Ted On Flash: MacBook Pro running XP Pro and Flex Builder 2

MacBook Pro running XP Pro and Flex Builder 2

DIGG IT! 13 Comments Published Tuesday, April 18, 2006 at 6:00 AM .

Over the past month my laptop was showing its age. With an unsolvable glitch in the video card I bought a new machine. I bought an Apple MacBook Pro 2.16 Core Duo with 2GB RAM. Simply put it is one the fastest laptops I have ever owned. It is awesome.

Apple did a killer job with Bootcamp. The drive partitioning, os installation, driver installation are much better than any windows OEM even in Beta format. Windows XP is unbelievably fast on this machine and 2GB of RAM makes compilation on Flex 2 Beta2 much faster.

Here is what I like the most:

1. Long Battery Life - 3hours per battery running XP. Dim the display a bit for longer battery life. I flew from San Francisco to Washington DC on Sunday and with 2 batteries used the machine for 5 straight hours.

2. Fast - Core Duo is for real and it has a profound affect on machine performance. All of my applications are faster and run without any performance limitations.

3. BootCamp - When you start the machine, just press "Option" to select a boot OS. Otherwise the machine will automatically boot into the last one used. Its seamless, easy, and stays out of the way.

4. Hardware - The details on the MacBook are really great, from backlit keyboard to the power meter on the battery, its slick. Its also light as a feather even sporting 2 batteries for travel.

5. Video Card - The card in this laptop is really great. At the Apple store, I had them power a 30" display and it worked at 2600 resolution in addition to the laptop screen.

Problems:

1. No Backspace Key - On the MacBook Pro 'delete' is backspace but there is no key that maps to 'DEL' System key. On MacTel XP CTRL+ALT+DELETE does nothing. I have got to find a workaround for this.

2. 'fn' and 'ctrl' keys have swapped positions. I need to flip these somehow.

3. Bootcamp does not support XP hibernate yet.

4. Bootcamp does not support the camera yet. This is just a driver change.

5. Heat - There is one area of the machine that gets very hot. I need to get a usb powered laptop cooler for it.

All around if your looking to buy a laptop, take a look at the MacBook Pro units. They are expensive but they are worth every penny. I use my laptop every single day and considering that 100% of my earnings emanate from its use, having something killer makes a world of difference.

Now this may disappoint some Mac users but my partitioning says allot:

15GB OSX
98GB WIN XP Pro

I will be playing with OSX and when the apps I use regularly arrive, I will switch.

Considering my experience thus far in buying an Apple, I am going to purchase some Apple shares as well.

Cheers,

Ted :)

13 Responses to “ MacBook Pro running XP Pro and Flex Builder 2 ”

# Jan Gorman April 18, 2006 7:10 AM

Hi Ted,

I also got my MacBook recently and I can only confirm how awesome this machine is.

Two things: You can set the startvolume in your OsX Preferences Pane so that it defaults into OsX or Windows and you're not always forced to press the option key when booting.

To the Ctrl+Alt+Del problem: Read this and download the program that is linked there: http://www.mac-kenzie.net/blog/2006/04/06/
# aSH April 18, 2006 7:20 AM

Ok, I'm going to buy one. :p
Really.
# Anonymous April 18, 2006 7:34 AM

Hi,

I'm going crazy waiting for my Macbook Pro, I order it last week but since I ordered a refurb 23 in. display too, Apple told me that is what causing the hold up. I have to boot in to windows too for my work, but once I get my db translated over to MYSQL, I no longer need to boot to windows as much.

Thanks
# Mark Drew April 18, 2006 8:04 AM

I have to say that I have had my MBP (2Ghz/2Gb) for a couple of months now and it IS dammed awesome. Although I am still waiting for proper bags for it so that I can cover my little puppy up. I have never used laptops as good as these. And you CAN quote me on that.

MD
# Dave Carabetta April 18, 2006 11:18 AM

The one question I have about the MBPs in general... Is it really because it's a Mac that it's so awesome or because it's a dual core machine? I've heard nothing but great things about the MBPs, but it's the *same* processor that the new Dell D620 and D820 notebooks are using. I *really* and tempted by the Macs, but the price difference (about $600) is just a bit too rich for me. Though I am still waiting just in case there's a price change!
# pbaird April 19, 2006 6:17 AM

Also, on the delete key, the delete key is actually there on all mac laptops (as opposed to backspace)... it just requires the fn key to be pressed. That is, "delete" = "backspace", "fn" + "delete" = "delete". On a full apple keyboard both keys are there, just not on a laptop. However, I don't know what good that'll do you for ctrl-alt-delete.
# Valters Boze April 20, 2006 4:48 PM

Well I havent used MacBook, but i can tell you for sure, I never use ctrl+alt+delete to get processes. The best usage (i guess its a duplicate) is Ctrl+Shift+ESC ! Its so simple, you can do it by your left hand. Maybe i`m missing something?
# idiot April 25, 2006 3:11 PM

I envy you! It seems that the machine is really good! I am contemplating between a macbook pro or a thinkpad t60p...... maybe I would go for the mac.

by the way, the 17' is just out!
# ilya devers April 25, 2006 10:15 PM

No delete key: use FN+Backspace

no program needed, always works.

Absolute requirement for excell work :)
# Anonymous April 26, 2006 8:54 AM

I switched about 6 months ago after Iswore I never would touch a mac ... damn was I wrong! It took me while to get used to it but I will never look back and the apps for mac are insane
# Anonymous April 28, 2006 8:40 PM

ctrl+shift+esc is the same as ctrl+alt+del in Windows.
# anthony October 2, 2006 6:04 AM

hi ted,

i just got my hands on a MBP like yourself and first i must say i'm blown away once again by apple. i've been a mac fan forever but have only been owning them since os x. i've been concerned of one thing alone. heat. i was wondering if you have found any "laptop coolers" that are any good. i've found a couple:

http://www.coolermaster.com/index.php?LT=english&Language_s=2&url_place=product&p_serial=R9-NBC-ADAS%20/%20ADAK&other_title=R9-NBC-ADAS%20%2F%20ADAKNotePal

this one looks most promising in regards to performance, but it renders the entire front panel useless. forcing you to have to lift the front up every time you wanted to load/unload a disc, not to mention that the remote control sensor is blocked.

http://www.usbgeek.com/prod_detail.php?prod_id=0407

this one has slight promise in regards to design, but also appears to be built with plastic mostly. i haven't seen anything in person, so it's hard to say.

have you done anything to address the heat issues? i'm curious of anyone else's thoughts on the topic are. custom builds? i'd like to do a custom "base" myself if i can find a way to power 3 or 4 small, efficient, and quiet fans via a usb cable.

lastly, let me say that i appreciate the work you do. i'm a flash developer of about 8 years and in the last 6 months have been diving into flex head first. so thanks for the great framework. also, i was wondering if you could devulge any information on a release date for flex builder on os x? and beyond that, will it be a universal binary? i would hope so. :) if you have the time (i understand if you don't) email me your thoughts on the heat issue. (anthony.greco@gmail.com)
# Glen May 12, 2007 11:39 AM

To get Ctrl+Alt+Del using the MacBook keyboard you must hold the Fn key as well. That is Fn+Ctrl+Alt+Del.

One annoyance I have is with the number keypad on the USB Apple keyboard. when I have the "num lock" set it confuses the ,uiop, ,jkl, etc. keys on the USB keyboard. These are the keys that correspond with the "soft" numberpad keys on the Macbook keyboard. Does anyone have a workaround for this?

Thanks,
Glen