Confused About Windows Issue

Can th ecurrent line of new iMacs run OSX and Windows? I am cornfused lol.

Yes. But you need to buy your own copy of Windows.

corysw said:

Yes. But you need to buy your own copy of Windows.

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and get a copy of bootcamp. And find a really good reason :tusks:

Be aware though, that when you put Windoes on your computer, you just open a massive flood gate of security issues that you need to get used to that were just never there on a Mac.

dimagex20 said:

Be aware though, that when you put Windoes on your computer, you just open a massive flood gate of security issues that you need to get used to that were just never there on a Mac.

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Agreed, although it will only hit the windows partition.

I have heard though that if your Windows partition gets a Blue Screen Of Death, that some of your files could get damaged (also on the Mac OS side) and should then be checked out to make sure that nothing is corrupted.

dimagex20 said:

I have heard though that if your Windows partition gets a Blue Screen Of Death, that some of your files could get damaged (also on the Mac OS side) and should then be checked out to make sure that nothing is corrupted.

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How would that work? The Mac software is located on another partition within a different file system; thus, running Windows on a Mac will not expose the Mac software to more malware.

Keep in mind, BootCamp is Beta software...

Well quite a few viruses on Windows are known to just completely corrupt the Hard Drive, thus, corrupting your Mac partition.

dimagex20 said:

Well quite a few viruses on Windows are known to just completely corrupt the Hard Drive, thus, corrupting your Mac partition.

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Yes, a Windows virus can corrupt a NTFS or FAT hard drive (or more specifically the partition) by essentially messing with the directory, but *how* does it corrupt a file system that is structured completely differently? (not trying to be argumentative here, just curious)

What is Bootcamp? I would only use Windows to play Half Life I and II, and Counter Strike

to eliminate this problem get a second hardrive just for windows

caveatipss said:

What is Bootcamp? I would only use Windows to play Half Life I and II, and Counter Strike

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bootcamp is, from what I understand, a BIOS emulator so that windows may run on the EFI intel macs.

Although... I could be mistaking this for the bounty program.

If you would like more infomation on Boot Camp, Wikipedia has a topic still in development but still has some infomation.

In a nutshell: Installing Boot Camp Beta onto you Mac computer, you are signing a waiver. When you sign that you agree that if your Mac has any troubles, you cannot sue/agrivate Apple for your troubles.

techound1 said:

Yes, a Windows virus can corrupt a NTFS or FAT hard drive (or more specifically the partition) by essentially messing with the directory, but *how* does it corrupt a file system that is structured completely differently? (not trying to be argumentative here, just curious)

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It probably won't effect the Mac partition at all, but you just lost a chunk of your hard drive, and to fix it, you would have to reformat therefore the only possible way it could affect the Mac partition.

techound1 said:

Yes, a Windows virus can corrupt a NTFS or FAT hard drive (or more specifically the partition) by essentially messing with the directory, but *how* does it corrupt a file system that is structured completely differently? (not trying to be argumentative here, just curious)

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I'm not sure if any current virus actually does this, but there's no reason it couldn't just tell the hard disk, "Start writing zeros from track 1, sector 1, through track 999999, sector 999999" (Or something like that.)

dimagex20 said:

Be aware though, that when you put Windoes on your computer, you just open a massive flood gate of security issues that you need to get used to that were just never there on a Mac.

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No, it's not security issues, it's problems with people who don't know how to use the OS. For example, I've had my Windows partition for about four hours, and the first thing I did was install Norton (which I had on CD thank god) and Firefox.

It's like Mac's OS. I guarantee you that a Windows user could screw it up (and my friends have often tried, unfortunately I was right there... idiots lol)

mr g5 said:

to eliminate this problem get a second hardrive just for windows

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As far as I know, Boot camp doesn't work from an external disk. And fitting a second harddrive in an iMac, MacBook Pro or Mac mini (the actual Intel Macs) is quite a challenge...

BlindingLights said:

I've had my Windows partition for about four hours, and the first thing I did was install Norton (which I had on CD thank god) and Firefox.

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Was it a Norton package or just AV? Unless you're already behind a network or harware firewall, get a firewall in there ASAP! PC World ran a test a few months ago and it takes mere minutes for an un-firewalled PC to be hijacked. zonelabs dot com has a freebie - look for zone alarm stand alone firewall. [more for everyone's edification]

technologist said:

I'm not sure if any current virus actually does this, but there's no reason it couldn't just tell the hard disk, "Start writing zeros from track 1, sector 1, through track 999999, sector 999999" (Or something like that.)

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Hmmm... but would the PC partition have the permissions to do that on the Mac side?