Installing Windows on BootCamp on Mac

[Martinus]

I'm thinking of getting Windows installed on Bootcamp on my iMac to be able to play CK2.

Now, has anyone here ever done so? What kind of Windows installation files do I have to have? How does it work? I'm thinking of buying the download version from the MS store but I am anxious about paying $200 if that turns out not to work in the end for some reason.

So any advice would be appreciated.

[Martinus]

Actually, nvm, I just read the CK2 FAQ and it seems there is a plan to release a Mac version in relatively short future.

[Barrister]

I've done it.  If you have questions in the future feel free to ask.

Be aware that the "relatively short future" is probably 6-12 months.

[Martinus]

Ok, so I have some questions after all.

1. Can OEM version be installed on it or do I need a box version?
2. How long does the process take in total?
3. Do I need to have anything else ready beyond the Windows install disk? E.g. I was playing around with the Bootcamp app and there was some mention of USB disk and whatnot. What's that all about?
4. I assume this will work on a Mac that already has Mac OS installed (i.e. no partition done on the formatted clean disk), right?

[Barrister]

Ok, so I have some questions after all.

1. Can OEM version be installed on it or do I need a box version?
2. How long does the process take in total?
3. Do I need to have anything else ready beyond the Windows install disk? E.g. I was playing around with the Bootcamp app and there was some mention of USB disk and whatnot. What's that all about?
4. I assume this will work on a Mac that already has Mac OS installed (i.e. no partition done on the formatted clean disk), right?

1. Yes, I've used the OEM version.
2. 30-60 minutes I think.
3. You need the bootcamp files on either a burned CD, or on a USB.
4. That's what it is designed for.

Now at this point I feel honour bound to point out that I have a problem.

I have a Mac Pro with 4 disk drives.  I had an earlier partition with Win XP that worked just fine, but I wanted a larger HDD and to try Win 7.  So I went in to add a new hard drive with a third OS, but now I am locked out of my Mac OS X drive.  I need to just take it into an Apple store as I'm sure it's something pretty simple and connected to the fact I already had one Windows partition.

Edit: the Win 7 install works fabulously, and was in fact a great improvement from XP.

[Martinus]

Thanks. I'm installing right now.

[Barrister]

Since you're a gamer, I'm surprised it took you this long. 

[Martinus]

Downloading the demo. 50% left. Windows is an abomination.

[Martinus]

Btw, I don't know if this is because I just installed the "bare bones" version of Windows, with no additional bells and whistles (I mean, it still runs in the proper high resolution etc.) but compared to Mac OS, Windows 7 just looks so fucking ugly. It looks like a beta of something to me - everything from windows to icons to shortcuts looks so unpolished and unseemly.

Do you have the same observation? I was kinda hoping for Windows 7 to blow me away the same way Mac OS did when I first started to use it, but it just seems like the same old - a system by nerds for nerds with no aesthetic flaire whatsoever.

[Barrister]

Btw, I don't know if this is because I just installed the "bare bones" version of Windows, with no additional bells and whistles (I mean, it still runs in the proper high resolution etc.) but compared to Mac OS, Windows 7 just looks so fucking ugly. It looks like a beta of something to me - everything from windows to icons to shortcuts looks so unpolished and unseemly.

Do you have the same observation? I was kinda hoping for Windows 7 to blow me away the same way Mac OS did when I first started to use it, but it just seems like the same old - a system by nerds for nerds with no aesthetic flaire whatsoever.

What impressed me about Win 7 when I installed a couple months ago is it finally brought boot up speeds to be in the same ballpark as OS X (XP took several minutes to load).

[Martinus]

Yeah, that's correct. Although from what I read, Windows installed on a Mac's Bootcamp is considerably faster than Windows installed on an ordinary PC.

[Threviel]

Windows 7 on My 2007 iMac is fast as heck. Faster than I've observed on most win7 installations I've tried.

[grumbler]

I use both OS X and Win7 on a daily basis, and don't see a speed difference between them.  That's on a network, though, so maybe that makes a difference.

Don't use Win7 in a bootcamp setup, though; it'd be ironic if it was faster than OS X, if it is, indeed, much faster than Win7 without bootcamp! 

Definitely, both are a lot faster than XP, even on the same machine.

The aesthetics of Win7 don't come close to those of OS X - what you are seeing, Marti, is pretty much the way it is, unmodified.  You can gussy up Win 7 a bit, but it still won't come close to OS X.  But then, most of its target customers are heterosexual, so it doesn't make a lot of sense to spend money on the aesthetics! 

[DontSayBanana]

*shrugs* Different strokes for different folks.  I always preferred the aesthetics of Win7.  Of course, I'm not even using them- since I'm on a laptop, I decided to spare the poor RAM being eaten up by the IGP and Windows Aero by dropping it all the way back to the Win98-esque "Windows Classic" theme.