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Apple Drops Windows 7 Boot Camp Support in New Mac Pro

Monday March 17, 2014 11:38 am PDT by Juli Clover
boot_camp_iconApple's Mac Pro only supports installations of Windows 8 or later with Boot Camp, according to an updated Apple Support document that lists versions of Windows compatible with the 2013 Mac Pro.

Boot Camp Assistant on the Mac Pro also specifies that it only includes support for Windows 8 or later, as evidenced in a screenshot from Twocanoes Software (via MacWindows) indicating that users are not able to install earlier versions of Windows. The 2013 Mac Pro is the first Mac that does not include support for Windows 7 with Boot Camp 5.

It is unclear why Apple has chosen to drop support for Windows 7 on the Mac Pro, but it could be a sign that the company intends to discontinue support for the operating system in future Macs given its advanced age.

This decision may not sit well with users, as Windows 8, released in 2012, has not been particularly popular. As of this month, Windows 8 and 8.1 only represented 10.68 percent of total worldwide OS market share, while Windows 7 represented 47.31 percent. Combined, Windows is installed on 90.84 percent of the world's computers.

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[ 401 comments ]


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bwillwall
71 months ago
Care to explain Apple? Seriously people don't drop $3,000+ on computers so you can weed out the features you're too lazy to support. This pisses me off.
Rating: 55 Votes
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avanpelt
71 months ago
That's a shame.
Rating: 41 Votes
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ValSalva
71 months ago

It is unclear why Apple has chosen to drop support for Windows 7 on the Mac Pro, but it could be a sign that the company intends to discontinue support for the operating system in future Macs given its advanced age.


Advanced age? I guess in Apple terms it is. Windows 7 came out in the Summer of 2009. Same age as Snow Leopard. Windows 7 still seems like the only option for Windows OS'es though. XP is too old. Vista... is Vista. Windows 8 is a nightmare.
Rating: 29 Votes
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avanpelt
71 months ago
Well, Apple just threw a big bone to the folks over at VMware and Parallels. Those two companies have to love this news.
Rating: 27 Votes
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Xenomorph
71 months ago

The ONE good reason I was going to buy a nMP is now gone. Guess I can thank Apple for saving me $3000+.


The one good reason that you were going to buy a $3,000+ Macintosh computer was so that you could run a version of Windows that is going on five years and two generations old?
Rating: 23 Votes
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OneBagTravel
71 months ago
Seems a tad premature.
Rating: 19 Votes
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axboi87
71 months ago
"Windows 7"

"Given it's advanced age"

LOL....
Rating: 18 Votes
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na1577
71 months ago
Even as a Windows fan, I wouldn't use Windows 8 if they paid me. It's a shame that Apple's dropping Windows 7 now, as this likely means future MacBooks won't support it either.
Rating: 17 Votes
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avanpelt
71 months ago

It is unclear why Apple has chosen to drop support for Windows 7 on the Mac Pro, but it could be a sign that the company intends to discontinue support for the operating system in future Macs given its advanced age.


Wait, Windows 7 was released in 2009. A five year old OS may be of "advanced age" when compared to how OS X is iterated; but in the Windows realm, five years old is still a young OS. Hell, XP was released in 2001 and is just now seeing its end of life -- 13 years later.
Rating: 16 Votes
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Martyimac
71 months ago
The ONE good reason I was going to buy a nMP is now gone. Guess I can thank Apple for saving me $3000+.
Rating: 16 Votes

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