A Question About Boot Camp: Why?

A Question About Boot Camp WhyI just read this Cnet article about Boot Camp, Apple’s effort to make their machines run Windows.

Have to admit it was a little hard concentrating, mainly because of the question that kept going on and on in my head: But In God’s Name, WHY?

To quote:

There’s more to this than playing Minesweeper on a Mac, of course. Aside from the wow factor, Boot Camp, especially when it becomes a standard feature of the Mac OS, should usher in a new era for the Mac platform. Though you’ll need to pony up for a copy of Windows, your Mac will be able to run any software that its PC competitors can run, not too mention all the Apple apps that PCs can’t run. With Boot Camp, for example, you can run the iLife apps and the latest 3D game, say, F.E.A.R., on the same system.

Oh yeah I’m all game about running Win apps on a Mac, like that new thing Trojan.Emcodec, and the i-just-gotta-have Adware-Gator, or the old classic W32.Beagle.DZ.

But still, let me ask you, since I’m not a Mac user myself, was I dreaming, or weren’t Mac users such deep-seated haters of all things Microsoft?

And according to the article, aside from having to shell out extra $$ for WinXP, and even cases of slower performance (!), it’s very likely you’re going to have to deal with incompatibility issues such as drivers, middleware and all those niggling things that, oh you know, were the reasons why they use Macs to begin with.

So other than the geekiness such a development results in (“ooohh we can double boot!”), I’d like to shelve this new development in the “Forget it” department, or maybe directly out the Windows (pun intended), why don’t you.

So, a shoutout to Mac users out there, if you want to run Windows, buy a Windows machine. If you still wanna double boot, there’s this thing called Linux.

4 thoughts on “A Question About Boot Camp: Why?”

  1. The problem with Linux desktop is that it tries to be Windowy. Look at the KDE or GNOME “start” button. But the reason that these opensource desktop adapts the Windows feel is because of the sheer number of Windows user. They make this as a selling point.

    Why Windows on Mac hardware? Same reasoning. It’s all about market share. Apple thinks that by luring Windows users to Mac hardware, these people will have rare and shoved-to-your-face opportunity to have OSX as well, in which, Apple projects a mindset conversion.

    IMHO, and though I like Linux, the Linux Desktop is still far from being there. If the the problem of Linux on x86 machines is driver availability and software maturity how much more for on a Mac hardware?

  2. thanks for the comment. honestly i wasnt too sure about the linux alternative either. However my point was if it’s just the geekness factor of dual booting that they’re going for, then linux will do just as well.

    And yeah, re market share, that’s all well and good. but if we stick to practical Oissues, I’d still recommend a Win machine to run Windows.

    Of course that might change when it gets better, and maybe there will be users out there who’ll find this thing useful. But I’m sure they’ll be a minority.

    The evolution of Mac OSes have resulted in terrific, easy to use dream machines. From a user standpoint (as opposed to an Apple-making-more-money standpoint) I still don’t get why you’d want to ruin it by introducing Windows into the mix.

  3. got your point.

    I’m no fan of Mac (I actually hate eye candies, so GNOME or Windows classic is just right for me). I bloody hate Windows. And no die-hard liking of Linux. However, I’d dream of the reverse: My souped-up Thinkpad with Linux (and XP) to boot OSX. Will that rival Boot Camp’s geekness factor?

  4. Double booting and especially, triple booting is uber geekiness for sure :). But from my experience after you’ve tried it, that’s it. That’s not enough to justify buying a XP license.

    Boot Camp will need really compelling reasons why someone needs to switch back and forth between two OSes to justify the cost of buying XP. Something like legacy Win apps, or as a testbed for developers.

    Imho I think Apple offered Boot Camp to make a quick buck on the people who want to try a multi OS and that’s it. I can’t see the practicality there for most users.

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