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  • Boot Camp: Macs do Windows, Too

    Apple just announced Boot Camp beta, which enables Apple users to boot Windows XP or OS X on the new Macs with Intel processors.

    So when will we be able to do vice versa on Windows PC hardware? I'd love to buy an eMachine or Acer machine for under $500 to run my OS X-based software.
    sigpic The Tasty Island

  • #2
    Re: Boot Camp: Macs do Windows, Too

    Wow. I knew it was inevitable, but not this soon. I guess after hackers figured out how to do it, it made sense for Apple to unveil a more authoritative dual-boot setup.

    Saying "you can now run Windows on your Mac" is like saying "you can now put linoleum on your koa wood floors," but hey, to each their own. I might try it, if I had an Intel-based Mac.

    The requirement for a full, non-upgrade, non-Media Center Windows XP install CD will be the primary challenge for folks. And it won't be cheap.

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    • #3
      Re: Boot Camp: Macs do Windows, Too

      Originally posted by pzarquon
      Saying "you can now run Windows on your Mac" is like saying "you can now put linoleum on your koa wood floors," but hey, to each their own. I might try it, if I had an Intel-based Mac.
      But will it run all my ancient DOS apps?

      The requirement for a full, non-upgrade, non-Media Center Windows install CD will be the primary challenge for folks. And it won't be cheap.
      It would be nice if there was a way to take a broken Windows PC and suck the licensed copy of Windows off of its hard drive and onto a disk. Wonder if anybody's tried that?

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      • #4
        Re: Boot Camp: Macs do Windows, Too

        So...for those who will run both systems, they'll be just as vulnerable to viruses and worms as PC users are?

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        • #5
          Re: Boot Camp: Macs do Windows, Too

          Originally posted by tutusue
          So...for those who will run both systems, they'll be just as vulnerable to viruses and worms as PC users are?
          Notes the Boot Camp page: "Word to the Wise: Windows running on a Mac is like Windows running on a PC. That means it’ll be subject to the same attacks that plague the Windows world. So be sure to keep it updated with the latest Microsoft Windows security fixes."

          Dual-boot is one way to go (i.e. your machine starts up as either a Mac OSX or a Windows XP PC), but the one I hope gets refined is the "virtualization" method. You start up your Mac as usual, then launch Windows within it, like a separate application. Windows XP works as you'd expect, but confined in its little sandbox. If you do get a virus or trojan, it might mess up life in that Windows universe, but it is much less likely to fry the underlying OSX install.

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          • #6
            Re: Boot Camp: Macs do Windows, Too

            The new dual booting function that the new software offers is quite intriguing. However like everything else, I'll wait for all of the early adopters to report back to us mere mortals about the advantages and possible shortfalls such a dual booting Mac has. I don't own an Intel Mac, but I know in the future I probably will.

            I like dual booting computers... it's like having 2 computers (and maybe more) in one. I already have that with my Power PC G4 Mac that can boot into Mac OSX or Mac OS9 on different hard drives. I have an older Mac clone that can dual boot into Mac OS and BeOS. Like the G4 it does it on separate drives. That I like.

            I think this would be a good feature to have with dual booting Macs that do Windows XP. I would hope that we could set up a second hard drive (not a partition on the same hard drive) to boot into Windows while keeping the Mac side totally pure. I see this as a good way to prevent total loss of data should a Windows partition get infected and cause you to have to reformat an entire drive. That would not be nice, losing your Mac OS partition because of some nasty Windows bug.

            Of couse what does this have to say for the future development of Mac OSX software. Will this be an excuse for the big boys like Adobe and Quark to just develop Windows versions of popular programs such as Photoshop, InDesign and Xpress? I think it would be extremely sad to see the end of development of these programs for Mac OSX, since OSX handles graphics and fonts (IMO) way better than Windows.
            I'm still here. Are you?

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            • #7
              Re: Boot Camp: Macs do Windows, Too

              Macintosh.....lol
              FutureNewsNetwork.com
              Energy answers are already here.

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              • #8
                Re: Boot Camp: Macs do Windows, Too

                Correction: apple is trying to take over the world LOL

                I wonder why MS didn't even think of something similar?

                Oh, and hell froze over again.
                How'd I get so white and nerdy?

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Boot Camp: Macs do Windows, Too

                  Something tells me that the diehard OS-X fans won't bother with the XP option...or will be closet XP users. Oh the shame!

                  It's ironic though that Apple chose to use the Windows XP OS for the option as everyone knows that there are so many Windows XP Pro hacked versions out there running corporate licenses. It's as if they knew that by incorporating XP into their systems won't boost Microsoft's overall sales because of the availability of these pirated versions that run perfectly well on any system.
                  Life is what you make of it...so please read the instructions carefully.

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                  • #10
                    Re: Boot Camp: Macs do Windows, Too

                    Someone earlier mentioned virtualization in this thread. Here is a link to some firm that is offering that for Mac OSX intel:

                    http://www.parallels.com/en/products/workstation/mac/

                    Here is a link to a report on this at Macintouch:

                    Guest Operating Systems Supported by Parallels Workstation
                    Microsoft Windows Guest Operating Systems:

                    ... Windows 2003 Standard Edition SP0
                    ... Windows 2003 Standard Edition SP1
                    ... Windows 2003 Enterprise Edition SP0
                    ... Windows 2003 Enterprise Edition SP1
                    ... Windows 2003 Web Edition SP0
                    ... Windows 2003 Web Edition SP1
                    ... Windows XP SP2 Professional
                    ... Windows XP SP2 Home
                    ... Windows XP SP1 Professional
                    ... Windows XP SP1 Home
                    ... Windows XP SP0 Professional
                    ... Windows XP SP0 Home
                    ... Windows 2000 Professional Edition SP4
                    ... Windows 2000 Server SP4
                    ... Windows 2000 Advanced Server SP4
                    ... Windows NT Workstation 4.0 SP6
                    ... Windows NT Server 4.0 SP6
                    ... Windows ME
                    ... Windows 98
                    ... Windows 95
                    ... Windows 3.11
                    ... Windows 3.1
                    OS/2 and eComStation Guest Operating Systems:
                    ... OS/2 warp 4.5
                    ... OS/2 warp 4
                    ... OS/2 warp 3
                    ... eComStation 1.2
                    ... eComStation 1.1
                    MS-DOS Guest Operating Systems:
                    ... MS-DOS 6.22 Linux Guest Operating Systems:
                    ... Red Hat Enterprise Linux WS4
                    ... Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS4
                    ... Red Hat Enterprise Linux WS3
                    ... Red Hat Enterprise Linux ES4
                    ... Red Hat Enterprise Linux ES3
                    ... Red Hat Linux 9
                    ... Red Hat Linux 8
                    ... Red Hat Linux 7.3
                    ... Debian Linux 3.1
                    ... Fedora Core Linux 4
                    ... Fedora Core Linux 3
                    ... SUSE Linux 10
                    ... SUSE Linux 9.3
                    ... SUSE Linux 9.2
                    ... SUSE Linux 9.1
                    ... SUSE Linux 9.0
                    ... Mandriva Linux 10.1
                    ... Mandriva Linux 10
                    ... Mandriva Linux 9.2
                    Sun Solaris Guest Operating Systems:
                    ... Solaris 10
                    ... Solaris 9
                    FreeBSD Guest Operating Systems:
                    ... FreeBSD 5.4
                    ... FreeBSD 5.3
                    ... FreeBSD 4.5
                    ... FreeBSD 4.1
                    These options have also been around for PC users for ages, but also opens them up to those who have Mac Intel.

                    Some people have also been discussing running a classic MacOS emulator in the Windows XP partition to restore access to older Macintosh apps that can no longer run with Mac Intel.

                    Whatever the case may be, to run 2 or more OS's simultaneously will probably require lots of RAM.
                    I'm still here. Are you?

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                    • #11
                      Re: Boot Camp: Macs do Windows, Too

                      And then there's Darwine, which is aimed at running Windows apps on OS X without running Windows itself, by taking advantage of the Unix-based nature of OS X.

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                      • #12
                        Re: Boot Camp: Macs do Windows, Too

                        That virtualization software out of Parallels is pretty impressive, from the screencasts and reviews I've seen, and it's still fresh out in beta. If I had an Intel-based Mac, I'd probably go that route instead of a dual-boot.

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                        • #13
                          Re: Boot Camp: Macs do Windows, Too
                          "Users Find Flaw in Boot Camp"

                          In a discussion thread on Apple's technical support Web site, more than a dozen users reported that Boot Camp successfully partitioned their hard drive and allowed them to install a working version of Windows, but then would no longer allow them to switch back.

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                          • #14
                            Re: Boot Camp: Macs do Windows, Too

                            Originally posted by lurkah
                            "Users Find Flaw in Boot Camp"

                            "Ve VILL control the vertical and horizontal settings on your Komputah. You R POWERLESS to resist! BWAHAHAHAHAHA" (insert evil Mutley laughter here).

                            Miulang

                            P.S. Mel, I don't hate Macs. My first puter was a Mac (one of the original Macs, in fact. Besides a Radioshack TRS-80, my other first computer was an Apple LISA and an IBM 8086 without a HD or a modem!). Macs are excellent for graphic work, can't be beat. Unfortunately, most big business has been sold up the river by the Squishies.
                            Last edited by Miulang; April 15, 2006, 08:02 PM.
                            "Americans believe in three freedoms. Freedom of speech; freedom of religion; and the freedom to deny the other two to folks they don`t like.” --Mark Twain

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                            • #15
                              Re: Boot Camp: Macs do Windows, Too

                              Well we can see who all the Mac haters are on this board. Like anything else, people have to be careful when using "beta" software or even using version 1.0 of anything, whether it be Bootcamp or even an Intel Mac.

                              Thankfully there are those cutting edge computer users who always have to be out in front of everyone else, and now for some of the unlucky ones, some kind of flaw has forced them to become Windows users on Mac hardware. That is bad, very bad.

                              For that reason, I am so far staying with my present Power PC based Macs and saying laters with Windows for the time being. Let the Beta users and version 1.0 users use, work out the bugs and buy this stuff. I'll wait a couple of years for a more stable version... and perhaps by that time I'll also be able to justify the expense of having to go with a Mac Intel system (which also forces end users to buy Mac OS software optimized for Intel).....
                              I'm still here. Are you?

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