Windows 7 & New Macbook Pro

Many people criticise Apple a lot for being to “locked down” to their own software. However many people aren’t actually aware that Apple does let you choose what you’re preferred operating system is. While this is not a well advertised feature, it is actually there. Boot Camp has been around since 2006 and has been included with OS X since 2007 with the release of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard.

It allows users to run Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7 on Macbooks. However Zdnet have pointed out that the recent Macbook Pro’s and Macbook Air models that Apple refreshed, no longer support the older operating systems.

According to a release note from Apple

Note: Windows XP and Vista drivers are not supplied for these computers and are not supported.

The site says Book Camp will support 32- and 64-bit versions of Windows 7 Home Premium, Windows 7 Professional, or Windows 7 Ultimate. So if you’re running Windows XP or Vista (it’s probably XP) on an older Mac and are upgrading to one of the new notebooks, it looks like you will have to upgrade to Windows 7 as well. See even Apple want you to upgrade to Windows 7!

Another thing to note is that Windows 7 Starter and Windows 7 Enterprise edition do not appear to be supported.

And here’s the specs needed for running Windows 7 on Boot Camp

Window 7 running on Boot Camp requires:

-An optical drive (MacBook Air computers require an external optical disc drive to install Windows 7).
-A blank CD or USB storage device to contain the Windows Drivers created by the Boot Camp Assistant.
-For 32-bit versions of Windows, at least 16 GB of free space.
-For 64-bit versions of Windows, at least 20 GB of free space.
-Boot Camp Assistant, which is pre-installed in /Applications/Utilities/
-An authentic, 32-bit or 64-bit Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium, Professional, or Ultimate disc.