[nemanirc]

I saw that the MacBook Air lets you gain access to optical media installed on other computers wirelessly. How does this work if you are running Windows in Boot Camp?

[mduell]

SMB/CIFS AKA Windows File and Printer Sharing

Sharing optical drives across the network is nothing special; I've been doing it for years. It won't be as automatic as it is in OS X, but you just share it like any other networked drive.

[hookem2oo7]

there won't really be a way to install windows. as far as i know, the windows installer CDs don't support booting from an external/shared drive

[Buckaroo]

Oops. Never mind.

[ibookuser2]

With regard to installing Windows, you could do the installation on a regular MacBook, then copy the partition over. Not exactly easy, but not incredibly difficult for someone who knows how partitions work. Of course, this is presuming that Apple includes the BIOS compatibility module required for Boot Camp in the MacBook Air firmware.

[Buckaroo]

It would be nice if there was some way that we could install Windows. There's only 2 programs I'd like to run.

[FozzieUK]

Wouldn't the external superdrive let you install windows?

[todddixon]

@FozzieUK
Wouldn't the external superdrive let you install windows?

I guess the point is if Steve wants us to be wireless and the Superdrive is only an option then we need to be able to do everything that we could have otherwise done with cables. This includes booting from an XP/Vista install CD/DVD and load it up into Bootcamp. I would like a definitive answer to this myself. Can it be done...

[Andrew Stephens]

Originally Posted by todddixon 

@FozzieUK
Wouldn't the external superdrive let you install windows?

I guess the point is if Steve wants us to be wireless

And to have a second really well wired PC to make this wireless world possible

[analogika]

The MacBook Air is *obviously* not intended as a primary or sole machine.

[BkueKanoodle]

Windows does support doing an install from a usb drive. I believe you do need to be using at least SP2 to work, but you need that to work with boot camp too.

[Buckaroo]

Originally Posted by BkueKanoodle 

Windows does support doing an install from a usb drive. I believe you do need to be using at least SP2 to work, but you need that to work with boot camp too.

That would be great. I have 2 maybe 3 programs in Windows that I need to run. It has bluetooth, so I can run a bluetooth mouse.

[Buckaroo]

How much disk space will bootcamp and WindowsXP take up? It just occurred to me, that with an 80GB HD, it might not leave much space left over.

[Buckaroo]

Does anyone know if you can install bootcamp, Windows XP and other Windows programs on an external USB Hard drive like this:

LaCie - Little Disk, Design by Sam Hecht - Hi-Speed USB 2.0

[analogika]

Originally Posted by Buckaroo 

Does anyone know if you can install bootcamp, Windows XP and other Windows programs on an external USB Hard drive like this:

LaCie - Little Disk, Design by Sam Hecht - Hi-Speed USB 2.0

http://forums.macnn.com/alternative-operating-systems/

[ghporter]

This issue is problematic. Unless a drive is "native", the Windows installer won't see it after the first reboot, so you lose your install source and the installation fails. Aside from the fact that the 80GB drive is a bit cramped for sharing between two OSs, no native optical drive will make installing Windows on the Air very challenging. I'm sure it will be figured out, but I'm not sure it will be either practical or even doable for most users.

[mduell]

Originally Posted by Buckaroo 

How much disk space will bootcamp and WindowsXP take up? It just occurred to me, that with an 80GB HD, it might not leave much space left over.

Windows XP takes a couple gigs; with nlite you can get it very very slim. BootCamp doesn't really take much space.

[Cadaver]

Originally Posted by ghporter 

This issue is problematic. Unless a drive is "native", the Windows installer won't see it after the first reboot, so you lose your install source and the installation fails. Aside from the fact that the 80GB drive is a bit cramped for sharing between two OSs, no native optical drive will make installing Windows on the Air very challenging. I'm sure it will be figured out, but I'm not sure it will be either practical or even doable for most users.

Do you think this is true? Don't think the (optional) external drive will work to install Windows?

I'll have to cancel my order if Boot Camp isn't supported on the MacBook Air. While Parallels is OK for many things, but I will absolutely need native Window support (or at least until Parallels support two displays like Windows does natively). I don't need a big Windows partition (8GB is plenty), but I do require Windows dual-display (internal + external) support for two specific apps I require for work.

Man, I really hope the MBA doesn't have Boot Camp compatibility issues. It would be a surprising and disappointing step backwards.

[MactotheMax]

Well it certainly appears from the Apple website that the MBA will support Boot Camp. And if its supporting Boot Camp, there must be a way to install windows on a MBA since that is the sole reason for Boot Camps presence (alternate operating systems)

See here: Apple - MacBook Air - Mac OS X + iLife

[ghporter]

Not necessarily. By using existing MB components, the device can be "Boot Camp Compatible" without providing any effective way to install Windows. It's tricky-maybe it will, but I don't know how, not yet anyway.

[Eug]

I don't understand. AFAIK, other PCs support external USB optical drive booting, and you can install Windows from them. I would be very surprised if the MacBook Air were any different.

I guess the main problem here is installing it without the USB drive, but if you REALLY need Bootcamp you may have to shell out that extra $99.

[Art Vandelay]

I agree with Eug. I don't see the problem installing from an external drive. It's a problem installing to an external drive but not from.

Also, the MBA supports wireless booting from a shared disc. I'd imagine that if it can do it with an OS X disc, it can do it with a Windows disc.