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macbookprowindows7closeup.jpg

Here we are sitting in the PC Magazine Labs, and it occurs to us: We've got a shiny new Macbook Pro and an early build of Windows 7 on disc, so why not attempt to use one to run the other?

Check out photos, video, and a run down of the process, after the jump.



windows7discmacbook.jpg

Using Bootcamp, we did a clean install of the new OS over Vista, which was already running on the system. We couldn't just upgrade because the Macbook wasn't running SP1.

windows7macbookinstallscreen.jpg

It should be noted, of course, that this build (6801) still looks an awful lot like Vista. Far from being a final version of the operating system, Build 6801 is simply built on top of Vista.

windows7macbookbuild.jpg

All in all, the installation process went fairly smoothly. The computer restarted itself a few times (unfortunately, we had the system configured to start up to OS X, so we had to manually switch back to finish the process).

windows7macbooksettings.jpg

After installation, we installed the drivers via the Apple OS X startup disc, hoping that Windows 7 might have an easier time communicating with the hardware.

windows7macbookpaint.jpg

The disc didn't do much, sadly. The system was unable to get online, and various other Windows 7 features, such as the mouseover preview, were disabled.

windows7macbookwidgets.jpg

Windows 7 still retained some of its key functionality, however: The new Paint and Wordpad were intact. We could "toss" windows to the top of the screen. The translucent glass windows were there, as well.

We were hoping that we might be able to take advantage of some of that touchscreen functionality via the MacBook's new multi-touch trackpad, but that too, sadly, wasn't working the way we'd hoped.

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Content Recommendations from Evri
Posted by: brian
November 3, 2008 3:08 PM

Windows 7 seems to be really good...

http://www.livbit.com


Posted by: rhY
November 3, 2008 6:22 PM

I think the biggest advantage is that it erased Vista! :)


Posted by: Mike B.
November 3, 2008 6:37 PM

You have to drag the window until the MOUSE hits the side of the screen for it to snap...


Posted by: alan h
November 3, 2008 6:41 PM

Hah - nice experiment! I'm sure we'll see additional features as Windows 7 developes, especially in the form of compatibility with the hardware that a number of users will likely be running it on. ;)


Posted by: Dw
November 3, 2008 7:14 PM

i got all the drivers to work on the new macbook with win7. you just need to manually install the broadcom and nvidia chipset drivers.

w00t.


Posted by: James
November 3, 2008 7:18 PM

Great to know that you can upgrade the OS. If only you could upgrade the screen to matte...


Posted by: alex
November 3, 2008 8:09 PM

Can't wait for Windows 7!
http://www.yellol.net/
^^^
Check out some amazin freebies :)


Posted by: Antz
November 3, 2008 8:32 PM

If you wish to get it online and maybe graphics driver working you have to force them to be run under Vista RTM compatibility or force it to scan each hardware device not functioning in device manager according to location of drivers on the disk the manual hard way, lol.

I've tried this with similar problems within virtual box and solved them this way so it may get you online.


Posted by: Pete
November 3, 2008 10:18 PM

After watching lots of videos reviews and photos on the internet, I definitely want to try the new Windows 7.... on my Mac.... Aero glass disabled? Any solution to make it work?


Posted by: Jemuel Ong
November 3, 2008 10:41 PM

How does it react with the multi-touch gestures? If it does at all... Regardless, it erased Vista!!!



Posted by: Jack
November 3, 2008 11:43 PM

Wow, someone actually found a use for that expensive Macbook paperweight!


Posted by: Jon
November 4, 2008 1:38 AM

why would you wanna do that????

I'll be surprised when you're able to install Leopard on a PC. That will be the greatest day....

keep it up guys.


Posted by: Mike
November 4, 2008 2:01 AM

Windows is still windows. Microsoft can't come up with anything new anymore. best they did were windows and office. And yes Jack! Those who can afford to buy the MacBook Pro (which is not expensive compare to the shitty dells and HPs), know how to use it too. Windows actually can't run the new nvidia 9600+9400 the way OSX does so it over heats but that's nothing to blame Apple for.


Posted by: Cronkite
November 4, 2008 3:09 AM

Ooh, Windows 7.
It looks so deliciously fugly.
Mind you, so does the new MBP.


Posted by: Paul Addison
November 4, 2008 4:27 AM

Windows 7 ..... OSX, only 3 more itterations and they
got there :-
OSX 10.1


Posted by: Alikka
November 4, 2008 4:47 AM

That guy on Youtube looks like Mr. Jobs!


Posted by: Channel Sales
November 4, 2008 5:12 AM

Thit is fantastic news! I am sure the issues you have encountered will be fixed in the final build so soon we can have the best of both worlds; excellent hardware and the best operating system!

http://channelsales.wordpress.com


Posted by: James
November 4, 2008 5:57 AM

@ Jon

People have been installing Leopard on non-Apple machines ever since they switched to Intel. Nothing new there at all


Posted by: ryan25012003@hotmail.com
November 4, 2008 6:01 AM

Hi!! I didnt get a copy of the Windows 7 pre-beta. Could you turn it to .iso and send it to my e-mail? If you can, thanks a lot!!!


Posted by: Tom
November 4, 2008 8:17 AM

I wrote about getting Windows 7 build 6801 running on the MacBook - I had a much better experience than you it would seem.

Here's my write-up:

http://techblog.tomfanning.eu/2008/11/windows-7-on-apple-macbook.html

I seem to remember there being multi-touch support in the Boot Camp 2.1 drivers, shame I don't have a multi-touch capable trackpad to try that out on.


Posted by: crackedheader
November 4, 2008 8:04 PM

ALL your windblows versions are belong to us. Todays, yesterdays, and everydays in the future too!

Funny how a mac can run windblows better than most peecees......

seems as though the windblows crowd has been pwned by Apple, aGaIn!!!!!


Posted by: mike
November 4, 2008 10:56 PM

I find it amusing w/ all the mac fanboys suddenly installing windows on their machines..... what's that gotta say?


Posted by: Macnuel
November 4, 2008 11:37 PM

Installed quickly and on using 2 gb of ram which i currently own 4gb and using two virtual processors. It is 100% better than vista. Good job Bill, windows users will get for what they actually pay for....hopefully


Posted by: jerski
November 5, 2008 2:19 PM

nice post.


Posted by: Edwin
November 6, 2008 5:25 PM

Windows 7 from the looks of it seems to be a success in the making.


Posted by: mackmgg
November 9, 2008 2:11 PM

ok i am trying to install it on my macbook pro santa rosa, and i cant get past the screen at the begining where it askes how to boot. the options are 1 and 2, but none of them are working because my keyboard doesnt work. ive tried the internal, an apple usb, and a dell usb.


Posted by: danjhoros
November 10, 2008 9:05 PM

I successfully upgraded my Vista to Windows 7 on my Macbook Pro (Late 2008) via Boot Camp but I only have one problem... I'm having a sound problem when playing mp3s, games and any application that uses sound. I'm thinking of doing a clean install but any help would be great. Thanks Guys!


Posted by: User
November 10, 2008 9:19 PM

Windows 7 Will Let Microsoft Track Your Every Move!
http://www.webmonkey.com/blog/Windows_7_Will_Let_Microsoft_Track_Your_Every_Move


Posted by: mackmgg
November 10, 2008 11:55 PM

ok i just got it working on my MacBook Pro santa rosa. everything works fine, but i had to change the registry to make Boot Camp think im running vista.


Posted by: James
November 12, 2008 3:19 AM

As mentioned above install the Nvida driver manually to get the Areo interface and boradcomm driver for wireless access.

I can't get sound though. Any one else with the same problem?

James


Posted by: Danjhoros
November 16, 2008 3:17 PM

@ James

Could you please give me the link for the Nvidia driver and the broadcomm? Please? Cause I did a clean install and the wireless connection didn't work... But my sound is fixed. Thanks in advance!


Posted by: Matt M.
November 17, 2008 10:58 PM

Haha I just installed windows 7 on my macbook. you need to get this software that unlocks the new app bar, its pretty legit :]


Posted by: bill
December 3, 2008 5:59 PM

I got it working in my macbook pro but with no sound (all drivers are ok but i cant hear anything).

Anyone solved this?


Posted by: Skare31
December 12, 2008 10:04 AM

Can sombody help me whit the sound problem?
A link to the driver?
Everything works fine, but I can`t use this if I dont got sound.....
Thanks


Posted by: Anar
December 13, 2008 7:14 PM

hi
i installed windows 7 and was one problem with headphone i rsolve probmel from - control panel/sound - try this maybe your device is not default. you must set as default your device which you use. At first i cant use headphone. after some changes from controls i resolved this problem.
good luck.


Posted by: Josh
December 14, 2008 5:17 AM

I'm trying to install this
but from my external hard drive.

i know u can mod the .iso installation image for XP....but
is it possible with windows 7?

can i use my external hard drive with boot camp?


Posted by: shannon
January 1, 2009 10:59 AM

I got the audio working in the 7000 beta build on my 2.4GHz Santa Rosa Mac book Pro. Download the
Realtek HD Audio Codecs Driver 2.09 Windows Vista x32/x64 from here -> http://www.opendrivers.com/driver/289233/realtek-hd-audio-codecs-driver-2.09-windows-vista-x32-x64-free-download.html (2.10 dosn't seem to work). Unpack to the it to the desktop using winrar or something similiar. It will create a Vista_R209 folder on your desktop. Find the Setup.exe file, right click it, -> properties -> compatibility tab. Check the box for run this program in compatibility mode, and select windows vista from the drop down box. Check the box for run this program as administrator. Hit apply then Ok. Close out the properties box and run the setup.exe file. You will be asked to reboot when its done, click yes, and notice the chime as the system shuts down, SUCCESS!!!

Enjoy your fully functionally Santa Rosa MB Pro Windows 7 Machine!


Also, WiFi worked for me out of the box on this build. Not sure if it did in earlier builds after the initial WDC release.


Posted by: bobjoe
January 8, 2009 10:39 PM

Thanks worked like a charm


Posted by: Yocal
January 10, 2009 5:53 AM

I installed Windows 7 on my MacBook Pro last night without any trouble. Only thing i needed to install afterwards was the nVidia drivers from the bootcamp CD and drivers for the iSight webcam. Apart from that, it was a ready to roll-installation. It couldnt really have been any smoother :-)


Posted by: adm
January 11, 2009 9:59 PM

still a little buggy for me on my macbook pro, im having a problem with the internet as far as hooking it up wirelessly, i can only connect to google, ever other site hangs anyone have any ideas? if u do post here or email at adam.chirico@hotmail.com


Posted by: Don Burnett
January 13, 2009 3:47 AM

It's really obvious after reading this that you didn't go back and reinstall the "Vista" intel chipset drivers that came with your MacBook. The driver model between Vista and Windows 7 hasn't changed and if you actually go back and install these including the wireless driver you'll be all set with a working Windows 7 installation. All the Macbook Pro is really is a core 2 duo intel motherboard with an enhanced BIOS.

Also it's obvious to me if you aren't even running Service Pack 1 of Vista on your box and you are running the original RTM (release to manufacturing) that your idea of performance etc. is probably skewed against Windows Vista because you don't have a completely up-to-date machine that vastly changes the performance of Vista itself.

I own a Mac Mini (yes virginia, it runs windows 7 via bootcamp just fine). I use both hardware platforms for interactive development regularly and I'll just say this is the typical, I don't know my own hardware well enough post.. Nothing about installing Windows 7 is that hard even for a Mac owner.. You need to let your readers know you don't quite have good enough hardware skills to be making a post like this, and even installing an OS...

This should have taken you no time at all..


Posted by: Jeff
January 13, 2009 12:07 PM

I didn't check the other comments so I may be repeating. I'm running Windows 7 on my Macbook pro and got everything to work slick by installing the bootcamp upgrade from Apple's website. The vista one of course. But I still don't have sound. Scored a Windows Experience of 4.9 which I thought was decent for a laptop.


Posted by: lee
January 26, 2009 1:52 AM

how do you make it start up in leopard?

it automatically starts in windows7 everytime i turn it on... also a red led light in on in the headphone jack?

whats up with that?


Posted by: wt
February 5, 2009 1:45 AM

In case anyone found this and haven't had a chance to read through, I've successfully run Win7 on a macbook pro (late 2008) with all of the aero features, including mouseover preview. Windows Update has a specific nVidia driver that it automatically updates after initial install (Which they might not have had before) that gives Win7 full graphics functioanlity. The only thing that didn't work off the bat was the sound.


Posted by: lukas
February 5, 2009 9:57 AM

I installed windows 7 on my macbook and it works fine...

except the internet: the ethernet driver doesn't work...

does anyone know a driver for this?

thanks!


Posted by: Koorosh Maheri
February 11, 2009 6:42 AM

Guys hel[p me with 7's display driver on Mac book pro 17 about the lastest macs from previous gen comes with( 10.5.6 leo)
Lucas Mail me you mac book iden is that using Marvell?


Posted by: Cam
February 12, 2009 9:52 PM

Here's the fix for the red light problem mentioned earlier:

http://orionedwards.blogspot.com/2008/12/windows-7-beta-1-sound-does-not-work-on.html


Posted by: lukas
February 13, 2009 7:26 PM

...still having this problem with the ethernet driver :'(



Posted by: lolacola
February 27, 2009 4:21 AM

I installed Win7 build 7000 on my MBP last night(late 2008 unibody), wifi worked immediately, installed bootcamp drivers from osx cd, which did update the network driver again. got the bootcamp update from apple.com and aero started working also I now have sound/wifi/aero working fine after this update.

only problem is the trackpad (multitouch) is flakey at best, can't really right-click anything. need a usb mouse really for windows7 to be usable, FAIL.

still, i hope they'll sort out the multitouch driver for windows7 soon, i've seen a big thread on apple discussion boards about it. a lot of people complaining. so i guess they're working on it.


Posted by: ed
February 28, 2009 1:56 AM

ive always had problems with this, i got someone else to do it in the end.


Posted by: Marius
March 2, 2009 8:01 AM

It works well for me in applications.Some games seems to freeze though.


Posted by: Den
March 24, 2009 3:17 PM

I'm also have troubles with local network connection. Windows is always windows, in Bill we trust


Posted by: Don's daddy
April 10, 2009 4:42 AM

Windows is always windows, it always owns the macintosh, well, at least by now, the only useful thing about a macintosh machine is being able to run Windows, although the apple dev is too retarded to come out with a driver for its own hardware that runs on multiplatform.


Posted by: medi
April 29, 2009 11:15 AM

I can't get sound though. Any one else with the same problem?


Posted by: Gadgets
May 3, 2009 6:43 PM

Let's just hope windows 7 sorts out the downfalls of vista. I personally love the potential but not the flaws, hopefully all the bugs will be gone by the time it is released this time. Hmmm ...


Posted by: Vimax
May 4, 2009 5:24 PM

great i like windows 7


Posted by: vimax
May 14, 2009 9:16 PM

I just read an article about Windows 7 and apparently it's only 5% better than Vista so pretty much the same old idea.. no hurray :(


Posted by: fer
May 16, 2009 2:56 AM

I've downloaded a iso. from the official website, try to burn it into a DVD.
However, when I inserted the disc and try to boot it up, my mbp freezes and asks me to select some sort of booting option 1 or 2, I can't pass it through since there's no response by clicking any keys.
Mine is a 2.2G Santa rosa mbp, is there anybody ever deal with this issue?


Posted by: Dave
May 17, 2009 12:04 PM

Fer: I had the same issue, you have to use the 32-bit version it seems like, I got that to install without any problems. I don't know why the 64-bit install does not work.


Posted by: jho
May 20, 2009 5:57 AM

help please!!!

- i installed windows 7 on my mac book unfortunately my audio and cam wasn't working/ running well....i just herar a sound from my macbook when i start(start up tone of mac) after that no more sounds/audio coming out......what should i do???anybody Please help....thanks!!!!


Posted by: Vimax
June 21, 2009 2:52 PM

I've tried it and it's nearly the same as vista. So, don't waste your time.


Posted by: Savoy Sison
June 25, 2009 1:10 PM

Since I installed 7 I am having issues with the audio.


Posted by: vimax
July 1, 2009 12:16 AM

windows 7 better then before in screen


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