[SOLVED] BootCamp... Differences?

[dxwoodward]

Ok, I'm officially starting school and I'm going into a Computer Network Technician program. The school itself provides a laptop for new students, but i'm getting a "family discount" so i'm not able to receive one of those laptops. They are just cheap i3 Vostro 3500s, so i really don't want to dish out money on one of those. If i'm going to get a laptop, i'm going big. I have an opportunity to get a Macbook Pro 2009 model for dirt cheap from my boss. Now for the question:
If I run Bootcamp with windows xp, will i run into ANY handicaps by using Bootcamp? Or is it the exact same thing as running a Dell with windows installed, zero differences? It is important, because in class, i don't want to run into any issues that a may prevent me from using my machine like a windows machine if that makes sense?

Here is a rundown of my classes that i would need a windows machine for:
*Microsoft Windows Server
*Database Management
*Linux OS
*Web Server Administration

Do i absolutely HAVE to have a windows machine for some of these? or can i get by using Bootcamp version on a Mac.

I love Mac and would prefer my new laptop to be a Mac, but if it interferes with my classes i might need to go for a Dell or something.

Thanks for listening

TL;DR: Taking a bunch of classes to get my Certs. Will a Windows version of Bootcamp be sufficient enough, or will i need a full on 100% windows experience?

 

[wildwell]

You'll be entirely within the Windows environment when you start-up using bootcamp. Mac OS won't interfere.

Keep in mind that you'll have a partitioned drive. I don't know if this will affect your classes but it sure will affect your laptop's practical storage.

You shouldn't have any problems as far as hardware compatibility goes. Use the OSX System Profiler to look up the specific components inside if you want to confirm or install Windows driver software manually.


Any Tom's users out there that have taken Windows networking/administration classes with an Apple computer?

 

[roagie]

The only issue I can potentially see is with your classload is you are probably going to want to triple boot; Windows, Mac OSx and Linux OS (?). You can potentially get this to work with reFit (third party application), but it does take a little bit o work. Have you thought about parallels or vmware? They might be able to provide you with a more workable solution. You wouldn't have to reboot when switching classes. Now using parallels or vmware will be much more taxing on the system but it should give you the flexibility you seem to be after.

A windows version of bootcamp or vmware will be sufficient for an understanding of windows, the only thing you may miss is the right click (CTRL+Click FTW!)