So the age-old issue for those of us who can make sweet music on Excel in a PC world but who want a Mac for everything else...Excel does not work with a Mac keyboard for reasons that only bankers and consultants seem to understand.
That said, if you plug in a PC keyboard (or Bluetooth one) will a Macbook pro running bootcamp treat all the normal shortcuts just like a PC???
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I think it would work, but whenever I have tried to run bootcamp/vmware off of my Mac it is always way too slow and frustrating to deal with.
Do agree. Just installed VMWare because I need one program and it is hellishly slow! May just use my desktop at the house for what I need done.
Square peg in a round hole. Make your life easier and just pick one or the other.
well bootcamp is distinctly different from other "parallels" software in that while in bootcamp, your computer is ONLY running the Window operating system -- i.e. you'd have to reboot to get the mac side because the Mac OS is not booted up. Systems that let you pass back and forth run slowly because your processor has to basically run two computers at once. My guess is that i would generally use the Mac in the windows mode. I'm just fed up with my ThinkPad, which after only a couple of years is already a giant POS, whereas the macbook i bought five years ago and have subjected to rigorous use and abuse -- i.e. leaving it plugged in and running for weeks at a time -- still runs quickly, boots up in about 10 secs, has zero viruses, and a battery that STILL lasts about 2 hours.
So i'm convinced that the Mac can run windows plenty fast; my only sticking point is the small (but majorly important) nuance regarding use of the mac keyboard with Excel and PowerPoint. If i could hook up a "normal" keyboard when sitting at my desk, and if that would solve the issue, i'd be thrilled.
I have vmfusion and it isn't slow at all. I will surf the web and listen to music on the mac side while working in excel or powerpoint on the windows side and just flip back and forth.
^^^
MacBook's weren't available five years ago :) I think you mean four.
But I'm planning on doing the same thing. I had Windows running on my MacBook a few months ago and it was as fast as I could ask for. No slowdowns whatsoever. You just need to reinsert your Mac OS X install discs (came with your computer) to install all the drivers. Asides from getting used to hitting control everytime my instincts said to hit command, it worked really well.
Give Windows 7 a shot. I've been running it since the RC version, and I've had an extremely smooth experience. Its fast, looks a lot better, and VERY stable.
Yes, the shortcuts will be retained. I can vouch for vmware and bootcamp, parallels probably also keeps them.
In VMware, you can uncheck the 'Enable Mac OS mouse shortcuts' option from the Preferences menu.
Honestly, you don't need to run windows to work in Excel on a Mac. You can customize all of your own keystrokes via Tools-->Customize Keyboard. Completely as capable as a PC.
Yeah, i don't doubt this; my only reservation there is that once you've been doing Excel for a long time, and particularly if you've been doing similar tasks for a long time (i.e. financial modeling) then Excel shortcuts are less entrenched in mental memory than muscle memory...sort of like playing the piano. So small changes in the physical layout of the "hot keys" can really matter.
I made a switch into using a Mac and got over the switch in about 3 - 4 weeks of intensive modeling. If it's just IBD / PE type models, it isn't an issue. It isn't 100% perfect, but I really don't have major complaints at all.
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