Santos said:
It's amazing how many Mac users enjoy windows. People are just going to buy apples to install windows. POINTLESS! Who cares if it runs faster, I just can't wait for those switchers to catch the first major virus a Mac has ever seen and destroy their machine. For those whose lives have just been made happier, congrats, but for the Mac world, in my opinion, it's the wrong way to go!
As a double dipper I am less sure. I need windows for my day job but distinctly prefer OS X. Right now I carry two laptops, my PB which I do most of my work on, and my ThinkPad on which I do my windows work. Sure, a Windows virus could potentially damage both OSes, but that reflects negatively on Windows, not OS X. If that happened once too often to a Apple user which OS do you think they are more likely to stick with?
I can see this coming from two (and a half) directions. In a pithy statement it is Apple throwing in the towel or it is Apple throwing down the gauntlet.
The first possibility is that Steve Jobs, and by extension Apple, is looking to transition into a seller of Windows computers. i.e. becoming a pure hardware company. This is not an unbelievable reason. Apple has always been good at innovative design and lateral thinking even if their revision A hardware is usually glitchy.
While most computer manufacturers "play it safe" and follow the same basic mold, Apple takes the road less travelled. Things like the mini and the iMac are computers you are unlikely to see from another mainstream computer manufacturer first. Even the shuttle, despite it's great form factor, is a niche market. So even without OS X, Apple distinguishes itself from the pack.
This is not why i think Apple came out with boot Camp though.
I am leaning towards the second possibility. That Steve jobs, and by extension Apple, in unafraid of a comparison of OS X and Windows on the same hardware. I am going to make some lifelong enemies here and say SK
should be afraid. OS X is in my opinion better, but it is not the OS that so many have entrenched in thier habits. For the 30 something market, who have been using windows for 20 years and by gosh know it, switching to OS X is a leap of faith. It is different and so it requires work. Computer users don't want to work at using their computer, they just want to get what they need done. Once you learn OS X this is easy for most general computing uses, but you have to relearn first. This is the market that I would classify as the swing market. If Apple can convince 2% of that market they will have a resounding success. I think the target market is the young bucks, 14-20 something power users, who are a lot less engrained in their ways. If Apple can convince this crowd to not only buy a Mac, but to use OS X, then it is a victory for Apple against the Dells of the world. While this may take a bit away from MS as well, it is not that big a deal yet, it will take a decade with a string of consistent succeses for Apple to truly dent MS. I see many bloggers saying the crosshairs are on MS, I disagree. I think by this move Apple is showing that they do not see MS as the competition but the MS based PC. It is clear the see Windows as inferior (or at least market it that way) but they are not denying that it is wanted by the hardware consumers.
And the half. If Apple sells a Mac and the user decides she wants to use it just for windows Apple still wins. They have sold a computer and a copy of OS X. It the users decides that she likes OS X more than Windows than Apple wins twice, with the upgrades and software market. Either way though Apple wins by selling the hardware.
So riddle me this. Do you think there will be a reseller market who will sell you a Mac with Windows preinstalled and
supported much like YDL on the PPC Macs? I think it inevitable and I will go even farther and say it would be welcomed by Apple. If said company can find a way to provide true tier 1 support they stand a chance at getting into some very lucrative markets.
The ultimate irony is I am in no rush to dual boot my Mac even if I had a Intel based MBP. It is easier for me to work with certain functions and aspects of my job being on separate systems. For 95% of the world though there is little reason to need to work on 2 or more computers at the same time. I supose I will get a MBP around the time 10.5 comes out, but I am in no rush.
