Note: if you’d rather not dual boot OS X and Windows 7, you can always install Windows 7 in a virtual environment using Parallels Desktop for Mac.
To install Windows 7 on your Mac using Boot Camp you will need the following:
- All firmware updates installed on your Mac (use Apple Button -> Software Update… to check)
- A Windows 7 installation DVD
- Your OS X Leopard or Snow Leopard installation DVD
- Around 30GB of empty hard drive space on your Mac. You can probably get away allocating less than 30GB to Windows 7, but it will leave very little room to install anything in Windows.
- An hour if all goes well, up to 5 hours if not
- Though not absolutely required, it’s a VERY good idea to have a complete and up to date Time Machine backup of OS X – it really came in handy for me. Because part of the process involves partitioning your drive, there’s always the distinct chance something will go wrong and everything will be wiped out.
- Patience, possibly a great deal of it. Having a book handy will also help kill time during the partitioning, installing etc).