Comments on: Mac fans sign up for Boot Camp

Going against type, the Apple faithful are optimistic about bringing Windows XP to Intel-based Macs.

[bobby_brady]

What the hell is the point?

Why would anyone want XP on a Mac? Buy a PC is you want XP!

[jamesm1973]

perhaps..

...you want a Mac but are 'required' to use a PC for certain work based apps OR enjoy games that are PC only?

[jamesm1973]

perhaps..

...you want a Mac but are 'required' to use a PC for certain work based apps OR enjoy games that are PC only?

[mike.gw]

The company will pay for my Mac now!

As an IT manager, I need certain programs to remotely manage my servers and network from home in my off hours. My firm allows me to purchase just about any Windows machine I need to do this, but not a Mac. I use both Mac and PC at home, and now I can get the job to spring for a MacBook Pro and consolidate under one PC!

[fakespam]

No kidding.

No kidding. I don't play Xbox on PS2.

[scweezil]

Why do you care

Why when I can kill 2 birds with one stone.

[thedreaming]

the point of it all

just as pc people want to run macosx, mac people want to play pc games and software. They still love their mac hardware, but if they can also get away with playing cool games and apps for the pc on their macs, that makes their macs better than ever. Pcs still can't macosx and I would love to run it. Every time I go to compusa, I play with the macs. My ultimate setup would have a mac, and two pcs. One running windows and one running linux (probably fedora core 5).

[nicmart]

The noisy Mac fanatics speak for few

The obnoxious Mac loyalists are few in number but loud in mouth.
Truth is that a much larger number of Mac users, such as myself,
will find good uses for Windows on our computers. The very best
part of this is that it will isolate, and I hope silence, the frantic
loudmouths.

[Ilgaz]

You should buy Alienware

They look better than Apple if you were only caring about a box
looking nice running windows.

Everyone knows who are "fanatics". How come a decision can be
supported by 99% of people?

There must be something wrong here.

[jasontho]

My reason...

Having windows dual boot on a mac is just a way to wean those
microsoft people over to OS X. When they get a taste of their new
OS they can kick the old Windows bug. As for long time Mac users.
Some of us are FORCED to use Windows whether it be in a job,
school or whatever, it would be nice to have it on there just in case.

[burlap]

The beginning of the end for OS X

There are very few Windows users who will buy this stuff. They can do everything with Windows that they need or want. Most Windows users have no interest in Mac. This is so Mac users can run Windows. That is all it will ever be. Eventually, like OS/2's better Windows than Windows, it will be a migration path to Windows for Mac users.

[swift2--2008]

Great move

Your reporter seems to want to foster an image of the Mac user as a "fanatic." There are some, but the great majority are quite reasonable in their preference for OS X. Now, as Nicole says, I won't have to buy a second computer just to run the GPS software, or some other video processing software. I will be able to do some work from home, which requires a PC now.

Apple users did get fanatical during the time when the company was most threatened, back in the middle '90s. It's because of us that the company didn't disappear before Jobs could return. The problem was that the company was being run by MBAs, who commoditize life and fail to understand a single living thing.

[jvargas92]

About time

The benefits of this are outstanding; one machine that can support
both OSes while keeping our user base (95% Mac) on the same
platform is great. Not only will we save money and time, but we'll
have one less hardware configuration to support.

[ServedUp]

Switching?

Can this mean instead of converting Windows users?

It could be converting Mac users instead.

I think Apple is playing with fire.

[Peter Bonte]

Mac users won't switch

They all know what Windows is, that's why they work on Mac. Mac
users will only switch to Windows when it provides them with a
better experience, performance and safety than the Mac OS, if it
ever gets that bad then Windows has won it fair 'n square. It's an
open and fair battle now (when osX also runs on PC's that is).

[Jackson Cracker]

Not likely

If they want to keep using their Mac applications,
they need to keep using MacOS. If they want to keep
using MacOS, they need to keep using their Apple
hardware as a dongle.

[scweezil]

Amazing

I use Windows all day ay work...Nope, not going to happen. It
always amazes me how many Windows users assume that most
Mac users have never touched Windows. I would venture to say
that most Mac users have used Windows & made a clear choice.
Why does that seem to bother Windows zealots so much? They
continue to use the same old cop out zealot remarks & ill-
informed arguments...of course most of them have never used
anything else but Windows. Sure there will be a few that have
tried both. I'll bet that most of the people that resort to name
calling don't know there A$$ from a whole in the ground when it
comes to anything Apple. Windows is why I use a Mac. It is
probably why most Mac users choose a Mac. Get over yourself.

[aabcdefghij987654321]

There will always be a few..

...who will switch but that goes both ways. I'm more interested in seeing how the Mac hardware shows when Tom's Hardware and other well known benchmark companies check out this "Best hardware" claim.

And of course now you also have the ability to benchmark applications that have both Mac and PC versions. The claims that Mac and OS/X are faster are now going to either be proven, disproven or continue as before (anyone want to bet that no matter what result there's going to be long and bitter arguments <g>?).

[fakespam]

Who?

Who are these "fanatics"?

Most Apple users I know don't give a rat's ass about Windows on
Mac, or Windows in general.

And vice versa.

[Jackson Cracker]

Exactly the point

That's why they're called Apple FANatics.

[mistergoodman]

It's the beginning of the end for OS X

It's the beginning of the end for OS X. Developers will be able to "support the Macintosh" without writing OS X versions of their apps. Writing apps for Windows AND OS X is expensive, and you bet at least some companies will quickly see this as a way to save money. And all it takes is ONE critical Windows-only app for a Macintosh user to find themselves booted all the time in Windows. Most people AREN'T going to be constantly rebooting their machine into a different operating system every hour. They're going to find themselves spending more and more of their time in one OS. That OS won't necessarily be the most secure OS, but more likely will be the one that supports more of the apps they want or NEED to run.

But I reckon Apple will still be around as a hardware company after OS X gives up the ghost. When the time comes, they'll likely even develop software to ease the transition to Windows. I don't see Apple or its customers being hurt by this... just dead-enders who insist on sticking with OS X, long after Apple and most developers have moved on.

[open-mind]

Plenty of reasons to develop for and use OS X.

OS X dev tools are free.

OS X has no malware hassles or costs.

OS X has no annoying big-brother installation registrations.

OS X has more features and a better GUI than Windows.

OS X will soon be able to run Windows apps without Windows.

OS X has some superior applications like iLife and iWork.

[Lindy01]

I could not agree more

Not only will developers realize it users will too.

So your a MAC users loyal to the end but hey you want to game every once in a while so you have a PC...now you dont need one.

Or you want to connect to a security minded company that will allow only "strictly locked down/patched/virus software checked and certificated XP boxes" to connect to work. So you have a PC as well.

Now you can do it all on your MAC by booting XP.

My bet is you get tired of going back and forth...and you stay in Windows more than OS-X....but hey your still loyal to the freak clan with your over priced PC hardware...so you feel ok never booting your OS-X and even though its a PC in Apples clothes you feel satisfied.

[Ilgaz]

Mac Fans or Fanatics?

The "fanatics" are like cult members, they transform their beliefs
when "leader" says something different.

Everyone blames "nay sayers" as "zealots" but in fact, people were
against DESKTOP Mactel (yes,not G4 laptop which apple didn't buy
newer models) was meaning this. Exactly this.

OS X is.. Dead.

Yep... OS X is dead.

What kind of half-ass statement is that? Are you mentally retarded? Just can't see the plain truth? Apple does things that no one else has before.

Do you know what NeXT was? Well, a lot of that is in OS X, and guess what, the ideas behind it are over a decade old, and still to this day they're ahead of the Windows environment.

I think you need a reality check.

[azmacman]

Oh Joy

Finally, my Mac will tell me that "it's now safe to turn off my
computer" :P

[Ilgaz]

I bought mac to run OS X on PowerPC

I really think of switching back to windows as it seems Apple
gave up computer business for iPod thing.

What left? PowerPC gone,Openfirmware gone, Firewire 800 gone,
OS X will be ditched soon by its "gaming" users.

Windows with commercial quality security software looks fine. If
Apple offers windows "dual" boot, I will "mono" boot to the best
system on Intel.

[Jackson Cracker]

You can still dual-boot PowerPC

with Linux or FreeBSD

[Craig Stevenson]

Where are you getting this from?

As a member of the Mac internet community, through various
mailing lists, e-publications and usenet groups, I am hearing
absolutely no negative rumblings from the so-called Mac-
faithful regarding Boot Camp and running Windows on MacIntel
machines. Everybody pretty much sees this development as a
positive move on Apple's part and no one is offended or hurt by
the thought of WindowsXP running on a Mac. Some of us have
been running various flavors of Windows through VirtualPC
(and/or SoftWindows before that) for years!

Now some people are more excited than others. Some see this
as really exciting, good news, while others see it as a very minor
happening. Noboody thinks it's bad news except maybe people
who are afraid this may reduce the number of apps ported over
to the Mac from Windows and that's mainly the gaming crowd.

Windows is a fact of life and here to stay and we all know that.

[scweezil]

Predicting the future.

We'll see. I highly doubt it.

[Lindy01]

Ohhh the logic

The MAC freaks kill me with the ill-logic they spew....

First it was MAC OS is better....than XP. Then it was XP users are switching to the MAC...all 6 of them.

Now its "you can Windows XP on better, more reliable hardware".

Ok coffe time...have a cup and wake up.

Besides the lame plastic on the outside of a Intel MAC its the same CPU, RAM, Hard Drive, Video card, and ROM Drives on the inside. The motherboard is made by Intel....just like the ones used in Dell.

The difference is simply the amount money you want to pay for the plastic. Plus you will need to buy a copy of XP unless your a Pirate...and then none of it will be supported by anyone but YOU.

Sounds like a fantastic deal....NOT

Uhhh, still don't get it...

If anything wouldn't it make more sense to get OS X to run on a regular PC (which has already been done) , than to spend a premium for a box that is now just a PC?

Sorry MAC people, I am not trying to insult you, I really am not....but once Apple switched to Intel, your just getting a PC. Gone are the days of the "better hardware" design that Apple supposedly had (still not trying to insult, just worked on a LOT of MAC's in my field service days...) and here are the days of small margins and realistic returns.

We now just have PC's....not Apple and PC's

I am just saying...

[aabcdefghij987654321]

Apple still thinks of itself as a hardware company

And they need to control the hardware the MacOS runs on because they don't have the kind of money MS has to test their OS on every sort of hardware configuration so they make sure their OS only runs on their hardware keeping their support costs much lower.

[Earl Benser]

You need to learn more about....

.... the new Mac's. They aren't PC's, even though they use Intel
processors now.