• C++ Programming for Financial Engineering
    Highly recommended by thousands of MFE students. Covers essential C++ topics with applications to financial engineering. Learn more Join!
    Python for Finance with Intro to Data Science
    Gain practical understanding of Python to read, understand, and write professional Python code for your first day on the job. Learn more Join!
    An Intuition-Based Options Primer for FE
    Ideal for entry level positions interviews and graduate studies, specializing in options trading arbitrage and options valuation models. Learn more Join!

MAC or Windows laptop for MFE students?

Windows? Are you out of your mind? ;)

When I use excel, it is because I'm forced to do it and I refuse to do VBA.

:)

I have been using MAC for the past 5 years (with additional access to a Linux server somewhere in the University) and it would be hard to switch to a PC ... but trying to make sure that I would not need a PC for the course! ;)

If I ever needed Excel, I used the MAC version of Excel... does that work well for the Excel computations done in the program?
 
If I ever needed Excel, I used the MAC version of Excel... does that work well for the Excel computations done in the program?

Which program? Baruch? You will be forced to do Excel at some point.

You won't need Windows in the C++ class anymore. We are not going to be using VS.
 
Which program? Baruch? You will be forced to do Excel at some point.

You won't need Windows in the C++ class anymore. We are not going to be using VS.

Good to know! :)

Any comment on the 15" Macbook Pro vs the 17" ? The 15" should suffice, right?
 
I post this before and you will eventually get an email: at least 4GB of memory and support for 64bit Virtualization. If you have a MacbookPro with at least 4GB of memory, you will be fine.
 
I post this before and you will eventually get an email: at least 4GB of memory and support for 64bit Virtualization. If you have a MacbookPro with at least 4GB of memory, you will be fine.

Thanks! :)
 
I post this before and you will eventually get an email: at least 4GB of memory and support for 64bit Virtualization. If you have a MacbookPro with at least 4GB of memory, you will be fine.

I just wanted to make sure what you mean by "64-bit virtualization". I am assuming you are implying whether one can install 64-bit guest OS's on MacBook Pros (e.g. Windows 64-bit, Ubuntu x64, etc.)... right?

I am assuming that you do not mean installing 64-bit virtualization software (e.g. VMWare Fusion, Parallels, VirtualBox) on the machine.

Please correct me if I am wrong!
 
I just wanted to make sure what you mean by "64-bit virtualization". I am assuming you are implying whether one can install 64-bit guest OS's on MacBook Pros (e.g. Windows 64-bit, Ubuntu x64, etc.)... right?

I am assuming that you do not mean installing 64-bit virtualization software (e.g. VMWare Fusion, Parallels, VirtualBox) on the machine.

Please correct me if I am wrong!
actually both. This is how is going to work. You will need to install Virtual Box and we will provide a 64bit Ubuntu VM that you will use as working environment.
 
actually both. This is how is going to work. You will need to install Virtual Box and we will provide a 64bit Ubuntu VM that you will use as working environment.
Can't the Virtual Box connect to an already installed 64 bit Ubuntu (I have a dual boot win 7 and Ubuntu)?
 
Can't the Virtual Box connect to an already installed 64 bit Ubuntu (I have a dual boot win 7 and Ubuntu)?
No. Run VirtualBox in your environment and run our VM there. I already do this at home. I think it's a great working environment because you can have full backups (snapshots) at anytime and if something goes wrong, it's just a simple click.
 
I think Alain means the following -

You will need a chipset that can handle 64bit (should not be a problem in most modern notebooks)
Your main OS needs to be 64-bit (You cannot virtualize 64bit linux in 32bit windows, for instance - this is why I needed to dual-boot and was unable to virtualize the blackbox provided. aka a total PITA)
 
(You cannot virtualize 64bit linux in 32bit windows, for instance - this is why I needed to dual-boot and was unable to virtualize the blackbox provided. aka a total PITA)

No, that's not the case. As long as your CPU supports 64bit virtualization, you should be fine. I'm running today 64 bit Linux on 32 Bit XP at the office.
 
I was running into hardware errors and warnings in Win 7 Pro (x201 i5 M540 2.53) - eventually just gave up and dual booted.

Could have been VMware bugginess or Bios settings (or user ineptitude). When I was poking around user forums it was suggested that it could have been a support issue and 64 on 64 was preferred. Blowing out windows mid-semester wasn't going to happen ;)
 
Back
Top