“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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Related MacDailyNews articles:
Macs that run Microsoft Windows will be a boon for Apple – January 19, 2006
Windows to run on Intel-based Apple Macs before end of year? – January 18, 2006
Intel-based Macs may boot Windows XP after all – January 13, 2006
Apple + Intel’s Vanderpool could equal Windows compatibility in Mac OS X – January 09, 2006
Is Steve Jobs prepping ‘The Cupertino Project’ – Intel-based Macs that will run Windows apps, too? – December 27, 2005
Report: Apple contracts with Intel for design of next-gen Power Mac motherboard – December 27, 2005
Report: Quanta and Asustek to partner with Apple on new Intel-based iBooks and PowerBooks – December 27, 2005
Intel ‘Yonah’ specs, performance detailed; processor expected to power first Apple Intel-based Macs – December 22, 2005
Move to Intel-based Macs one of the most important switches Apple has ever made – December 22, 2005
It’s official: Apple CEO Steve Jobs to deliver Macworld San Francisco 2006 keynote address – December 01, 2005
Will future Intel-based Apple Macs offer multiple OS worlds via virtualization? – November 16, 2005
Apple patent application designed to prevent Mac OS X from running on non-Apple hardware – November 09, 2005
Apple patent application describes Intel-based Macs that run Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows – November 05, 2005
How Apple can win the OS war – October 19, 2005
Is Apple morphing Mac into the ultimate PC capable of running Mac OS X, Windows, Linux? – June 20, 2005
Intel’s built-in virtualization tech could be one way to run Windows on Intel-based Apple Macs – June 16, 2005
Apple CEO Steve Jobs’ ultimate goal: ‘to take back the computer business from Microsoft’ – June 16, 2005
Intel-based Macs running both Mac OS X and Windows will be good for Apple – June 10, 2005
Why buy a Dell when Apple ‘Macintel’ computers will run both Mac OS X and Windows? – June 08, 2005
Will developers stop writing Mac applications if Apple ‘Macintel’ computers can run Windows? – June 08, 2005
Windows users who try Apple’s Mac OS X Tiger might not want to go back – June 07, 2005
Microsoft: The safest way to run Windows is on your Mac – October 08, 2004
Oh, for fsck’s sake!
“Q: What about running the Mac OS on a non-Apple PC?
A: There isn’t a legal way to do that, given that Apple doesn’t sell standalone versions of its operating system. Because all Macs come with some form of the Mac OS, the retail boxes that Apple sells are only licenses to upgrade from one version to another.”
What he is saying (like I said above) is that if you read the end user agreement and decipher the legalese, you are only buying an upgrade since the computer you are installing on already came with a copy of a Mac OS from the factory. You cannot install it on a computer from another company because it didn’t (unless that was a Mac clone company) come with Mac OS pre-installed.
Yes, if you buy a boxed version of a Mac OS, it is a full install…FUNCTIONALLY speaking. He is talking about LICENSING, not the functionality of the software at question.
LRN 2 REED!!!
I have a virus on my Powerbook. I scanned with ClamXAV and it found the Delta.1163a virus in my Virtual PC hard disk image file. I’m trying to figure out how to get rid of it without trashing the whole hard disk image file.
That is why I would warn people who want to boot Windows on a Mac to be careful what you wish for. I would much rather run Windows in a virtual machine or in emulation to contain whatever viruses I get.
C|net is shit. Get your tech news and info elsewhere.
ina fried, is asexual.. like all CNET employees.. the question is moot
If I head one more idiot ask why anyone would want to put windows on a mac I’m going to scream. It’s nice that some of you live in a world where having a mac works for you ALL THE TIME, but sometimes mac support isn’t what it should be and having to use the mediocrity of windows would be helpful.
I think a lot of mac users have never used XP, which was a huge update for windows. It is still bad, it is still counter intuitive and sometimes makes me want to cry, but it almost works most of the time. It is mediocre, but it is usable. I’m not going back to windows anytime soon but using it when I have to could be useful.
Even if it isn’t useful, it’s fun to try. A lot of mac users are mac users because they see their computer as a tool that always works. It is that, but I use mine also as a thing to play with that is much harder to break than my windows computer was. I abuse my mac a lot and it rarely lets me down. One of the things I would like to play with is getting both OS’s to run on my mac. I don’t think I’ll ever use windows much ever again but just getting it to work would be a thrill.
A lot of mac users don’t have that hacker spirit, where hacker is someone who gets something to work, not someone who intentionally breaks other people’s things which is a cracker. The media uses the terms incorrectly; hacker originally meant a tinkerer who gets stuff to work even if it’s something was never intended to work that way, and they are a huge part of how the industry progresses. There are too many mac users who want to bury their heads in the sand and do only what apple tells them to do with their computers.