Why do people buy a Mac to run Windows?

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Having had a Powerbook a few years ago, when that packed up I foolishly went back to windows and have only just gone back to Mac. I have also managed to convert my wife and persuaded her to return her recently purchased Toshiba notebook and get a Macbook instead, and she loves it.

So, the question is, why do people buy a Mac and then run windows on it? I understand some people probably have no choice due to work issues, but for the home user I really can't understand it. I will never buy a PC again and have learned from my mistakes to stick with Mac from now on.

I hate windows with a passion, just wondered what the reasoning was for people using it on a Mac if they have no real need to.
 
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Great question. I've never understood that myself. I've actually seen users, on this forum, trying to install Bootcamp mulitiple times, and cursing every step on the way.
Just because you can, doesn't mean you should. ;)
 
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The hardware is nicer, so if you must use Windows you might as well do it on a nice machine.

I just use XP for games, and OS X for everything else.
 
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Gaming is pretty non-existent on a Mac.
Except for work or game related issues, I wonder the same thing.
Maybe people just need the familiarity. Although a mess, it's what most people use as an OS.
 
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I won't even use bootcamp, I think that is a step to far. I run WinXP in VirtualBox. I only use it because I need Visual Studio for a VB class I am required to take, not of my own free will mind you. My teacher just laughs and repeatedly tells me not to fight the world and to just buy a PC. Some people just have no clue.

I have not run windows in about 8 years, all my boxes are either Slackware, Gentoo, or PCLos. There is no need in this day of Virtual machines to subject one of my boxes to the abject horror of a windows installation, especially not this one, lest it taint my beautiful macbook.
 
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I run windows because with out it i dont have access to a national database. I have to admit installing windows thru boot camp was actually very easy.

in a given month i probably use windows for about an hour
 
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I just got my MacBook Air and this is my first Mac. I have been using microsoft since the early 80's. I installed bootcamp and XP for A couple of programs that do not have a Mac OS client.
 
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If your Mac is the only hardware you've got and you want to play Windows games ocassionally, then I guess there might be a reason for the bootcamp install, but for any other Windows apps I would stick with VMWare Fusion.

I have a large music collection built up over some 20 years and I was managing it under Windows using Helium Music Manager, but now I can run it on the Mac under VMWare no problem. (Unfortunately there is no native Mac version of Helium, and iTunes just doesn't cut it for me).
 
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I use windows for certain devices that don't have Mac support, and some web-based applications that only work in Windows. Other than that its OS X the rest of the time
 
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I use it mostly for little things like watching "My Boys" on TBS.com. It will only play on Windows.
 
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Gaming. Which has gotten very respectable on mac hardware
 
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This is my first iMac and I'm loving it, I'd hate to run bootcamp or get Windows running on here. I really miss my graphics program Paintshop Pro 10 on windows though. I still have my old HP pc so might get it fixed and use it for my graphics, but hopefully in the future Mac may allow exe files.

But right now I don't have enough mac knowledge to muck my iMac up lol
 
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Gaming. Which has gotten very respectable on mac hardware

True, true. With recent developments it should get even better, too. For the life of me, I can't remember the company, but it wasn't Cedega, Cider or any of the other big names (I don't think so anyway), but it was a huge development because it allows Windows, Mac and Linux game development to occur concurrently - no waiting X months for a release of a non-windows version.
 
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For some people, there is no choice at this time. They have to run windows in VM or Parallel. I, for example, have been considering the option in order to run Photoshop Elements 2. But I'm more inclined to ditch PE2 at this time, because I really don't want to load Windows in my iMac.
 
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Like you already stated, some people must do it due to software needs. Personally, I refuse to taint my beloved Mac with such filth! And if I want to play games, I'll buy a gaming system. Just my $.02...
 
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My reason for running Windows is that I need to run certain non-Mac audio applications such as Fruity Loops.

Not exactly work-related (yet!) but the vast majority of new PCs come with Vista and unfortunately Vista is simply not yet at a stage where audio applications are sufficiently supported.

Audio manipulation and Windows are awkward bed-pairs in that for a reliable workstation it seems to take at least two years for a new version of Windows to support all the appropriate drivers and applications (though it seems this is not really so much MS's fault as the hardware/software manufacturers trying to keep up with them!!?).

If a musician needs to use Windows, WinXP is currently the only choice and will be for at least the next year or so until the existing Vista issues are solved and the use of Vista can be justified.

Of course, in the meanwhile, I'm enjoying using Mac OS for other audio applications and wondering why I shouldn't use it all the time...

I found Boot Camp a breeze though I've dabbled with Linux/Windows dual and triple boots before so perhaps that put me in good stead...? Windows works really nicely for me so far via Boot Camp but it is admittedly subject to the traditional Windows trappings of crashability - bless it ;).

However, Fruity Loops is uniquely powerful and as far as I know there are still no plans for a Mac port... and there's nothing quite like it (and no, Reason is NOT quite like it! ;))

Generally loving the Mac though. It reminds me of my Atari ST. In a seriously good way! :)
 
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Like you already stated, some people must do it due to software needs. Personally, I refuse to taint my beloved Mac with such filth! And if I want to play games, I'll buy a gaming system. Just my $.02...

It's rants like this that make people call Mac users elitist.
 
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Back when I did first buy a Mac about two years ago, I was actually a Linux user who had to use Windows for my job. So I didn't buy a Mac to run Windows, nor did the Mac I bought have the ability to run Windows in the first place. So it was really a replacement for Linux, with Windows a necessary evil on the computer my company issued me.

When I later did get a Mac that was capable of running Windows it was a natural option for if whatever Windows computer I was issued had some kind of problem and I needed to run the Windows only business apps for my company, so I bought Parallels along with it and set it up to stand-in "just in case". If I didn't want to drag two laptops around it worked well. As it turned out the "just in case" option stepped in when my jerk of a new boss saw fit to terminate my employment because he saw fit to outsource my job to a bunch of indians. Bitter? You bet.

Now I use it mostly to transfer recordings from the digital recorder my wife bought to keep her memoirs for the book she wants to write. It's only booted up when I need to transfer that data, otherwise we're all Mac-only. Also in the getting-a-new-job market, it's always a good idea to have options. "Yes, I use a Mac, but I can do Windows too. See how versatile I am?" If I ever get into any contracting work or other situation where whoever I might be working for won't provide me with equipment to do my job, I'll be able to do my job despite that.
 
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I run VMWare Fusion and Windows XP because my development platform of choice (Visual Studio) is Windows only. That's the only reason I run it right now though - virtually everything else is Mac based.
 

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