I got vista x64 business on my mbp 2.2C2D stock to run a game or too and some uni apps. Its got Oblivion on it running at full graphics with either HDR or 4x anti aliasing on. The graphics don't have a single glitch after running a 8800gtx driver install with a modded inf. The sound is flawless. the graphics are flawless. all the keyboard functions work.. almost flawlessly, just the keyboard lights up at random intervals sometimes but its controllable. All the keyboard mapping is perfect using the disk from the mac pros for vista x64 installation. It actually runs at a decent speed. The wireless is perfect too!

Now here's what's worrying me. Everything runs perfectly. Totally perfectly. You have to remember this is windows vista we are talking about. Perfectly. I've used it for hours for everything i can think of, and it has done it all. This surely can't be right. Three months I've been running it now alternately alongside Leopard. And guess what... on my MacBook Pro... its so far never crashed, never had any wireless issues, never had any random restarts, not had problems booting from sleep, never had to close an app due to errors... the only thing that isn't perfect is the keyboard backlight!

Vista x64 isn't supported for a MacBook Pro, and yet is flawless on it, while leopard, while still clearly leaps and bounds ahead in actual usability and just basic awesomeness, has crashed a whole load, the wireless never works for longer than 5 mins even when i've changed my router to an airport express with n band, it keeps deciding it doesn't want to wake up, keeps opening random files with preview when it boots (although i've sorted that now, but i don't know why it started doing it in the first place), keeps disconnecting me from my airport disks...

I love OSX to bits, and I'm kind of keen to see MS crash and burn, but at this rate, when the software designed for my hardware is being out performed by unsupported, bloated, overhyped redmond rubbish, it makes me worry slightly.

Hopefully 10.5.3 is going to sort some of this out, or Apple have some serious thinking to do.

Anybody any idea when its out?

Microsoft is number one in operating system market share for a reason. They don't design crap and then try to sell it, as it is commonly believed on this forum.

That is not saying that Apple's software is worse than Microsoft's or saying that one is better than the other. I am just saying that these companies have both been around for a long time, and are both led by great men. They are actually not out to screw the end user.

As for when 10.5.3 will come out, I speculate at the end of May (primarily because of the tax rebate in the US, sales in computer hardware in general should increase, and new, unconvinced users expect updates and flawless operation). Merely my hunch and opinion, should be taken with a grain of salt...

Keep on macKIN'

Mate, what have you DONE to Leopard. I've had the occasional problem, but nothing to that magnitude...

Have you updated to the latest Firmware? Have you reinstalled (Archive and install) Leopard from your install discs and all system updates? Have you run "repair permissions" and "repair disk" in disk utility from another bootable volume? Your Leopard volume sounds seriously whacked.

I might consider throwing Vista x64 on my late-06 model MBP next time I format my Windows partition... worth a try, I guess. Drivers are gonna be a problem though.

It doesn't really surprise me that it works so well. Just its working with a Graphics driver meant for an 8800 desktop card, a bunch of drivers stolen from the mac pro version of bootcamp and a few just thrown in on the off chance they would work. Give windows great hardware and its great.

On the other hand put it on a pc, and it dies a million deaths. I haven't come across a pc yet that didn't have problems with windows of any age or era. But then again if you started putting OSX on commodity hardware then you'd probably get the same results. It just surprised me thats all, and I'm sure it would surprise a few other people.

The end users still screwed though looking at software prices. Look at the price for vista ultimate and tell me thats not screwing anyone at all. Is it not close to a thousand dollars over there? Or is that just the current exchange rate?

I'm just glad students get offers for cheaper stuff sometimes, or office wouldn't be found on a single university campus in the world without the aid of a few breaches of copyright, and to be honest, I've only met one person who has a bought copy of office, and she got it free because she's dyslexic.

Thankfully my copy of office '07 ultimate was only £37 off campus, if microsoft still want to catch the users young they gotta make it cheap at the start of the ladder i suppose, or we'd all be using iWork by now.

Drivers shouldn't be much of a problem, the ati card is common in notebooks so shouldn't be hard to find and i've got a disk with the rest on thanks to the mac pro. I think you can still get it on the bay of not so legitimate sailors.

It probably is a bit whacked. The wireless is the main problem but i think i've sorted it now and i don't think it was the macs fault. Just trust me and never get BT Broadband (if you live in the UK of course).Its fine most of the time but occasionally doesn't wake up from sleep and does the occasional odd thing or two.I've done all the maintenance, with the apple apps and onyx, and i think they helped a bit but every now and then it has a problem out of the blue and it randomly restarts or something.Not as bad as when i was using bootcamp though, that actually crashed it repeatedly with the GSOD and everything.