“Apple Computer’s switch to Intel CPUs for its new desktops and laptops brought up a fascinating question: Can the Intel-based Macs run Windows operating systems and software natively? Indeed they can, thanks to the beta release of Boot Camp, a free dual-boot enabler designed to let users install Windows XP on Intel-based Macs. Apple says dual-boot capability will be built into Leopard, the next major release of its OS X operating system,” Richard Hoffman reports for InformationWeek. “I ran Boot Camp on a new iMac with a 2-GHz Intel Core Duo processor and installed Windows XP Pro almost without a hitch–so smoothly you’d hardly know Boot Camp was beta software. Just be sure not to choose anything other than the C: partition to install Windows to, as you could instantly wipe out your OS X partition accidentally. I then ran a full range of Windows software, including Office, Visio, Outlook, Photoshop, and graphics-intensive games.”
“Boot Camp’s execution is good, and the concept is a stroke of brilliance on Apple’s part. Apple doesn’t sell or support Windows on Macs and says it has no intention to preinstall Windows on its products. Regardless, Apple now has a fast, capable, stylish line of computers that runs a wide range of operating systems natively: OS X, Windows XP, and Linux. That’s something to get excited about, or if you’re Dell or Hewlett-Packard, a bit concerned,” Hoffman reports.
Full article here.
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Related article:
Dude, you got a Dell? What are you, stupid? Only Apple Macs run both Mac OS X and Windows! – April 05, 2006
I wonder if Apple will cause Gateway to finally die, take market share from Dell and HP and send Lenovo back where they came from?
Apple moving closer to being able to work with Windows???
Apple considers Sun’s ZFS for Mac OS X
http://www.macnn.com/articles/06/05/01/zfs.for.mac.os.x/
Apple is considering porting Sun’s modern performance file system to Mac OS X. Developed for Sun’s Solaris 10 operating system, the ZFS file system offers extremely fast performance, support for virtually unlimited capacity, advanced data integrity routines, and more. ZFS, based on a transactional object model, removes most of the traditional constraints on the order of issuing I/Os, which results in “huge performance gains,” according to Sun.
Sun touts the ZFS as “endian-neutral,” allowing users to use storage disks in different computers with different processors.
Truth be told, most people just don’t care or see no purpose in multiple OSs on the same computer, this is such a none issue it’s funny. Apple will be lucky to pick up 0.1% market share increase from Boot Camp or other similiar software. If I had an Intel Mac, I’d install it as I have one piece of software I could use at home, but I’m not like the other 99.9% of computer users and either are most people reading MDN.
People are always quick to point out that Apple can’t compete with the $599 Dell/HP/Gateway crap. True. Instead, Apple will ignore the slim margin at the bottom of the market and compete at a profitable level. This means that if Dell/HP/Gateway do lose sales to Apple it will be from their more expensive models that actually have some profit in the price tag. Dell, HP and Gateway should be worried about their profits.
Just wait for the FUDmeisters to crank this one up: They’ll claim that Mac machines can now attract malware designed for a “wide range of operating systems.”
If a Windows owner hates Windows and buys a Mactel, he is not going to put Windows on his Mactel.
If a Windows owner loves Windows he will not buy a Mac.
This porting is for a very small number of Mac owners that see the need for running a Windows-only program.
Dell and others should be worried if for some reason Windows XP and other Windows software on a Mac runs faster and better than on Dell hardware.
how long before Apple is accused of world domination?
If Apple could figure out a way to shield the Mac from malware on the windows partition, then they would have a real selling point to the unwashed masses. Imagine that the only secure way to run windows is to run it on a mac. Is it possible? Apple is adventurous and innovative, but I don’t know if even they have the smarts or the resources to pull it off. It would certainly distract from other necessary things.
God IntelliTXT is annoying. Unbelievable.
If you couldn’t go with macs because of some critical work application, now you can. Or if one spouse wants mac, and the other windows…here’s a solution.
Re: Queezzie
“If a Windows owner hates Windows and buys a Mactel, he is not going to put Windows on his Mactel.”
Though you are right that most users moving because they hate MS are going to try to avoid using boot camp, they will like having the safety net should they discover something they have to do that simply requires windows … though if it is not a game they would be better off with virtualization software.
“If a Windows owner loves Windows he will not buy a Mac.”
This is not true either. There are a large number of people that envy the stylishness of the mac hardware, but have no desire to switch (usually because they do not know what they are missing). These are generally upscale customers willing to pay a premium for style – and they may see just enough of Mac OS X to develop an appreciation for Apple’s style in software too.
“This porting is for a very small number of Mac owners that see the need for running a Windows-only program.”
If you believe this then you must be in a niche market. EVERY mac owner I know save one requires a PC to run something. 3 have already bought intel Macs since boot camp came out. Several more are simply waiting for their PC to die to replace it with an intel Mac so they can use it for both. Several more are just waiting for “wife approval”
“Dell and others should be worried if for some reason Windows XP and other Windows software on a Mac runs faster and better than on Dell hardware.”
They need to be worried – big time. They work on much lower margins because a significant portion of their sales are the low end computers in the $500 range. The can expect to see these profits dip even further. The real problem is that they will sell just as many bargain systems but well sell fewer of the mid to high end systems that Apple will be pulling away. The performance of windows on the mac is on par with that of PC’s with similar hardware. Apple will now be using the same CPU’s as they are so the performance should be expected to stay on par with their systems. Dell and HP will now face yet another round of shrinking margins while their stockholders what Apple’s shares skyrocketing. This is a bad combination for companies selling virtual commodities.
“This porting is for a very small number of Mac owners that see the need for running a Windows-only program.”
Time will tell how large the dual-boot or virtualization group will be. In the short run, I suspect a key value will be to prevent any further defection of mac users to Windows, an unfortunate but undeniable reality over the past 10 years — I’ve even wavered several times given my need to run Windows-specific programs. Now anyone inclined to stay on the mac side will have no problem doing so, and as dual-boot and virtualization mature with Leopard, they will provide a nice insurance policy for a steady stream of switchers. Frankly, Apple couldn’t handle the logistics of rapid, massive upswing in switchers, so a steady climb of a point or two in market share per year would probably suit them just fine.
If a Windows owner hates Windows and buys a Mactel, he is not going to put Windows on his Mactel.
wrong
If a Windows owner loves Windows he will not buy a Mac.
wrong again
This porting is for a very small number of Mac owners that see the need for running a Windows-only program.
wrong, yet gain… see a pattern?
Dell and others should be worried if for some reason Windows XP and other Windows software on a Mac runs faster and better than on Dell hardware.
right
Apple doesn’t sell low end crap so Dell has no worries!
“how long before Apple is accused of world domination?”
On the same day Ballmer stops hurting innocent office furniture.
Dell and HP concerned?
Maybe…They both seem to cater the business market more so than the consumer market.
However, those individuals that have a choice are now given the ammunition to move to Apple only without the need to buy another computer. This can only be good news for the Apple faithful.
Question: Is it still a Mac if it’s running Windows? Or is it just an Apple computer?
The only way to get a virus on a Mac is to install XP on it via Boot Camp and run it naked on the net.
Anyone who tells you otherwise is a complete idiot.
If a Windows owner hates Windows and buys a Mactel, he is not going to put Windows on his Mactel.
right
——-
If a Windows owner loves Windows he will not buy a Mac.
right again
———–
This porting is for a very small number of Mac owners that see the need for running a Windows-only program.
right, yet gain… see a pattern?
————
Dell and others should be worried if for some reason Windows XP and other Windows software on a Mac runs faster and better than on Dell hardware.
right
I think this bootcamp beta is more of a defensive-type move my Apple to keep Apple owners from buying a Windows PC.
For all Apple´s efforts over the last years it´s Market share as barely budged upwards. That means for every Window switching to Mac, their are also Mac people buying Windows machines.
(I know, I am one of them. And I know three others.)
Hoping that Leopard has some nice surprise in it regarding running Windows programs then my next computer might be an Apple.
I hope next summers Mac Mini line has 200+ GB hard drives…cause I SOOOO want to run Linux and Windows.
Ya know this is all about choice. Apple is right there offering choices that Dull and HP can’t. Let the winblows folks run xp on their macs. How many mac users run VPC because we have to for an oddball app right now even before Bootcamp?
This is the beginning of the demise of Monkey Boy and the minions of the mediocre. The strategy is sheer genius. I will never dual boot my mac, virtualize YES, but right now this is for the windows croud.
Besides, how many other hardware people are building EFI into their little “real pcs”(LOL Monkey Boy hope you fester in your own puffiness…hehe)?
This will force the other hardware companies to push for EFI, since it is much better than the dated BIOS. Who are they gonna push…….MonkeyBoy!
Vista may or may not be EFI compatible, time will tell, and I say this as the Vista specs change daily it seems. BUT you will see the hardware folks pushing M$ a bit, and at that point, all we have to do is dual boot to our hearts content, virtualize if we want, and watch our APPL stock.
BIOS is old dated and dead, Apple just proved it, and now M$ will have to content withg being BIOS AND EFI compatible…love that little twist….think it might make the trainwreck explode, could be…HAHAHAHAHA
gheem: “I will never dual boot my mac, virtualize YES, but right now this is for the windows croud.”
Why, for the windows crowd? You can run XP with virtualization in Mac with Intel and shield XP from the net: XP in a box unable to ‘talk’ to the net. The only ‘secure’ Windows.
Look at parallels.com
iPodder….
I am talking about virtualization like Parrallels or VPC. I use that.
What I am saying is that I will never dual boot a native xp install onto a physical partion.
With virtualization, I can copy/paste, blah blah, and I actually run Solaris, Linux, and a few other OS’s built for x86.
But I do not want to reboot my mac into a native install of XP.
Sorry about the confusion……..
Offering Windows support provides those with a catalogue of windows programmes – especially kids programmes – the option to switch the replacement family PC without the kids going bananas.
When they have tried the OSX software that comes bundled in iLife they will use Windows less and less. Its a well placed strategy to break the 5-6% barrier that has kept Apple small ( in world domination terms that is).
It’s like tickling trout. You have to coax the conservative and those with limited means gradually.
God IntelliTXT is annoying. Unbelievable.
Even more annoying are the people who keep complaining about it helplessly rather than just editing their hosts file or downloading a safari plugin to block it. I edited my host file weeks ago and haven’t seen an intellitxt link since.