“Apple Computer said on Wednesday that it has released a public beta version of Boot Camp, software that enables Microsoft Windows XP to run natively on Intel-based Macs,” Candace Lombardi reports for CNET News. “‘This solves a lot of potential holdups to Macintosh adoption,’ JupiterResearch analyst Michael Gartenberg wrote in a blog posting Wednesday. ‘Overall, (this is) a nice tactical move by Apple that will make their platforms and systems much more attractive.'”
“Paul Jackson, an analyst at Forrester Research, predicts that home users previously daunted by a fear of incompatibly with their work PC and a strong desire to hold on to Windows-based programs may now make the jump to Macs,” Lombardi reports. “Apple’s move is great for Microsoft, Jackson said, since it will mean extra sales of XP, but it’s bad news for PC makers that previously didn’t have to worry about competing for market share with Apple. ‘Apple machines are excellently manufactured, and the performance is far superior,’ Jackson told CNET News.com. ‘But companies like Dell and HP never really had to worry about competing with Apple in the hardware market. Now you can go in, look at those gorgeous Mac Minis and MacBook (Pros) and view them as a normal PC. You can run XP and never touch OS X, if you don’t want to.'”
“‘In short, we believe this news, more than any news in recent memory, provides a critical boost to Apple’s ability to gain share in the PC market,’ a JPMorgan Chase analyst report said,” Lombardi reports. “Deutche Bank issued a ‘buy’ for Apple Computer stock on a prediction of share gains.”
Full article here.
Advertisements:
• Apple’s brand new iPod Hi-Fi speaker system. Home stereo. Reinvented. Available now for $349 with free shipping.
• Apple’s new Mac mini. Intel Core, up to 4 times faster. Starting at just $599. Free shipping.
• MacBook Pro. The first Mac notebook built upon Intel Core Duo with iLife ’06, Front Row and built-in iSight. Starting at $1999. Free shipping.
• iMac. Twice as amazing — Intel Core Duo, iLife ’06, Front Row media experience, Apple Remote, built-in iSight. Starting at $1299. Free shipping.
• iPod Radio Remote. Listen to FM radio on your iPod and control everything with a convenient wired remote. Just $49.
• iPod. 15,000 songs. 25,000 photos. 150 hours of video. The new iPod. 30GB and 60GB models start at just $299. Free shipping.
• Connect iPod to your television set with the iPod AV Cable. Just $19.
Related articles:
Dude, you got a Dell? What are you, stupid? Only Apple Macs run both Mac OS X and Windows! – April 05, 2006
Reuters: Apple’s new ‘Boot Camp’ could draw millions of new Mac buyers – April 05, 2006
Apple shares surge over 6-percent in early trading on ‘Boot Camp’ news – April 05, 2006
Apple introduces Boot Camp: public beta software enables Intel-based Macs to run Windows XP – April 05, 2006
This will only help Microsoft’s sales in the short term, due to Vista being delayed.
If you’re a PC user that was waiting for Vista, but need a new computer now. Why buy a PC? (There are a lot of PC sales that are in the same price range as iMacs, and the iMacs are faster anyway.) Buy the iMac, run all of your current XP software, plus get your new OS fix with OS X. The next upgrade will be to OS X 10.5, NOT Vista. Also, this is just replacing a sale of a PC with XP pre-loaded for an XP only sale. So short term MS sells slightly more XP CD’s and a lot less Vista when it finally rolls around.
This will have more of an impact when next generation Intel processors are introduced later this year. As of right now, the Core Duo just isn’t enough to justify a switch to Macs even with the dual boot capability (especially from a user base accustomed to superior AMD chips, and businesses utilizing upper end workstations).
Like it or not, this is the single most important announcement that Apple has ever made in terms of reaching the masses and increasing marketshare.
I personally have no need for Windows, but a very large percentage of computer users do… As of today, there is absolutely NO advantage of owning a PC over a Mac..
In addition to the worlds best designed hardware and operating system (OSX,) Macs can now run every software application ever made for Windows natively.
With prices starting at $599 this will go down as Apple’s greatest move ever.
(There are a lot of PC sales that are in the same price range as iMacs, and the iMacs are faster anyway.)
Wrong on two fronts. PC vendors using the same Core Duo chips have the same processing power as iMacs. Secondly, anything over an Athlon x2 3800 is faster than the fastest Core Duo. A $1300 Athlon X2 4400 based PC built by Monarch will blow a $1300 iMac out the water. Of course, since for some reason people here think Dell is the only PC vendor, the obvious isn’t so obvious.
I’d also call this bad news for Mac Developers. After all, why spend the money developing software for the Mac when you can just tell customers to boot into Windows?
Peter are you really so dumb that you need an answer to your question… Read the posts before yours, it’s been answered about 100 times already this morning..
Let’s see here. Need a new computer for business, or school, or as a Christmas gift to replace an aging PC. It’s falling apart, so I can’t wait a year. I’m clinging to my Windows software which has no Mac version. What do I do? Wait for Leopard to come out on a new MacBook Pro with the latest and greatest multicore, low-power Intel CPU. Windows XP will do me fine as I wean myself off the Windows software. Hopefully new MacOS versions of same appear shortly thereafter.
“We’re coming after you, you’re in our sights.” —Steve Jobs to Michael Dell, 1997
Lock and load, Steve!
Ok so not one person here has really “answered” anything, we have been speculating here… I will take a stab here…Apple HAS been trying to “steer” developers to the OS X platform, while it has made serious inroads it hasn’t seen the “dramatic” change in Developer Mentality. Many Developers who have only released software on x86 hardware has been in major MS licensing scheems wich some have lasted “exclusively” with MS for 10 years. Hence the release “for free” x-code, GCC compiler integration, etc. Heck they even offer free code testing as long as you have a developers subscription. Still the developers hesitated because they didn’t know if APPLE would still be around in 10-50 years from NOW. Apple made the greatest move they could by building up a relationship in ALL the markets. Video, Super-Computers, Business (small and large), Education, Government, etc. but they all said the same thing… it’s easier and in “our best interst” to develop for x86… that’s clearly “where the market is”… so Apple switches to x86 Arcitecture… but keeps the Software side…Sure you can now Boot XP but really it is a statement to the world that we will “Support the x86 Architecture but maintain Software control”, You will probably be surprised when I say that Apple will be just another x86 “BOX” maker… but the difference is it will work, be usefull, have a “clearly” superior OS, but will help others break free from the “licensing” burden of Micro Shaft You In the ASS and make YOU my Bitch for Life Company, or is that Companies since were talking about the ability for those companies whom code for x86 Hardware now get x86 Hardware with free developer tools hat will make it easier to code for Macintosh Apples… hmmm we’ll see but I think Apple is on to something here…
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”grin” style=”border:0;” />
Oh and, Apple already beat DELL in market value, now Dell will be beat in volume sales so I think Winston’s post of what Jobs said is clearly an indicator that he (Jobs) wasn’t kidding around…. he KNEW he has something that People want… just wait till 10.5… you will be amazed how far MS will be behind in design and integration… Vista will have to be completely NEW to compete…
And for anyone who doubts … OS X is based on UNIX and UNIX was origionall developed for x86 harware… something that gives apple a lot of “options”. Did everyone miss the anouncement of Apple switching to AMD processors in the x-serve… I read it on tid-bits
kind of intriguing… AMD on Server side for RAW Power, Intel on Consumer side for Media??? hmmm sounds like the shite hit the fan for Micro Shaft…
MW=own as in APPLE is gonna OWN the Computer market
$5 says someone files a lawsuit against Apple on a patent infrigment.
Installed the Firmware update and BootCamp on my MacBook Pro. Had Windows XP SP2 installed in well under an hour and Office 2003 Pro corporate edition in a few minutes after that. This sucker flies and works as advertised. Good support for most hardware (ethernet, AirPort, BlueTooth, Ati video drivers, sound drivers, trackpad).
What isn’t supported (yet) on the MacBook Pro:
– No right click using the trackpad, you need an external mouse.
– No right-delete key on MacBook Pro keyboard. You either need an external keyboard or a 3rd party app that can remap keys in Windows.
Otherwise, it works very well. Keep in mind this is a beta, so I’m sure the driver support will improve for the MacBook Pro by the final shipping version of Mac OS X Leopard.
I was using Outlook 2003 to connect to my corporate Exchange server with no problems. Everything worked the first time.
There’s a “Startup Disk” control panel that duplicates all the features of the preference pane of the same name in Mac OS X. It even has the same icon. You can also select the operating system at power-on time by holding Option.
I’m hoping Apple also adds virtualization software so I can run Windows inside of Mac OS X so I don’t have to reboot just to run one program in Windows. I’d like to be able to runs Mac OS X and Windows software at the same time and make good use of my dual cores and 2GB RAM.
“Apple’s move is great for Microsoft, Jackson said”
Uhhhh, no it’s not Mr. Supposed Analyst. It may seem great for the short-sighted, but in the long-term this will eventually erode into Microsoft’s market share and fewer and fewer copies of their OS will be sold. By 2010, I think close to 20% of home users will be running a Mac.
Mark my words!
Eric:
that’s based on the assumption that Apple DIDN’T already have this in the works for a while….
Jeff,
That article about AMD in Xserves came out on April 1. Disclaimer at the end:
What?! Something about this article seems odd? Maybe you should read it again carefully, or double-check the date it was published…
Thanks for the first-hand account, Andy C.
Ok. Explain again how the ability to run any operating system on any biege box is automatically good for Apple?
And the availabilty of generic drugs automatically increases the original producer’s market share?
It must be fun living in La La Land. You get to write nonsense and then pat yourself on the back ‘cuz your so clever.
And a further read into the minds of La La Land residents. We’ve got Jeff making up his facts right in front of our eyes:
“And for anyone who doubts … OS X is based on UNIX and UNIX was origionall developed for x86 harware…”
That would be a real neat trick. Unix was “developed” before Intel even existed.
Anyone want to add to Jeff’s solid arguments?
There’s a LOT of people like myself who are confirmed Mac users except for a few apps that we have to run under Windows XP.
Programs like AutoCAD, SolidWorks etc.
Instead of buying a new Mac and a new PC, I’m more than happy just to buy Apple hardware.
“Apple’s move is great for Microsoft, Jackson said, since it will mean extra sales of XP…”
Not really. Any immediate hit will be taken by the box manufacturers (Dell, gateway, etc…), and people with existing boxes and existing copies of Windoze might buy a Mac the next time they crater or need to upgrade. But EXPOSURE to OSX is the threat. MARK MY (Driver) WORDS. Microsoft is not happy about this, no matter if they do put on a happy face for the public to see. they are shaking in their boots.
What happens when people realize the alternative, OSX is better than Windoze? People start leaving in droves, they stop upgrading their useless hardware EVERY 2-3 years, etc… They go to Apple and get on the 3-6 year plan and friends or family members get the USEFUL old computer. Worse yet, what happens when developers realize that porting their software to run in OSX is viable for them? Particularly those esoteric, only-runs-on-Windows type of programs. Watch the mass exodus to a more secure, virus free platform.
Assuming Apple gets a little bit of the killer instinct and follows through… If something like Darwine comes around, helping to run that only-on-windows program without the bugs then it’ll happen faster.
Mark my words. – Driver
“I’d also call this bad news for Mac Developers. After all, why spend the money developing software for the Mac when you can just tell customers to boot into Windows?”
Because mac customers WON’T boot into Windows (they won’t even go out and buy Windows), and mac developers ARE mac developers because they and their customers love the mac os.
It’s already been said and I agree. The mac apps (Apples’ pro apps and iLife in addition to the great 3rd party mac only apps available) will be Apple’s trojan horse in getting Windows-booters to more and more become osX-booters.
All the new intel macs ship with a remote control for Front Row. There’s no way a new intel mac owner is going to buy this machine and not at least try out Front Row and this remote control. This means they’re also going to try out iLife. And I’m sorry, but os10.4.6 compared to Windoze XP… let’s be real. There’s no comparison. They’ll soon be spending more time being osX-booters.
All Apple has to keep doing is making osX far better than any MS os and it’ll just be a matter of time. Eventually, Boot Camp will get less and less use as osX becomes the default os for all booters.
Smart move by Apple, deploying Boot Camp NOW as their answer to Vista’s delay. Yep, this is better than an osX tv ad. They just need to keep it going through xmas fortified with some great tv ads.
The mac developers will win big as more new users rely on osX only or as their primary os. It’s a win-win for them, Apple and us.
Hopefully, by 10.6 — ‘Bootcamp’ won’t be needed, or included!
Dear Informed:
Intel formed in 1968
UNIX created in 1969
Not sure when UNIX ran on x86 first.
Whatever informed says he is partially right and partially wrong. UNIX was created and x86 was the only hardware around at the time other than huge room-full of hardware computers not sure what platform it would be qualified to be called… However x86 hardware was the hardware run at the time for UNIX to reside via servers…so whatever! It was ported to all types of hardware once it was created (by bell labs in 1960-69) AIX, x86, SPARC, SUN, etc.