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Run Vista on your Intel Mac with Q

tuaw.com — "Parallels Desktop is all the rage in Mac virtualization these days, but it doesn't offer one major feature (yet): the ability to run Vista on an Intel Mac (believe it or not, this will be useful to many a Mac user)."

Who dugg this? Made popular Aug 20, 2006

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  • Ireland, on 10/12/2007, -8/+32If you have a hotmail account, take part in this short survey http://www.microsoft.com/india/offers/vista/quiz.aspx and Microsoft will sent you a Vista Beta. 2 CD
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9I'm not sure how big the need to run Vista on OS X is at the moment, but I'm willing to bet that by the time Vista ships, both Parallels and VMware* will have products that will run it as well as current software runs XP.

    * VMware announced their OS X beta at WWDC and claims to "run any PC OS".
  • titlesaysitall, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9Yeah but it's not running at near native speeds or any where near it, it's an emulator. Comparing Q to Virtual PC 7 on the PowerPC, Virtual PC runs circles around it and hands it's butt to it on a silver platter.
  • meatmcguffin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Explosion

    I don't think it works as you need to delete the 200mb efi partition before you install Vista. As far as i know (and the method that worked for me) is that you need to erase XP, format that partition, delete the 200mb efi partition and then install Vista. Be careful though, if you mess up, you can't reinstall XP without formatting the ENTIRE hard drive.
  • scooterfish, on 10/12/2007, -5/+11Let's see here...
    Virtual PC: $249
    QEMU/Q: $0
    Running Windows for the *very few things* I need it for without shelling out 2.5 C notes: PRICELESS.

    It's FREE. It gets the job done for what I need it for (e.g., remoting in to workplace servers & desktops).
    Nobody gets paid to develop Q/QEMU. they do it because they WANT to do it.
    Quit your bitching, people.
  • skipunk, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8Honestly, why would you want to do this? :)
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -7/+13Knowing that I'll be modded down to, but is there a reason this is getting burried? Vista is no longer available from Microsoft, you can get it on bit torrent, but you still need valid keys for activation. A CD through the post is very nice of Microsoft, it's no worse than Ubunutu distributing CDs for free.
  • EGOvoruhk, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7What happens if you install XP using Boot Camp, and then try to upgrade to Vista?
  • andrewcod, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6Think mahoneyt beat you to it :-)
    "Windows Vista sucks. It's perhaps the least stable version of Windows yet and is the first major release for Microsoft in over 5 years. I don't see how it could possibly be useful to any Mac user."
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -10/+14*sigh* Apple claim (as a joke btw) that Leopard is Vista 2.0 (because Microsoft haven't even released 1.0 yet). Most of what Vista will provide when it comes out is already in Tiger and we've been enjoying it since 2005 (and with far lower hardware requirements too)
  • astrosmash, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Bootcamp and Parallels solve different problems and are not mutually exclusive solutions, so you can't say one is better than the other without defining your needs.
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4There's a kernal extension being worked on that will allow better virtualization for Q when running Intel-on-Intel. http://qemu.dad-answers.com/viewtopic.php?t=930

    The fact still stands that Q (QEMU) can run Vista whilst Parallels can't just yet. And since the processor is emulated, you could even run Vista on a high end G5 just for kicks.
  • iAlex, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Yeah I know, really amazing. If Apple actually made Boot Camp to boot more than 2 OSes, then, dude, awesome!
  • cyssero, on 04/18/2009, -8/+11It's just a shame that a few radical Mac fan-boys can't even accept what is good for them. A free Windows Vista Beta CD gets dugg down. It is on topic, because unless you have MSDN it's the only legal way to get it. And we all know once something gets dug down/up others just follow suit. Answers to the quiz are as follow -

    1.Vista
    2.Clarity
    3.November 2006
    4.True
    5.Aero
    6.All
    7.All
    8.512
  • radiofrequency, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Took the survey. Then didn't want to give Microsoft my PI because I don't trust it.
  • Julikaefer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2So what's the problem? Looks like Windows runs just as usual for you.
  • Drealoth, on 10/12/2007, -6/+8Dude, it's called "beta" software. I think they figured that calling it "Windows Vista Beta" would tip most people off, but like Einstein said - "Only the two things are infinite - the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not so sure about the universe."
  • mikedavidson, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5I put vista beta 2 on Q on my intel mini (1.66 core duo with 2 GB ram).... and I gave Q a gig of ram and ran it off a raw (uncompressed) hd image. Perhaps it's the mini's graphics card, but VB2 was painfully slow, and very crashy. Perhaps I haven't figured out how to disable something or enable something else. Big waste of time. At least I didn't just sit around waiting for it to install.
  • borb, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Am I the only person that still thinks A) Windows sucks (though I'm running it on my InteliMac to run games), and B) Bootcamp > Parallels?
  • Wavey, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Man, you know...Vista, Ubuntu and OSX, all on one screaming fast quad-core box. I am really starting to think that the Mac Pro will be my next PC. Even though the initial cost is pretty expensive, I'll end up with one fast box that does everything I want. This stuff is exciting.
  • dcharti, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3It kinda works, but it takes some tinkering. There were instructions on an MSDN blog that get it working properly, but you need to blow away part of the partition scheme that Boot Camp creates in order to do it. Both OSes still live and work just fine, but you can't, for example, use Boot Camp to recover that Windows partition for Mac OS X anymore. I heard you also might not be able to do firmware updates in Mac OS X (don't quote me on that one though). Sorry I don't have a link handy, but I was trying these before myself when I ultimately decided that I couldn't mess with my only Mac at that low of a level; I need everything working in tip-top shape.

    Short of the long, however is: yes, you *can* get Vista working under Boot Camp, the setup just isn't quite pretty.
  • JohnnySoftware, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Vista is something like half a year away from being a product and is still in testing/R&D.

    Why would someone want to run untested software on their Mac before it is debugged?

    Vista is a couple of quarters away from appearning in stores. I think the average Mac owner can wait as long as the average PC user for Vista to come out, and longer, in fact.

    Vista is an upgrade to an OS that came out five years ago. By the time Vista ships, more than five years ago.

    The latest Mac OS came out last year, and the next version is coming out next year, a few months after Vista is scheduled to go on sale.

    Mac users just do not think of Vista as The Next Operating System the way that XP/PC users do.

    In 5-6 months, or whenever Vista ships, there might be better virtualization software available. It makes more sense to wait until that time and see which it is, than to jump the gun by half a year and by something that works okay with a beta test version.

    There could be newer, better virtualization programs out by 2007.
  • Stecchino, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Thanks for the tip. I passed 9 out of 10 on first try, woohoo.
  • Ireland, on 10/12/2007, -11/+12The answer to 5. is Aqua ;)
    Seriously though I answered creativity to question 2, and they said it was wrong. They wanted clarity. Another bit of proof that Microsoft doesn't want creative people to use Vista. They may aswell have said: If you have chosen "creativity" for no.2, then you should choose a Mac. http://www.apple.com/getamac
  • mikev, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Good now when I get those Vista CD's from that Microsoft India contest they have use other than coasters... ;)
  • mahoneyt, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Yeah... I already said that but I got burried. :-(
  • titlesaysitall, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I'm just saying on the PowerPC side Q was pathetic to Virtual PC 7, even though Q is not 100% virtualization and is not native speed.
  • capran, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2OS X is a great OS. However, with the advent of Intel-based Macs, it's now possible to have your cake and eat it too. There's a lot of excitement and therefore links because people can now have the OS they want to use, and not lose compatibility and familiarity with Windows if they have use that as well.
  • NonPC, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Ehhh no thanks. :p
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I've never gotten Q to work. Ever.
  • titlesaysitall, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Q is slower than a glacier compared to Virtual PC 7.
  • starmanjones, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2virtual PC ran fine until microsoft bought it. it wouldn't do games very well but it wasn't bad. but i used to run run 2 versions of windows, linux... classic under OSX... then it wouldn't run linux anymore. pretty sure it was bought in order to kill it.
  • Julikaefer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Q is free but you still need to buy a Windows license.
  • pmhn, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I got a STOP error (blue screen) right after the initial progress bar with the black background. Vista was build 5472, and for Q I tried both latest stable and unstable builds with similar results. :(
  • mikedavidson, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Story of my life
  • yournamehere, on 10/12/2007, -6/+6the whole concept of beta software is lost on this guy/girl/object
  • iAlex, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Anyone actually tried this? I am really willing to run Windows Vista Beta 2 on MacBook Pro, but you have to delete the EFI partion in Boot Camp for that, but maybe you do not need for Q. I actually wanna tripple boot Mac OS X, XP and Vista Beta 2 (already have Mac OS X and XP with Boot Camp), anyone have a tips how to do this? And please, go to offtopic.com if you can´t discuss the subject.
  • unxpernced, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I installed Q last night on my BlackBook. The install of XP took over 3 hours and then was just not usable. Way too slow. Emulation is not the way to go. I may end up having to fork over the cash for Parallels now that my trial is up.
  • enjourni, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Why does a whole website (www.osx86project.org) exist for hacking OS X to make in run on a standard PC? At least apple is forthcoming in enabling mac users to run windows via an accepted means (Boot Camp). Windows users would rather run OS X illegally, and then come on forums and make like they don't do it and the mac sucks.

    The reality is that both systems are different, and pretty much the same. If I was truthful, I'd say that the mac is just "cooler". Windows is lame, with it's spyware, it's constant nagging, it's annoying interface jumping through 20 hoops just to change one preference item: (click Advanced..., click Advanced..., click Advanced..., then maybe you get to the option you want to change), trying to uninstall stuff and crap left all over your computer, etc. The mac isn't perfect, but it annoys me a whole lot less.
  • mobilehavoc, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Why if Mac OS X is soooo amazing are there constantly articles on how to get Windows Vista (which according to Jobs is a copy of OSX) running on Mac hardware???

  • nicerobot, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1Look for a stunt from Microsoft to keep this from being possible just like the old AARD issue of Windows 3.1/DOS days. http://www.ddj.com/184409070?pgno=4
  • scooterfish, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Did you follow the instructions on the site? Installing Qt-Mac, etc?
    Cuz I followed the instructions and it ran, just like the documentation said it would.
  • DjinnX, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1Tird sandwich anyone? LUL
  • koregaonpark, on 10/12/2007, -6/+3Virtual PC was way slower because it was Power PC app. trying to emulate an Intel OS. Now it's Intel-Intel.
  • enjourni, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0I'm sorry, but anyone stupid enough to install a beta version of Windows on ANY machine (virtual or not) deserves to get their hard drive wiped.
  • TomP, on 10/12/2007, -6/+1Will this run on Hackintosh's?
  • yournamehere, on 10/12/2007, -9/+4you admit to not knowing what you are doing and yet you say it's a 'big waste of time'?

  • falloutsyndrome, on 10/12/2007, -14/+6must be a downgrade feature right? osx = vista 2.0 ;)
  • Phantom76, on 10/12/2007, -11/+2And where is that Mac fan who invariably asks, "Honestly, Why would you want to do that?"
  • mahoneyt, on 10/12/2007, -21/+6Windows Vista sucks. It's perhaps the least stable version of Windows yet and is the first major release for Microsoft in over 5 years. I don't see how it could possibly be useful to any Mac user.

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