Friday, December 23, 2011
Prince
Play SWTOR SWTOR on MAC!!!The gaming landscape on Mac computers used to be as barren as the sands of Tatooine. But with the introduction of the App Store and some Mac-friendly MMOs, it’s more feasible now to be a dedicated Mac gamer. Unfortunately, BioWare hasn’t announced a Mac client for Star Wars: The Old Republic yet (if ever). So, what’s an Apple-owning TORWarrior to do? Easy. Enlist in the Imperial or Republic Army and ship off to Boot Camp!
Boot Camp is software included with Mac OS X that lets you run compatible versions of Microsoft Windows on an Intel-based Mac. It’s not an emulator like Crossover [http://www.codeweavers.com/products/crossover/] — I tried that for Star Trek Online with decent results, but it requires constant support from the developer so you’re at their mercy. Using Boot Camp just is like having a PC inside of a beautifully designed Apple-branded case (I can feel the PC enthusiasts reaching out to force choke me now). The only drawback is you’ll have to purchase a full version of Windows which can be expensive — but still cheaper and more space efficient than buying a new PC.
What You’ll Need
An Intel-based Mac computer (just about any model from 2007 on)
Install DVD for Mac OS X 10.6 or later (the full disc version, not an upgrade version)
Windows 7 Home Premium or XP (again, the full version, not an upgrade)
Optional, but highly recommended, is a Time Machine backup drive
Finally, you’ll need a bit of time and quiet. No cats running across the keyboard while installing a new operating system.
What You Might be Wondering?
Will my old Mac support Windows 7? [http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3986]
Should I install 32-bit or 64-bit Windows? [http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1846]
Getting Started
First thing you’ll want to do is visit the Boot Camp [http://www.apple.com/support/bootcamp/] page on Apple.com and click “Installation Guide” at the top. There you can download the Boot Camp Installation & Setup Guide for the Mac OS X version you’re running (choose the right one). The instructions in the manual are very straightforward. Just make sure and follow them to the letter and respect the fact that you’re installing an entirely new operating system on your machine. Patience, Anakin!
You’ll want to have the Boot Camp Installation & Setup Guide handy throughout the install process. You can print it if necessary, but it’s 18 pages long. I recommend having it open on another computer or your smart phone if possible. Hey, I might be a Sith but I still care about saving paper.
Back Up Your System
The installation instructions will first ask you to back up your system. Do it. You can run Time Machine on any Mac-compatible external hard drive. Chances are it will save you much agony down the road, if not today.
Launch Boot Camp Assistant
After you back up your system, quit all programs. Then fire up Boot Camp Assistant from the Applications > Utilities folder. From here on out you can follow the instructions in the Boot Camp Installation & Setup Guide. Follow them to the letter. Take your time and read the guide carefully before each step of the process. As Master Yoda says, “Impatience leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to … suffering.”
Your Mission to Partition
One decision you’ll have to make is how much space to partition on your hard drive for Windows. The Beta client is approximately 20GB but that is subject to change, and there will be many patches to download. You can’t increase the partition after it’s set without deleting Windows entirely and starting from scratch, so err on the side of too much space. I went with 100GB.
Things to Keep in Mind
Set aside some time before you start, and once you start commit to finishing. This isn’t a process you want to abandon midway through.
You won’t need the Mac OS X installation disc until after you’ve finished installing Windows and set up your Windows profile.
You must finish the Boot Camp installation (the last step in the guide) before you can connect to Wi-Fi in Windows.
The next time you start your computer, you can select which operating system to use by holding down the Option key during startup
You can set the default operating system for your computer using Startup Disk preferences (Mac OS X) or the Boot Camp control panel (Windows).
The Boot Camp Installation & Setup Guide also covers Removing Windows from Your Computer.
If you run into any trouble, check out the Unofficial TOR + Boot Camp Discussion Thread [http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=389856] on the SWTOR forums.
Tell BioWare you support a Mac client in this thread [http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=531233]
That about covers it folks. Now that you’re up and running in Windows, you can download the SWTOR client, patch it up and launch the game to those sweet sweet notes of the Star Wars theme song.
Boot Camp is software included with Mac OS X that lets you run compatible versions of Microsoft Windows on an Intel-based Mac. It’s not an emulator like Crossover [http://www.codeweavers.com/products/crossover/] — I tried that for Star Trek Online with decent results, but it requires constant support from the developer so you’re at their mercy. Using Boot Camp just is like having a PC inside of a beautifully designed Apple-branded case (I can feel the PC enthusiasts reaching out to force choke me now). The only drawback is you’ll have to purchase a full version of Windows which can be expensive — but still cheaper and more space efficient than buying a new PC.
What You’ll Need
An Intel-based Mac computer (just about any model from 2007 on)
Install DVD for Mac OS X 10.6 or later (the full disc version, not an upgrade version)
Windows 7 Home Premium or XP (again, the full version, not an upgrade)
Optional, but highly recommended, is a Time Machine backup drive
Finally, you’ll need a bit of time and quiet. No cats running across the keyboard while installing a new operating system.
What You Might be Wondering?
Will my old Mac support Windows 7? [http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3986]
Should I install 32-bit or 64-bit Windows? [http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1846]
Getting Started
First thing you’ll want to do is visit the Boot Camp [http://www.apple.com/support/bootcamp/] page on Apple.com and click “Installation Guide” at the top. There you can download the Boot Camp Installation & Setup Guide for the Mac OS X version you’re running (choose the right one). The instructions in the manual are very straightforward. Just make sure and follow them to the letter and respect the fact that you’re installing an entirely new operating system on your machine. Patience, Anakin!
You’ll want to have the Boot Camp Installation & Setup Guide handy throughout the install process. You can print it if necessary, but it’s 18 pages long. I recommend having it open on another computer or your smart phone if possible. Hey, I might be a Sith but I still care about saving paper.
Back Up Your System
The installation instructions will first ask you to back up your system. Do it. You can run Time Machine on any Mac-compatible external hard drive. Chances are it will save you much agony down the road, if not today.
Launch Boot Camp Assistant
After you back up your system, quit all programs. Then fire up Boot Camp Assistant from the Applications > Utilities folder. From here on out you can follow the instructions in the Boot Camp Installation & Setup Guide. Follow them to the letter. Take your time and read the guide carefully before each step of the process. As Master Yoda says, “Impatience leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to … suffering.”
Your Mission to Partition
One decision you’ll have to make is how much space to partition on your hard drive for Windows. The Beta client is approximately 20GB but that is subject to change, and there will be many patches to download. You can’t increase the partition after it’s set without deleting Windows entirely and starting from scratch, so err on the side of too much space. I went with 100GB.
Things to Keep in Mind
Set aside some time before you start, and once you start commit to finishing. This isn’t a process you want to abandon midway through.
You won’t need the Mac OS X installation disc until after you’ve finished installing Windows and set up your Windows profile.
You must finish the Boot Camp installation (the last step in the guide) before you can connect to Wi-Fi in Windows.
The next time you start your computer, you can select which operating system to use by holding down the Option key during startup
You can set the default operating system for your computer using Startup Disk preferences (Mac OS X) or the Boot Camp control panel (Windows).
The Boot Camp Installation & Setup Guide also covers Removing Windows from Your Computer.
If you run into any trouble, check out the Unofficial TOR + Boot Camp Discussion Thread [http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=389856] on the SWTOR forums.
Tell BioWare you support a Mac client in this thread [http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=531233]
That about covers it folks. Now that you’re up and running in Windows, you can download the SWTOR client, patch it up and launch the game to those sweet sweet notes of the Star Wars theme song.
Posted in: Apple,Games News,Hacking,mac,SWTOR,Windows
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