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Comment by sid0 | Hacker News Reader

Yes, all of them are. Apple notebooks are the worst at running Windows.

You don't have to type product codes -- you can install without one and copy/paste from a text file works fine once you're all set up. You don't have to insert DVDs, Windows installs fine from a USB stick (except on Apple notebooks, so there). Installing Microsoft Security Essentials will shut up any AV warnings.

Besides, you don't even need to install Vista to get an upgrade copy of Windows 7 working. A Google search would have told you that.

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I don't get it. If my boot drive is wiped clean, what are the hardware barriers that explain the differences that you point to?

EDIT: Not sure why I'm downvoted for asking this. Can anyone advise as to what hardware issues would make a 2010 Macbook Pro more difficult to install Windows on?

The EFI firmware with "legacy" BIOS support that Apple uses. It doesn't help that Windows actually supports booting from UEFI but not the EFI 1.1 hack that Apple uses.

Thanks for pointing me to that. I wasn't able to determine the real-world impact of the limited BIOS support.

Anyway, I use Windows for exactly one thing: accessing (horrible) web apps that require IE. My original point was that the installation process is a mess from the perspective of a licensed user – Apple hardware or not.

>> Besides, you don't even need to install Vista to get an upgrade copy of Windows 7 working. A Google search would have told you that.

Win 7 won't accept my product code because it is an upgrade code. I googled it.

http://www.winsupersite.com/article/windows-7/clean-install-...

Good to know. Looks like a pain, though.

Editing a registry entry and typing a command in couldn't possibly be a pain to anyone on Hacker News...

Again, it's not that I can't grok it – it's that I shouldn't have to. I get no sense of pride from hacking a Windows upgrade into a clean installer. Empty victory, etc.

Also, my benchmark is the Lion upgrade. That's how it's supposed to work.

That's not true! When Vista came out the 15" MacBook Pro was the machine which had the best performance in Vista. Think a bit about that.

Installing Lion on a non Apple Mac is illegal and that's why it is so hard to do. Windows is not and should run smoothly like on every other machine.

That's not true! When Vista came out the 15" MacBook Pro was the machine which had the best performance in Vista. Think a bit about that.

Having had all this trouble, I don't believe that for a second. Turning off AHCI and not supporting USB boot in 2011 is inexcusable.

Installing Lion on a non Apple Mac is illegal

Depends on the jurisdiction. In many non-retarded ones it isn't.

Windows is not and should run smoothly like on every other machine.

It should, yes, but it doesn't.

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