<p>My major is chemical engineering and I want to know what the best laptop would be for me to use. I wanted a Macbook Pro but I've heard that some programs engineering majors use only work on Windows but I'm not sure if this is true. Also I've seen Macs that run Windows also but I heard that takes up a lot of space on the hard drive. What is the best thing for me to do? And if I should get a Windows laptop make recommendations for which one is the best please.</p>
<p>I am not an engineering student, but from my point of view, getting a Mac is not a good idea unless you get Windows on it. I went for a standard Dell laptop with Windows 7, and so far it seems like a good choice. You can do it with a Mac, but a lot of the UF sites tell that Windows is better for compatibility. As long as you can download what you need, and there is a good memory/hard drive space, you should be alright.</p>
<p>Your best option would be to just buy a PC. If you really want Mac, buy a PC with a large hard drive, then you can either run OSX in a virtual machine, or you can set up a dual boot system.</p>
<p>You can contact your department directly… in my case, my department requires a pc, but it also says that if you have a MAC it must have windows installed in it. For that you just have to partition your hard drive and install windows in one of the partitions and leave the other one as mac (dual boot like pseudorandom just suggested). They can do that for you when you buy it, or if you already have a mac, just take it to the store and they’ll do it.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-florida/1159916-can-uf-engineering-students-use-mac.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-florida/1159916-can-uf-engineering-students-use-mac.html</a></p>
<p>UF sells windows to students for $15. Bootcamp (the virtual boot software on every mac) takes up at least 20GB of space because thats how big Windows 7 is. Mac OS X is only about 9 to 10 GB… anyways so when you first install windows using bootcamp it will allow you to decide how much space you dedicate to windows. my link above is to my lengthyer thread where I posed the same question. So far I have not found a SINGLE software maker that does not publish in both Mac and PC especially in the college market. Aka do not worry about compatibility issues decide based on your preference. Me I chose Mac because I like the feel of the OS and Mac’s formating of Hard drives lets me use all the drive whereas on PC’s in a 500GB drive you can get maybe 469GB after formating. Why? I have no idea something about the way each OS treats different sectors on the drive. But if you are a first time Mac user buy apple care with your Mac. You get 3 year 24Hr tech support. Best part, they are Americans not someone who speaks “english”. Plus there is a repair depot on campus that is apple authorized… aka no shipping your PC to China and back to use your warranty… again the reason why I switched. Bootcamp is simple but if it makes you uneasy not being “100%” sure buy a PC because no one can give you a 100% answer. Remember there’s always a chance you loose a PC’s entire drive to a virus… happened to me twice. Whatever you buy get a good lock… don’t want someone to steal your baby.</p>
<p>This is my own opinion here but I think Microsoft sponsored UF to tell people the recommend PC’s because of the wording I found on some software pages that refer to Microsoft products. Not entirely sure and I’ll never know for sure but I wouldn’t be surprised. </p>
<p>Here is the Link to the software page:
[Academic</a> Technology - UF Computing Help Desk Services](<a href=“http://helpdesk.ufl.edu/software.php]Academic”>http://helpdesk.ufl.edu/software.php)</p>
<p>
Out of fairness, I want to defend Microsoft and say that it is more likely that—if any company sponsored them to say PC’s—Dell sponsored them. Notice [this</a> page](<a href=“http://dell.techhub.ufl.edu/]this”>http://dell.techhub.ufl.edu/).</p>
<p>I see well I guess that makes just as much sense, good observation</p>
<p>I just arrived at UF in the College of Engineering. So far, everything we use is ONLY on PC. That’s my take… You do with it what you want…</p>