Mac?

[aliatar]

Would bootcamp with XP be enough? I seem to remember the min specs ask for XP SP3, Vista or 7.

Maybe it makes more sense to install Windows 7 than to find and install XP SP3...

 

[civ_king]

Would bootcamp with XP be enough? I seem to remember the min specs ask for XP SP3, Vista or 7.

Maybe it makes more sense to install Windows 7 than to find and install XP SP3...

Windows XP will be enough and then you update it to SP3

Cyberian,

 

[silentknight111]

Can you buy the mac os? If so why not build a pc that can actually play games, and be upgradable, then install mac os, and windows for gaming? Or you can pay a premium for a computer not qualified to play games, unless civs your only game of course! Anyone who seriously considers themselves a pc gamer should definetly not be using a mac.....

That's not as simple as it sounds. You have to make sure you use mac compatible hardware, and trick the OS installer to think it's installing on a mac, and all that jazz. People have done it, but it's tricky.

 

[Cyberian]

So, what you are trying to say is that Macs are getting better and better with each coming year, while Windows is an old has-been that doesn't play well with others, looks like something the cat dragged in, and tends to show irrational and destructive behavior?

Yeah, sounds about right to me, too .

nice...

so you were talking about the users on my pics and you could be quite right about them

but I actually meant the hardware on there

 

[peter grimes]

So it seems like there are a few mac savvy people here, maybe they can answer a couple of my questions:

1. I have a 27" iMac
2. I don't know much at all about tech-y things, like partitioning, for instance.
3. ATI Radeon HD 5670 512MB GDDR3 SDRAM (pulled from apple's website, but I'll double check tonight when I'm on the machine that it's still the same

What will I have to do to run civ5?

buy boot camp
buy a copy of windows

then what?....

 

[peter grimes]

OK, I just learned that Boot Camp is already part of Snow Leopard, so I'm good there. Since I'll only be using the Windows to run civ, is one version preferable to the other? I'd like it to be as streamlined as possible.

 

[MuteWolf]

OK, I just learned that Boot Camp is already part of Snow Leopard, so I'm good there. Since I'll only be using the Windows to run civ, is one version preferable to the other? I'd like it to be as streamlined as possible.

XP has worked fine for me with Civ 4 and I know it is enough for Civ 5. I really don't want Vista just because of how horrible it seems to be. My GF's comp likes to restart itself in the middle of her playing WOW. If you can find a copy of XP it should be heela cheap too. BTW when installing make sure you select the newly created partition to install the windows OS not your Mac hard drive. So paranoid of that.

 

[j51]

Can you buy the mac os? If so why not build a pc that can actually play games, and be upgradable, then install mac os, and windows for gaming? Or you can pay a premium for a computer not qualified to play games, unless civs your only game of course! Anyone who seriously considers themselves a pc gamer should definetly not be using a mac.....

Civ is my only pc game, so it would be silly for me to switch to a pc for one game. I otherwise just play console stuff. I'm not too macho or anything.

 

[peter grimes]

What's the difference between 32-bit and 64-bit versions?

 

[silentknight111]

most important: 64-bit can utilize more memory.

 

[BrianSpiller]

XP has worked fine for me with Civ 4 and I know it is enough for Civ 5. I really don't want Vista just because of how horrible it seems to be. My GF's comp likes to restart itself in the middle of her playing WOW. If you can find a copy of XP it should be heela cheap too. BTW when installing make sure you select the newly created partition to install the windows OS not your Mac hard drive. So paranoid of that.

I skipped Vista, but I've got Windows 7 Home Premium running through BootCamp on my Mac and on a netbook and I really like it. A massive improvement over Windows XP and you can pick up an OEM version for pretty cheap.

 

[Welnic]

What's the difference between 32-bit and 64-bit versions?

I would get Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit. I think that the install is easier than Win XP, and things are easier to deal with afterwards also. If you end up getting Win XP definitely go with the 32 bit version.

If you get the retail version of Win 7 it has both 32 and 64 bit versions. If you get the OEM version (recommended) then you have to specify which one you want.

With Windows 32 bit versions you can't use more than 3.5 GBs of RAM and the applications have a 2GB limit.

 

[peter grimes]

I really don't think US$120 is 'pretty cheap'

But would you say that 7 is preferable to XP for running Civ5?

 

[peter grimes]

If you get the retail version of Win 7 it has both 32 and 64 bit versions. If you get the OEM version (recommended) then you have to specify which one you want.

I thought that OEM meant 'original equipment manufacturer', so there wouldn't be a difference between retail or 'oem'. Perhaps OEM means something different in the computer world

 

[BrianSpiller]

I really don't think US$120 is 'pretty cheap'

But would you say that 7 is preferable to XP for running Civ5?

That may be the first time I have seen something cost more in the US than it does here in the UK. I picked up a copy for about £60 ($90).

The main limitation with the OEM version is that it is tied to a single computer once you have installed it. Because of this, they sell the two version separately (you only need one version for one computer). Otherwise it is the same as retail.

 

[Tridus]

I thought that OEM meant 'original equipment manufacturer', so there wouldn't be a difference between retail or 'oem'. Perhaps OEM means something different in the computer world

It does, but Microsoft puts out a different version for OEM use then it does in the boxed retail copies. You can buy an OEM one from some stores if you buy hardware like a hard drive, and you have to pick if you want 32 or 64 bit (you usually want 64 bit).

 

[MuteWolf]

I really don't think US$120 is 'pretty cheap'

But would you say that 7 is preferable to XP for running Civ5?

I believe that windows 7 and vista were under the "recommended specs" list where as windows XP was under the "system requirements" list so it may actually work better on 7.

 

[RRtexasranger]

http://www.codeweavers.com/

This could be promising. It appears to be associated with the WINE project. (The project that makes some games compatible on Linux OSs.)

Some recent games like Starcraft have been confirmed to be playable using it, which could give hope.

 

[Welnic]

Retail Windows software is meant to go directly to the customer. Someone that has Vista on their rig and wants to upgrade to Windows 7. OEM Windows software is actually meant for retailers who sell computers, they buy a bunch of components, put together a computer and sell it. When I build a PC I buy OEM software for it. I think the main thing that you pay for with retail software is a better upgrade path, but when the next version of Windows comes out you'll want a new box then anyway.

I think at some point buying OEM software from newegg you might have had to buy some hardware also, but I've definitely bought just Win7 OEM software recently.

 

[peter grimes]

I've requested a trial version of CodeWeaver's Crossover. It will allow me to use it for 30 days. I've also told them that I'll be evaluating Civ 5 on it.

We'll know in a few days if this works!