“Turning a decades-long rivalry on its head, Apple Computer introduced software today that it says will easily allow users to install Microsoft’s Windows XP operating system on Apple’s newest computers,” Vikas Bajaj reports for The New York Times. “The software, Boot Camp, is available as a free download on Apple’s Web site and will be part of the next version of Apple’s operating system, Leopard… Many personal computer users have been reluctant to switch to Apple, because they cannot use software that is written to run exclusively on the Windows operating system, said Charles Wolf, a longtime technology industry analyst at Needham & Company.”
“Apple ‘can say the Mac is better till they’re blue in the face, but they’ve got to respond to people’s concerns about switching, no matter how irrational,’ said Scott Heiferman, an Apple user and the chief executive and co-founder of Meetup.com, the Internet site that helps groups form and organize. ‘I bet some people will switch, because of the safety that this news provides, but they’ll end up not rebooting to Windows very often.,'” Bajaj reports. “Mr. Wolf calculates that Apple’s biggest market share gains will be among users at home, who are more likely to be swayed by Apple’s design and media features, than among corporate and government customers, who will likely to stick with the cheaper hardware and software configurations they are used to.”
Bajaj reports, “The shift could mean an increase in sales for Apple over time, especially after Leopard becomes the standard Mac operating system late this year or early in 2007. But the company’s gains do not have to mean big losses for other hardware makers, Mr. Wolf said, because they will only lose a small fraction of their market share. ‘You are starting out with a market share of 2 or 3 percent and maybe going to a market share of 6 or 7,’ he said. ‘Apple is not going to take over the world.'”
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.
