Boot Camp

[Dek]

And no, it's not the boot camp you're all thinking of

http://www.apple.com/macosx/bootcamp/

It's the beta of what will be a new application for the next version of OS X (Leopard, or 10.5).

As the page says, this program allows you to install and run Windows XP onto your Intel-based Mac (assuming you have at least 10 GB of hard drive space for the partition).

I looked at it a little and asked myself this...

Will both Apple and Microsoft benefit from this app?

Thoughts?

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Arthas_Zero on 2006-04-05 11:09 ]</font>

[GrumblyStuff]

Yes. MS gets to sell another copy of their OS (in theory). Apple gets to sell their computer.

[Eihwaz]

I think this is certainly a good thing. Now I can get a Mac, and if I don't like OS X, I can get Windows XP.

[Ketchup345]

The way I see it:
Microsoft stands to benefit.
Apple may benefit, but not too much in my opinion.

This is due to a few different things:

• One is the lack of cheap and low end Apple computers. Try comparing a Mac Mini with what you could build on your own (Windows or Linux) or buy from a major company (such as Dell). $824 for a Mini with a 120GB HDD, 512 RAM, and a DVD Burner (I managed to customize a Media Center Dell with slightly better stats for $50 less).
• Another is how few options people have when ordering a computer from Apple (you only get to really choose RAM and HDD, and optical drives for the Minis, less with the iMacs).
• The difficulty of repairing an Apple machine is also greater. Many people can diagnose and repair a broken "PC", but Macs are a little harder. Also, more people are familiar with fixing problems in Windows, but may not be familiar with fixing problems in a Mac OS.

Most people would probably want to see a benefit when buying a more expensive computer, and are likely to go for other options. The only reason people may switch is if they are truely interested in using Mac OS, in which case they may not be interested in Windows availablility on the same machine anyways. There of course, will be exceptions, but this will likely be useless to a majority of computer buyers.

[Dreadlock]

Well. Seems like we still have Panther, Lion, Cat, and cheetah left to go.