How about a "Windows on Mac" forum?

After much arguing, it seems that the best way to solve some of the issues raised in various threads would be to create a "Windows on Mac" section of the forums. This would be an area where those who choose to run Windows, via Bootcamp or Virtualization, can gather to help each other and kibitz. What say you Admins, can this be done?

I 2nd that. A VERY GOOD idea. It would be a good place for new Mac users that also want to run Windows to ask questions and get help.

Yes, we have thought about this. Right now however not enough posts. We will have to wait.

I feel it is a great idea! Although there is a New Mac user section.

Graphite said:

Yes, we have thought about this. Right now however not enough posts. We will have to wait.

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That seems like a ridiculously short sighted approach, but whatever. I guess the "disagreements" will continue in the other forums then..

Yep, I support this when the time is right and the admins consider it necessary

i think this is a good idea, since windows is now an integral part of the Mac/Apple world with the official release of Bootcamp and the planned integration into Leopard.

Great idea, but 'mac'-forums.com (it's a bit of an oxymorron) if you get what i mean..

The proper forum for these posts would be Other Software.

Going forward, please direct everyone to post their Windows questions there. This is a Mac-based forum and Windows will not be officially supported...well unless Apple starts shipping Macs with Windows natively.

There are enough Windows forums out there for dealing with Windows questions other than trying to get it running on Macs. For that question, the best place is Other Software as stated above.

This is the first idea that myself and baggss have agreed on. My main goal as a member of this and other forums is to get help on certain issues and offer help when I can. I think we are going to see alot of former/current Windows users join in the coming months and the best way to prepare for this would be to have a forum area with guidelines and threads already in place. Emotions ran high on a couple of threads, but I think we have weeded out the flamers from members that actually care about contributing. It seems that all of the childish rubbish is out of our systems. I would be willing to help out with this area any way I can. I kinda feel in the minority around here because I use my imac and pc everyday and hopefully can help in some cases.

The Man has spoken, see you in "Other Software"

baggss said:

That seems like a ridiculously short sighted approach, but whatever. I guess the "disagreements" will continue in the other forums then..

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Regardless of what you might think is short-sighted, if we created a new forum for every topic that someone wanted a special forum for we'd have 1000 forums and nothing would ever be posted in the correct place.

There is an approach to this and it's carefully considered and measured. We have created new forums and removed old ones in the past but that is only after careful consideration of the ramifications of doing so.

If eventually there needs to be a complete Windows section then perhaps we'll consider it. But to create it now, with such low volume, just to try and please some people who can't behave themselves and probably don't belong here anyway is not something I'm going to just jump and go do.

I know you seem to have made your decision on this, but I thought I'd throw in some input too.

Although I may not be as active of a poster as I once was, I still take time daily to read through threads and such. I have noticed a fair amount of threads regarding PC's, Windows issues, etc. including, but not limited to running Windows on a mac. I think it would certainly be a useful endeavor to create a windows board so that users have an obvious location to post their questions. Many posts regarding the above end up in "Anything Goes," adding to the cluttered atmosphere of that board. Also, many of those posts start with "I really wasn't sure where to put this."

You certainly have a point in mentioning that there are numerous PC forums that can handle issues specifically relating to Windows. However, I don't believe this is a valid excuse not to include Mac-Forums in this. There are numerous forums in which Macs are discussed, several of which have more members that Mac-Forums. It is time to realize that the distinction between Mac and PC is closing rapidly. Apple, although not officially supporting Windows, is certainly giving some credence to it, hence Boot Camp. Numerous mac users also own PCs, and they should not have to go elsewhere to get half of their questions answered. The polite and intelligent atmosphere of Mac-Forums is well suited for organized discussion of both operating systems.

Mac-Forums has a large volume of posts relating to windows, involving both the use of windows on Macs, and the use of windows on standard PCs. These posts end up scattered around the forum because there isn't a truly proper place for them (and Windows certainly qualifies for more than "Other Software."), and a new board would be well suited to handle them. If, upon creation of a new board it is discovered that you are correct about the lack of volume regarding windows, then it is a simple matter to dump the threads into the "Other Software" board, and to close the new one.

Thanks rs2 for the input. We haven't completely ruled it out, just at this time we don't want to create yet another forum for a low volume topic. The possibility exists to create a Windows section in the future however.

And to be honest, my biggest fear at this point in creating it right now is that I'm sure it will simply become a flame-war, mac vs pc, haven for trolls. Until we can figure out a strategy for dealing with that, we're not ready to take the plunge.

I tend to think that this will be an interesting issue for all future mac switchers, so in that respect it might merit its own forum..

I don't think mac vs. pc trolls would be such an issue, but on the other hand, it might soon degenerate into a "help me get rid of these XP viruses" forum.

Alright, if this turns out to be as popular or as important as we all believe. Its only a matter of time before we create another forum for this. Till it is, we will hold back.

i think that starting more sections will help grow the site and attract more and more people, yes there are very few people now but once they see there is a place to post and posts are getting answered they may be more likely to come over.

-chris

You have all given us a lot to think about. We will reconvene.

I think it is a great idea, helping new comers and veterans of Mac Forums to come and talk about their new experiences with Windows on a Mac, as well as trouble shooting.

i think this is a good idea but this is a mac website/forum..... not windows.. why would you put a windows section on a mac site? .. if its possible to make a sub forum off of the mac forum that would be great. Make an individual windows forum off of mac.