Thread: Lets say I get a macbook pro..

XP, Vista will have a hard time playing your games. Vista runs very well on Macs (better than PCs says PC World,) but the operating system is buggy and uses DirectX 10, [most] games use either OpenGL or DirectX 9.

You might not need either version of Windows. With the Xcode developer tools, X11, and a few packages from Fink installed, Wine compiles out of the box on Mac OS X. Wine is a free and open source implementation of the Win32 API that lets you run a lot of Windows software without the need for Windows. You can check the AppDB to see which games work on Wine. I can help you compile the source code if you end up getting the MacBook Pro. The main advantages of the Wine route in your case are that you won't have to pay for Windows and that you won't have to reboot every time you want to run a Windows application or game.

I don't think you have to reboot to start up windows. Macs can run multiple OSs at the same time, it's called Parallels.

I didn't know Wine worked on OSX.

He was talking about Boot Camp, but you're right that virtualization software saves you from having to reboot. VirtualBox is probably just as good as Parallels, by the way, and it's free (both libre and gratis).

And yes, Wine runs fine on Intel Macs. If you aren't comfortable using the command-line to compile from source, there's also a commercial alternative called CrossOver.

Oh, I thought parallels came with the Mac (I wouldn't know, I have a PPC one)

Does Wine also emulate DirectX or use the GPU?

Yea i guess parallels could work well if i'm just using it to play games. I will have to check on what specific games i want to play before i make a decision. Thanks for the links guys.

Originally Posted by ninja9578

Does Wine also emulate DirectX or use the GPU?

Based on this screenshot that I just took, it appears to use the GPU.

Originally Posted by pyroguy305

Yea i guess parallels could work well if i'm just using it to play games. I will have to check on what specific games i want to play before i make a decision. Thanks for the links guys.

You're welcome. Just to make sure you're clear, Parallels is like Boot Camp in that you'll still need to buy Windows (in addition to paying $80 for Parallels). VirtualBox is similar but free (you'll still need to buy Windows). What I was suggesting is Wine, which does not require Windows at all. You'll need to lookup which programs run on it (after you've decided what games you need to play ), but I think it's your best option if those games do run on Wine.