“Diehard Macintosh users have long mocked ‘Wintel’ computers with Microsoft’s Windows operating system and Intel innards as inferior to their beloved Apple Computer machines,” Julio Ojeda-Zapata writes for The St. Paul Pioneer Press. “So, recent news that Macs will soon switch over to Intel processors — and maybe even run Windows along with Apple’s own Mac OS X operating system — certainly came as a shock.”
“Yep, you heard right. While Apple isn’t encouraging this practice — no surprise there — it won’t interfere with those who want to put Windows on their Intel-based Macs. How this will happen is unclear, but it raises interesting possibilities. If Macs are able to run Windows as well as OS X, for instance, buying an Apple machine may become a no-brainer (if the price is right) because it will give computer users the best of both worlds,” Ojeda-Zapata writes. “Windows runs on PowerPC Macs now, but only via sluggish ’emulation’ software such as Microsoft’s Virtual PC.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Right now, with only “brainers” buying Macs, anything that leads to the “no-brainers” buying them is a good thing for Apple. By “no-brainers,” we are referring to those who choose Windows presuming it’s their only choice. Almost uniformly, after people use Mac OS X to do something (not just play with it for 5 minutes in a store), they’re quickly able to recognize Windows’ mediocrity. It’s like a 10,000 watt bulb switching on. The majority of Mac users know both Mac and Windows (they’re forced to use Windows at work or to interact with Windows businesses, for examples) and tellingly choose Mac for their personal computers. The vast majority of Windows users only know of Windows and have little idea how much better their computing experiences would be with a Mac. Apple would be smart to play up the “get two computers for the price of one” angle; that kind pitch appeals to the masses and a Trojan Horse like a Mac capable of natively running Windows would make the iPod Halo Effect seem an insignificant blip in comparison.
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Dvorak predicts Mac OS X for generic x86, Apple ‘Office’ suite, dawn of Mac viruses and spyware – June 13, 2005
Report: Apple Mac OS X 10.4.1 for Intel hits piracy sites – June 11, 2005
Intel-based Macs running both Mac OS X and Windows will be good for Apple – June 10, 2005
Is Apple setting up the ultimate “Switcher” campaign by preparing to let Mac OS X speak for itself? – June 10, 2005
Why buy a Dell when Apple ‘Macintel’ computers will run both Mac OS X and Windows? – June 08, 2005
Windows users who try Apple’s Mac OS X Tiger might not want to go back – June 07, 2005
iPod success opens door to Mac OS X on Intel – March 04, 2004
