Everything else equal, does windows on macbook air run worse than windows on laptop?

[ruthless29]

Essentially, does it still function the same or are you much worse off?

Also, can one upgrade an APPLE Macbook Air MC965ZP/A with more SSD space and more ram? Does this model support bootcamp?

Intel Core i5, 1.7GHz Dual-Core 4GB 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM 128GB SSD

[kwanyeung20]

i think the worst part is battery life will dramatically decrease when running Windows on Mac... not sure about performance...

[number8888]

Performance should be the same with a equivalent ultrabook with the same specs. You shouldn't compare to it to other laptops because the fundamental design is different.

Bootcamp should work on a MBA no problem. The experience might be slightly different since the keyboard layout is different (no Windows key for instance).

No you cannot upgrade memory of a MBA after purchase, but you can swap the SSD. However the SSD has to be compatible to the MBA as it takes a completely different form factor and interface than the regular SSD's you see in stores.

[jimmy-j]

this is where parallels comes in really handy

[Cas77]

this is where parallels comes in really handy

This. Unless you're a gamer..in which case MBA is not for you.

[gnuman]

You could also run Virtual Box for free instead of buying software or VMWare Fusion is out there but not free but it is an alternative to Vmware

[mgronqui]

You could also run Virtual Box for free instead of buying software or VMWare Fusion is out there but not free but it is an alternative to Vmware

Could you theoretically run Adobe CS programs on an Apple OS in Virtual Box and work from there? If so, what are the drawbacks?

[sexyj]

ram and cpu cycles are being used on both OS


Could you theoretically run Adobe CS programs on an Apple OS in Virtual Box and work from there? If so, what are the drawbacks?

[time space]

The Verge wrote an informative article (http://www.theverge.com/2012/2/10/2787484/macbook-air-with-windows-7-review-the-ultrabook-to-rule-them-all) on this topic a while back.

Here is their conclusion:


The MacBook Air is simply best in class when it comes to hardware. The build is outstanding, the touchpad works better with Microsoft’s operating system than any other laptop trackpad out there, and the display makes Windows look better than ever. All that combined with very snappy performance makes the Air more enjoyable to use than many of the other ultrabooks on the market, including the higher end $1,110 Asus Zenbook and the $1,200 Lenovo IdeaPad U300s.

However, there are some insurmountable issues that make the Air with Windows very hard to recommend over the Asus and Lenovo. The battery life is disappointing, especially when you can jump into OS X and get more juice out of the same cell, it’s hard to overlook that the keyboard was crafted for a different operating system, and the price — which is at least $1,500 — is significantly more than other ultrabooks. No matter how you break it down, it’s a lot of cash to lay out for some glaring compromises.

What is clear is that there is not yet a perfect ultrabook for Windows 7 users — one with the perfect balance of features and value. Obviously, Apple is never going to make that machine, but in many ways its hardware enables the best Windows experience right now, even if it hasn’t been tweaked for power efficiency and costs too much for the tradeoffs involved. It might be hard to recommend the Air with Windows over a competing ultrabook based on sheer expense and the reduced battery life, but what’s not hard is seeing exactly where PC makers have to focus their efforts if they ever want to give Windows users a machine that can match up with Apple.

[Beradon]

i think the worst part is battery life will dramatically decrease when running Windows on Mac... not sure about performance...Not only that but Apple's latest OS(Mountain Lion) has had issues rapidly depleting battery run times. Stick with using a PC notebook using Win7 or any Linux distro.

[Mulder and Scully]

I wish your lazy bum would search before starting topics like this. Your question has been answered numerous times before specifically on RFD, specifically in the Computers & Electronics section and specifically by me.


Essentially, does it still function the same or are you much worse off?

Also, can one upgrade an APPLE Macbook Air MC965ZP/A with more SSD space and more ram? Does this model support bootcamp?


It's the same.

You can only upgrade at The Apple Store when you place the order. There's no post-purchase upgrading because most components are soldered together.


i think the worst part is battery life will dramatically decrease when running Windows on Mac... not sure about performance...

I get 6 hours of battery life in Boot Camp on my 2012 MacBook Air 13. This is general web surfing and using random applications. Playing games decreases my battery life to 3-4 hours max. My battery life is better than Engadget's tests and review but I've consistently been getting almost exactly 6 hours (not 5:45 and not 6:15).

Performance in Windows is the same as any other laptop with Windows. Actually, the MacBook Air even in Boot Camp has higher performance benchmarks (PCMarkVantage 13,469, 3DMark06 5,827 vs the Samsung Series 9 which gets PCMarkVantage 8,624 and 3DMark06 5,155) than any other similar-spec 2011 to 2012 laptop at the moment. You can Google this yourself.


Bootcamp should work on a MBA no problem. The experience might be slightly different since the keyboard layout is different (no Windows key for instance).


The "Command" key functions as the Windows key. You can also PrtScn, ScrLk and use other Windows keyboard functions as on the MacBook Air keyboard they're mapped differently. You can remap the keys to whatever you want after installing the latest drivers (via Windows Update).


Could you theoretically run Adobe CS programs on an Apple OS in Virtual Box and work from there? If so, what are the drawbacks?

Yes, but this is a waste of processor and memory resources. Though on any laptop with an i5 or faster and 8GB RAM or more wouldn't be a problem. It would be silly to not just get the native OS version though.