CNET FAQ: Will your Intel-based Mac run Windows?

“Apple Computer’s announcement of new Macs based on processors from Intel raises an interesting question: Since both the Mac and Windows operating systems now run on Intel-based hardware, shouldn’t it be easy to run both on the same computer? That simple question deserves a simple answer. But there isn’t one–at least not right now. Reaching the nirvana of running the two most popular desktop operating systems on one machine is a lot harder than you might expect,” Ina Fried reports for CNET News. “Apple has said that it wasn’t planning to support Windows on the “MacTel,” but the company also said it wouldn’t try to stop people from doing so. Still, some of the technical choices Apple has made in designing the new Intel-based Macs have made running Windows a challenge. The good news? Plenty of people have been working to break down the barriers, so it should only be a matter of time before Windows shows up on the iMac’s 20-inch widescreen display.”

Fried asks and answers a number of questions about running Windows on Intel-based Macs and running Mac OS X on non-Apple PCs here.

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30 Comments

  1. not true, some OS X disks ARE upgrades and require an earlier version of OS X to be installed before it will install its newer version.

    But, ALL retail box OS X is FULL version.

    Upgrade OS X is often the ones you get inside your new Mac box, if you buy it near a recent upgrade.

  2. AL,

    I think he’s talking about the legal mumbo-jumbo in the end user agreement. Any Mac you’d ever install a Mac OS on already some Mac OS on it already. It’s a violation of the agreement to install a Mac OS on another manufacturer’s machine partly due to the fact that it never had one before. It’s a licensing issue…not a software issue.

  3. He was talking about retail box. The retail box versions are Full versions.

    He did mention that there is no legal way to install OS X on non Apple hardware. That is true. But his statement that you cannot buy OS X without a mac is not.

  4. The reason “Wintel” works is because the “in” from “Win” and the “tel” form the combination of Windows and Intel-is because it SOUNDS GOOD. why do you think nobody eversaid “WinMD” or “AMDows” (actually, that does have a ring to it)??? its because Wintel just worked.

    MacTel (Ugh) does NOT work. Clearly we should all be able to see this. (not we as in us, we as in them). and MacIntel is stupid, and so is Intel Mac. They are simply Mac, and that name is only altered by an “i,” and “e,” or the words “Power” and “Book”

    Wintel is easier to say to classify all PCs because there are so many OEMs pumping out beige box PCs. Apple, on the other hand, does not have that problem; they do it all themselves. So you don’t need to say “this HP Mac” or something really creepy like that. There’s only ONE producer of the Mac, therefore, the nicknames aren’t really needed; they’re too good for them anyway.

    And who the hell would put ‘doze on their Mac? Who? Besides someone from http://www.smashmyintelmac.com? Bizzare

  5. Running Windows natively on a Mac is about as dumb as letting a retard drive your Ferrari

    And yes polly wants a cracker

    MDN word: “Soviet” In Soviet Russia Windows runs you.

    Oh how close to the truth is that?

  6. …and running Mac OS X on non-Apple PCs

    Oh $heet, now the Mactels are called “Apple PC’s”

    The tide is starting to turn already, first the terminology, then the OS is next.

  7. Once again I’ll say that running Windows on an Intel Mac does not appeal to me, but the concept of running Windows applications in OS X with no performance hit would be really great for many, many people.

  8. “Apple does sell ‘Full’ version of OS X”

    Really? So if I go down to the Apple Store today and pick up Tiger off the shelf, I can install it on my Intel iMac?

    Probably not.

    Currently, the only way to buy Mac OS X Tiger for Intel-based Macintoshes is to buy an Intel-based Macintosh. Yes, this will change with Mac OS X Leopard.

  9. Aside from the geek factor and some business that *MIGHT* want to go through the trouble, I don’t see how this is so big a deal. So what, if someone figures out how to crack Windows so it can be installed on an iMac, whoop-tee-doo! I don’t want to touch Windows ever again if I don’t have to, and so far at home, I haven’t had to bother with it. (My PC running Win 98 has been sitting around turned off and unplugged for the better part of 2 years, and not turned on for the last 6 months. It does, however, work well propping up the left side of my computer desk.)

    There are a few Windows Applications I’d like to run in the Mac OS, but I will wait for Darwine to mature before I attempt it. IN the meantime, I will sit back and watch the Geek Hackers try to put an inferior OS on iMac hardware. I wonder how deafening the silence will be when the finally succeed and expect accolades?

    MW: “couldnt” Oh! The irony!!

  10. I agree with Peter. You currently cannot buy Mac OSX for Intel without having to buy an Intel Mac. The most current retail boxes of OSX that I’ve seen are 10.4.2 for PowerPC. I don’t think it makes sense for Apple to sell retail boxes of 10.4.4 for Intel.

    MW: looking. You’ve been looking in the wrong places.

  11. Although this article is not, I can’t help but notice that MDN practices biased journalism. They keep preaching to the choir, although we should all appreciate a critical view towards a company’s products and services, including Apple’s.

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