By SteveJack
Let’s face it, Windows-only users have no idea what they’re missing and most are not inclined to do a several hundred dollar “test” to see if they really like Mac OS X and the Mac platform. Imagine if they could feel “safe” in buying a Mac that can run their Windows that also happens to let them run Mac OS X. And we all know what happens once someone really gives Mac OS X a try—Windows quickly falls by the wayside.
That’s why these Intel-based Macs will help expand Mac market share, if average people can be made to understand that the machines can run both Windows and Mac operating systems natively. Remember, it’s a good bet most of these average people (we’re probably talking somewhere around 70-80% of personal computer consumers) don’t even know what an operating system is; they think Windows is a personal computer; you know, the ones who think the “blue e” is the “Internet.” For most people, Macs will become the “2 for the price of 1” computer. Even for the nearly illiterate personal computer buyers, with a little Apple-supplied education via marketing, it would make little sense to buy a limited Windows-only machine from the box assemblers like Dell, Gateway, etc. Give them their “Windows Insecurity Blanket” upfront and they’ll throw it away themselves after they realize how tattered and threadbare it is in comparison it to Apple’s Mac OS X.
The only question left would be: now how do we get them to boot into Mac OS X instead of Windows? The best answer for Apple would be to have the machines always boot up into Mac OS X and allow a “Virtual-PC-like” way to run Windows and Windows apps (but, natively, with no emulation speed hit, thanks to the Intel processor).
The old water cooler conversation:
– Hey, Bob, I just bought a new Mac!
– Gee, Jim, that was stupid, now you can’t run any of the programs we’ve got pirated from work!
– Hey, everybody, look at Jim, he’s a Machead cult member now, sucking down Kool-Aid, no software, no games, what a nut job…
The new water cooler conversation:
– Hey, Bob, I just bought a new Mac!
– Gee, Jim, that was very smart, you got two computers for the price of one. You can run all of our pirated Windows software, plus you have iLife and can surf the ‘Net without becoming infected in 8 minutes! I cant wait to ditch my Dell! Can I come over and try out your new Mac this weekend?
As for Mac OS X running on a generic PC like something assembled by Dell, it isn’t going to happen (very easily, at least). According to CNET, After Jobs’ presentation, Apple Senior Vice President Phil Schiller addressed the issue of running Windows on Macs, saying there are no plans to sell or support Windows on an Intel-based Mac. “That doesn’t preclude someone from running it on a Mac. They probably will,” he said. “We won’t do anything to preclude that.” However, Schiller said the company does not plan to let people run Mac OS X on other computer makers’ hardware. “We will not allow running Mac OS X on anything other than an Apple Mac,” he said.
One more thing… don’t overlook the enterprise ramifications. It may just get a whole lot easier to justify Apple Macs at work.
SteveJack is a long-time Macintosh user, web designer, multimedia producer and a regular contributor to the MacDailyNews Opinion section.
Related MacDailyNews articles:
Twin Mac website debuts, dedicated to dual booting Intel-based Macs running Mac OS X and Windows – June 10, 2005
Cringley: Apple and Intel to merge; Steve Jobs finally beats Bill Gates – June 09, 2005
Fortune: Apple’s switch to Intel processors to accelerate Windows users switching to Mac OS X – June 09, 2005
Will developers stop writing Mac applications if Apple ‘Macintel’ computers can run Windows? – June 08, 2005
Why buy a Dell when Apple ‘Macintel’ computers will run both Mac OS X and Windows? – June 08, 2005
GD, if I haven’t been on the receiving end of that old water cooler conversation more times than once!
I think you’re onto something here.
A more likely scenario is this:
– Hey Bob, I just bought a new Mac.
– What’s a Mac?
Unless Apple advertises no one will know.
Wouldn’t you be opening your computer up to the same windows virues ?
I have never used Window’s in my personal life, so I only use Excel and word @ Work.
Is there any guarantee that Windows will run on the Macintel? If Apple is still doing its own mobo design and chipset, then Windows might not work and I doubt Microsoft is going to make it work.
I hopeful that we’ll soon see quite a few very interesting and appealing promotional campaigns directed toward alerting the public about the dual-boot opportunities in the new Macs. Should neither Intel nor Apple ultimately pick up the ball on this, it would nonetheless seem likely that the software developers themselves would be anxious to heavily promote their own dual OS compatible versatility in this regard.
The problem with a dual-boot system is, what incentive do developers have to write software for the Mac OS? It’s the OS/2 Warp scenario, and you gotta believe Apple is conscious of that.
If apple could package windows on their pcs, what’s to keep dell from packaging OSX on theirs?
The problem with a dual-boot system is, what incentive do developers have to write software for the Mac OS? It’s the OS/2 Warp scenario, and you gotta believe Apple is conscious of that.
This is what scares me the most. Windows[-only] developers are lazy enough to not offer their solutions for 2 different hardware platforms, so what will be different when the Mac is pretty much the same hardware platform as the PC and the operating system becomes the only differentiator. Maybe Apple and Intel are doing something special CPU-wise for the Macintels.
The percentage of “Average” computer users who don’t know what an OS is probably more like 90 to 95%. I still get amazed when my college educated clients (and friends) think that when you swap out the monitor, you’re changing the computer or some just think that the monitor is the computer. I always chuckle to myself. But when I try and explain that the monitor is an output device, they give me this blank stare. By this time, I am dying on the inside. More people are ignorant to computers than you would think. Trust me, an iMac terrifies these “average” computer users.
dank,
apple is the one keeping dell from packaging OSX on their machines. apple owns OSX and macs-microsoft only owns windows and sell licenses to dell et al, so theoretically apple could bundle XP with their computers. apple makes computers and software, microsoft only makes software.
Cool, finally software developers dont’t have to waste their time to Macintosh specific application development, because there will be native Windows or fast Virtual PC on MacTel machines. Windows market share will increase with ~3%, thanks Steve Jobs.
I am buying a PowerMac G5 now because it has been time for me to get a new Mac for a while. I was waiting for the G5 Powerbook but now it looks like that is never gonna happen. The G5 kicks right now; it just wasn’t gonna develop fast enough. My current Macs (a 667 G4 Powerbook and a 800 Flat Screen G4 iMac) are getting long in the tooth and are too slow to do some of the things I want to do. So it makes sense for me to get the G5 now cuz it will stay current plenty long AND I have been wanting a G5 for two years now.
BUT, I will have to keep my 667 Tibook limping along until the Intel Mac Laptops come out. I have a 4 year old Vaio from work that hardly ever gets booted up, just once in a while to run some software that my company uses that only runs on windows. I have been trying to get my Company to agree to buy me a new Mac laptop but they have been baulking up to now. I am hoping that an Intel Mac may turn the tide and get them to fork out for it but even if they don’t I will still buy the Mac on my own dollar if I have to. Life is too short and I spent too much of it on a computer to waste part of it by making myself suffer through windows.
However, if I do end up having to buy an Intel Mac Dual Bootable Laptop on my own coin, I think I will probably be able to at least make my company fork over for all the windoze software. Hopefully though, the new Intel Macs will be just what I needed to get them to pay for the whole deal.
I’m curious… two years ago, SteveJack wrote a column on this very web site in which he steadfastly maintained that Apple would never, NEVER demean themselves by using Intel processors or anything else from the PC world. Now, here they are making the Switch to Intel, and he seems perfectly fine with it. My question is, did someone perform a frontal lobotomy on SteveJack, or is he THAT GOOD at self-brainwashing, or what? Has he drank the Intel Kool-Aid? I’d love to see you compare what you’ve just written to what you wrote two years ago and reconcile your past and present opinions.
Cool, finally software developers dont’t have to waste their time to Macintosh specific application development, because there will be native Windows or fast Virtual PC on MacTel machines. Windows market share will increase with ~3%, thanks Steve Jobs.
True, now all those Windoze-only developers can waste all their time building hodge-podge applications for a hodge-podge operating system; Windoze (and the new “what features can we leave out now” OS codenamed; LongOverDue)!
Regarding Developers not bothering to port their software to the Mac, I have to admit, this seems to me to be the biggest worry about the switch too. I think it will have to come down to economics though. If Developers find that they sell more software if they put out a Mac version then they will do it because it will make money for them.
It sounds like it will be a bit complicated to make a Mac dual bootable though; not impossible, but probably more than the average user is gonna want to figure out.
The stealth tactic will be to get them to buy the Mac with the promise that if they don’t like OS X, they can always ditch it and switch entirely to windows on it later. In the meantime, maybe throw in an emulator into OS X that will run windows apps at decreased performance, like VPC maybe, good enough but not great – that will allow them to keep using their current copies of windoze apps until it is time to upgrade. At which point they will have tried OS X enough to have drank the Kool-aid and will demand an OS X native app because that is what they prefer to use as their OS.
The trick is to get them in the door and then use this increased user base to motivate the developers to come out with Mac versions.
How do you get them to buy the Mac when it is a bit more expensive than a bargain basement windows only box? Sell them on fewer (read zero) security problems, great design, robustness, longevity, and high resale value. Also the fact that it will be Almighty and can run BOTH systems is a very simple but powerful advantage over windoze-only boxes that will be very easy for consumers to understand. A lot of windoze users have become Mac Curious because of the iPod recently and the Intel Mac will be the perfect tool to take advantage of that.
If Steve plays this right, he will be gaining mega market share, and that will help insure that Mac Versions of apps are produced. He has to gain market share tho. That is what this is all about.
Another day, another MacDailyNews article painting a consistently rosey image of life on a Mac while simultaneously using the train wreck scenario to try and generally describe a day in the life of a Windows user. While I agree that it will be an interesting incentive to be able to purchase a Mac, but still run Windows; doesn’t that defeat the purpose of buying a Mac? And isn’t using the ability to run Windows as a major selling point only prompting people to buy the computer for the wrong reasons?
In addition to these questions, I’d like to correct the water cooler scenario and offer, in it’s place, a more realistic conversion scenario (minus the rosey mac image and the train wreck windows image):
– Hi Bob, I finally broke down and bought a mac today so I could see what all the fuss was about.
– That’s awesome Jim, so how is it so far?
– It’s alright I guess.
– What do you mean Jim? Isn’t it a lot easier to use?
– Well Bob, it’s taking a little getting used to. I’m used to running Windows, so I think it’ll be a while before I’m actually comfortable using it. I actually installed Windows on it so I could still work, but could use the Mac in my free time.
– Hmm, I guess that’s understandable Jim, but what about security? Isn’t it nice to go online and not have to worry about getting a virus?
– Well Bob, I never really had any problems with viruses on my old computer, so I couldn’t really tell you.
– Hmm, well what’s your favorite thing about the Mac, Jim?
– Well, it’s pretty. . .I mean they do some cool special effects with the windows and stuff, and the icons are pretty too. You know, I haven’t really had much of a chance to do much with the computer. All my software is for windows, so I’ve used what it came with, but I think I’m going to have to go out and pick up a few more things for it.
– Anything in particular on your shopping list?
– Well, I think I might pick up maybe a game, and a version of office. One thing that’s DEFINITELY on my list is a new mouse. I wish they’d give you the option of at least getting one with more than one button. . .and maybe a wheel.
Ok, the scenario has gone on long enough, but I hope you’ll find it to be a bit more realistic.
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Anyone ever heard of http://www.winehq.com/ ? Its mimics the windows API on x86 unix… Like OSX….
And Mac still wil be more expensive than macs than PC’s so i personaly don’t believe in the 2 4 1. I think tough the hack that permits to run ( a presumably illegal ) OSX on a Dell will hurt apple.
Despite Apple’s Senior Vice President Phil Schiller saying they will not allow OSX to run on any intel PC, I think that there would be so much money to be made by Apple by making OSX run on any PC that this may be the “true” reason for apples switch over to intel. Perhaps saying OSX won’t run on any PC now, is just the way to make a big splash later when Apple announces “the new alternative secure OS for everyone”.
This link is even more promising..
http://darwine.opendarwin.org//
and remember: you dont have to install windows to run wdows apps
Karl,
SteveJack wrote this for MacDailyNews way back in March 2004:
iPod success paves the way for Mac OS X on X86. People have argued for years for and against the release of Mac OS X on Intel (and AMD) commodity hardware, but Apple derives such a large portion of its revenue from hardware that doing so could potentially damage the company beyond repair. But, what if Apple replaces that lost Mac hardware revenue with iPod revenue?
Steve Jobs would then be free to drop what amounts to a hydrogen bomb on Microsoft. Mac OS X that runs on “regular” off-the-shelf x86 hardware. Or partner with a Sony, for example – to insure quality. Years before “Longhorn” even comes close to shipping. Moo.
LINK
The scenario described by WindowsOrMacOS is very unlikely. A person who is happy with Windows and doesn’t have any of the common virus or spyware problems is not going to buy a Mac. They would have no reason to, and the argument that they would not like the Mac OS is hollow at best.
However, such people are rare. Every Windows user I know has had some kind of malware installed on their PC. It cannot be easily avoided and I challenge those PC users who claim to never have had a virus of malicious piece of software to explain how they managed to dodge it. You’ll either hear about people who have never connected to the internet or Uber-geeks that can barricade their boxes from invasion, neither of which is a typical user that would benefit from switching to Mac OS.
“- Hmm, I guess that’s understandable Jim, but what about security? Isn’t it nice to go online and not have to worry about getting a virus?
– Well Bob, I never really had any problems with viruses on my old computer, so I couldn’t really tell you.”
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Oh that’s rich. We just disinfected a staff members laptop of 6566 viruses (as reported by Sophos). I celaned up a system a couple of weeks ago that had 3,400 or so spyware items on it (as reported by Spybot S&D.) Another spyware-infested system I cleaned up here recently had 70+ spyware processes runngin at once. the damn thing took 20 minutes just to boot up….
It’s what Apple had to do, but it’s still a sad period for what could have been.
The technical superiority of the PPC is well recognised; that is not in dispute. Unfortunately both IBM and Moto/Freescale have a very low pain threshold. They both had a golden opporunity which would have paid off massively over the coming decades, after a relatively short period of low margin work putting the pieces in place, if they had’ve stuck to their commitments and had the same massive vision as Apple.
PPC promised great things, and there is no doubting that the I and M of AIM had the ability to deliver, they just needed to focus and see the big picture. A quick financial fix is certainly very attractive (Cell, XB360, etc), but it’s no substitute for a vision.
By choking the flag bearer for PPC/Power, one of the most respected technology companies around today, and a company very much on the assendency, they are really just hurting their own futures. Within 10 years, both the former AIM partners will be going “shit”. They’ll have only themselves to blame.
At no point did Steve Jobs say that Intel was the best platform, it was simply the only option. Perhaps Steve’s attire (black shirt with black chinos) was his way of mourning what could have been.
Oh well, at least we might finally see AutoCAD ported to OS X on Intel.
FactChecker,
Yes, I saw that one, but that’s not the article I’m referring to… the one I remember was from March 2003 (sadly, it appears to no longer be available… why?), and in it, he slammed any association between Apple and Intel.
And anyway, Apple have stated that OS X won’t run on any old PC, just Apple’s Intel-based PCs.
“Oh that’s rich. We just disinfected a staff members laptop of 6566 viruses (as reported by Sophos). I celaned up a system a couple of weeks ago that had 3,400 or so spyware items on it (as reported by Spybot S&D.) Another spyware-infested system I cleaned up here recently had 70+ spyware processes runngin at once. the damn thing took 20 minutes just to boot up….”
I think you just underlined what WindowsOrMacOS was trying to say. . .that’s an isolated issue and cannot be used to generally refer to the multitude of users’ experiences with windows. My daughter lost her entire music archive after installing a simple update from Apple. . .one that was pulled from the site shortly thereafter. She’s also on her second iPod due to a dead battery in the first one. Is this representative of every Mac user out there? Not at all. So you’ve basically made his/her point by taking another “train wreck” scenario and applying it to the entire user base. I’ll admit, I’m a Mac advocate for sure, but I’m not going to lie to someone and pretend it’s been all peaches n’ cream. I’m sure both platforms have their share of issues.