever since I got my iPod Nano for my 17th birthday. It's entire history with me is littered with bugs, hiccups, spontaneous deletion of my music files, and having to find annoying back-door approaches to tasks that would otherwise be extremely easy with any other music player.

Does Mac OSX have less functionality than Windows computers?

From what I've experienced, OSX does lack the customization of Windows. Is this just an illusion drawn by the fact that I'm not experienced with OSX and thus am not able to fully utilize its features, or will this be a concern for me? I'm excluding the fact that many of my programs will not run in OSX. For that problem, I'll be using Bootcamp. Speaking of...

Will I be able to play games in Bootcamp well?

Will I be able to run decently graphics-intensive games with a brand new, high-end Macbook Pro, or is this a distant, unattainable dream?

I think those are the only questions I have for now. If any else come up, I'll post them in an edit.

[Daddy]

I've never had any of those iTunes issues on Windows, it's less slow on OS X though.

I'd say it has more functionality as its command line uses Bash (also zsh, or a few others if you set the shell to use those) which I find to be much more usable than Command Prompt

You should be able to play several of those games from Steam without even using Boot Camp. Most games should work on Boot Camp though, unless they are using like a 1GB graphics card which is retarded to expect to work on a laptop.

[Martin]

Most games should work on Boot Camp though, unless they are using like a 1GB graphics card which is retarded to expect to work on a laptop.

I'm confused. Why won't a 1GB GPU work on a laptop?

Also, many of the games I have are not playable on Steam or OSX at all.

Oh yeah, and here's the Macbook I'm getting

http://www.fullsail.edu/degrees/recording-arts-bachelors/launch-box

[strongbad]

I'm confused. Why won't a 1GB GPU work on a laptop?

Also, many of the games I have are not playable on Steam or OSX at all.

Oh yeah, and here's the Macbook I'm getting

http://www.fullsail.edu/degrees/recording-arts-bachelors/launch-box

Oh damn I was expecting a low end 13", not the 15" with the i7. You are a lucky man. But yeah I think you'll be fine gaming wise.

[Daddy]

I'm confused. Why won't a 1GB GPU work on a laptop?

Also, many of the games I have are not playable on Steam or OSX at all.

Oh yeah, and here's the Macbook I'm getting

http://www.fullsail.edu/degrees/recording-arts-bachelors/launch-box

I meant games that require those.

GPUs, especially of that power generate a lot of heat and will fry your motherboard easily on most laptops. 512mb like in the one you linked to is more than enough though.

But honestly, unless you want to kill most laptops I wouldn't really suggest doing heavy gaming on them. The GPUs on laptops can handle games but they are more apt for rendering graphics in terms of design where the heat isn't a constant and just a few minutes at a time.  The macbook will handle the heat better than most other laptops since its design uses the aluminum body to disperse the heat but it's going to get hot.

[Martin]

I meant games that require those.

GPUs, especially of that power generate a lot of heat and will fry your motherboard easily on most laptops. 512mb like in the one you linked to is more than enough though.

But honestly, unless you want to kill most laptops I wouldn't really suggest doing heavy gaming on them. The GPUs on laptops can handle games but they are more apt for rendering graphics in terms of design where the heat isn't a constant and just a few minutes at a time.  The macbook will handle the heat better than most other laptops since its design uses the aluminum body to disperse the heat but it's going to get hot.

Well, this will be my only computer and, frankly, I want to play some games on it.

[Daddy]

Well, getting something other than a Mac won't solve that issue.

Though, as long as you don't spend long hours at a time without giving it time to cool down, most games should be fine. I just wouldn't expect Crysis to work

** Supported chipsets: NVIDIA GeForce 6800 GT or greater; ATI Radeon 9800 Pro (Radeon X800 Pro for Vista) or greater. Laptop versions of these chipsets may work but are not supported. Integrated chipsets are not supported. Updates to your video and sound card drivers may be required.

This will be the case with most games because developers, and most people, realize laptops provide ample cooling for a graphics card (really, compare the space of a laptop to the large amounts of open space in a desktop).


It has 512MB on the graphics card though so it will be able to handle the games. Past that you're risking screwing up any laptop if you plan to do extended gaming on it.



Trust me on this. I've replaced many motherboards and hard drives at work and a lot of the failures have been from an inability for the fan and heatsink to cool the components fast enough--and that's without a piping hot graphics card in the machine.

[Martin]

Well, getting something other than a Mac won't solve that issue.

Though, as long as you don't spend long hours at a time without giving it time to cool down, most games should be fine. I just wouldn't expect Crysis to work

This will be the case with most games because developers, and most people, realize laptops provide ample cooling for a graphics card (really, compare the space of a laptop to the large amounts of open space in a desktop).


It has 512MB on the graphics card though so it will be able to handle the games. Past that you're risking screwing up any laptop if you plan to do extended gaming on it.



Trust me on this. I've replaced many motherboards and hard drives at work and a lot of the failures have been from an inability for the fan and heatsink to cool the components fast enough--and that's without a piping hot graphics card in the machine.

I'll take your word for it. I won't be gaming on it much, and won't be using for too extended a period of time.

Thanks, JMV

[Daddy]

No problem.

I have a 128MB integrated graphics chip and I can handle Portal and TF2 fine. The latter makes things a bit warm for my liking, but it hasn't topped what Flash does to my Mac

My advice though is:

a.)Like you already said, don't do extended gaming. 3 hours tops then take a break to let it cool down
b.)Install something like SMCFanControl and set the fans to 6000RPM  when the temperature is already low to keep it cooler longer and keep it that cool, instead of waiting for them to jump up that high when the machine is already scorching.
c.)Make sure it's on a flat surface where the back area isn't blocked.

Those 3 things (along with the fact that the mac is made entirely out of metal) should greatly reduce the likelihood that you will fry components.

[snorkel]

iTunes works better on OS X than Windows, mine crashes occasionally (always itunes store or iphone syncing) but it's also a few updates old.

I find that every time I sit down at a Windows machine and try to accomplish my server-cluster-administration workflow, it's significantly marred by Windows' usability (os x has superior window management) and compatibility/software (windows apps are pretty much all awful compared to *nix-based options, most of which will work with OS X).

You'll be able to play the vast majority of games, jmv is quite right about overheating though. definitely get fan software and watch the temps. bootcamp should work pretty flawlessly and run Windows better than most PCs.