Interesting Take On Apple Support For Boot Camp

[Just Doug1]

"The big technology news this past week was Apple's beta release of Boot Camp — software that allows Windows XP to be installed on three Macintosh computers. (The ones built with Intel chips, instead of PowerPCs.) The idea is that people who prefer the Mac but need to use software that's only available for Windows (and there's plenty) could have the best of both worlds.
Today, according to Information Week, the Mac's desktop share is less than 5%. But Boot Camp (http://www.apple.com/macosx/bootcamp/), say some people, will overcome that hurdle and help propel the Mac into the mainstream. Businesses will buy Macs for their employees, confident they'll be able to run all the needed applications.
Gamers, who have pretty much shunned the Mac because the gaming picks are slim (to say the least), will be able to run those games on their Mac hardware. In fact, from what I've read, those games will run pretty darn well, too.
Could this be the thing that gets Windows users to try the Mac and, eventually, convert? Wall Street apparently thought so, and Apple's stock took a jump after the announcement.
You know what? Boot Camp isn't going to propel the Mac into the mainstream. If anything, it will get Mac users to switch to Windows. Sure, it'll be terrific for Mac fans not wanting to give up their machine of choice but find more and more they need to use Windows. But Boot Camp doesn't offer any kind of compelling argument for PC users to buy Mac hardware."

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/columnist/andrewkantor/2006-04-13-boot-camp_x.htm

[Tim]

:htv:

you're a very bad man.

[Tim]

I guess really only time will tell. With bootcamp, allowing users to feel 'safe' and buy a mac and run their apps for windows, it kinda lays the chips down and 'calls it', all discussions, threads and threads of windows is better NO! OS X is superior aside.

It is hard to guess what the outcome of this will be. Maybe not a whole lot. Perhaps if anything, on the conservative side, you could say that it will simply increase mac sales a certain amount. Judging from the buzz around the major mac forums, I would doubt that it will convert users of OS X anytime soon, as most of them, if they want windows for anything like gaming or what have you, tend to buy or build a pc fo the purpose (or run the horrible VPC). This simply will remove the need to building/buying PC hardware in many cases, and leading to more intel mac sales. Smart I think. Even I'm thinking about the idea of ditching the new pc I built and snapping an intel imac to run both OSs.

The one thing, that most windows users haven't grasped, is what happens after continued use of OS X. I have heard plenty about windows users reactions after trying OS X for a couple days. However, I know, as do most OS X switchers, what happens when you get used to it...
;)

common revelations:

you mean I don't have to reformat it and reinstall EVER?

you mean it doesn't slow down over time and get bloated? It's gets better over time? huh?

Odd, there seems to be more applications available than I thought everybody said, there isn't much I haven't found that I needed, hmmm...

When I tried to do this on pc, I needed this driver, installed this way, ended up with 3 of them in my device manager, and I was frustrated. I ran OS X, and I plugged it in. Then I used iLife and captured, edited, and posted it to the web in half an hour.

Now I'm not overstating this stuff. Some of this might be waved off by some. But, we are talking about the masses, who really don't care about cleaning their registries, educating themselves on how to troubleshoot the usb device troubles, the ltest way to ward off spywares, and how to back up all their files because they now need to wipe and reformat.

While this may not switch all windows users, I can't help but think that Apple has thought this one through very very long and hard...

[Tim]

here's a funny rebuttal...
http://www.macworld.com/weblogs/macword/2006/04/andrewkantor/index.php?lsrc=mwrss

[Child of Cupertino]

Without clicking the link, I can tell you that the opinion column was authored by Andrew Kantor. The guy talks out of his ass, to put it mildly. My reader reply to him is at his home page (http://www.kantor.com/usatoday/boot_camp.shtml). My alias there is Mac Duff.

[Just Doug1]

I just posted it as it does offer a different perspective, even if you think Mr. Kantor's arguments are all wrong.

Boot Camp shows simply that XP runs on Apple gear and that with the exception of boot differences and a hardware security solution (i.e. Palladium?) seems to also show that X would run on non-Apple gear.

The best comment I read was one we all can agree on.

Let's see what a year brings.

[Tim]

I don't think there's any disagreement about the ability for either OS to run on either systems. After all, it's all the same transisters and diodes now isn't it?
:)

let's face it, I think the G5 looks damn cool, but if I could build a smokin dual core amd system full out and run OS X with full support, that'd be my next upgrade. (or quad core whatHaveYou...)