“Microsoft said a couple weeks ago [that Windows Vista] would be shipping later than expected and would miss the 2006 Christmas season. There has been lots of speculation about exactly why Microsoft had to make such an expensive decision, and five of those reasons were covered right here two weeks ago. But this time I am ready to lay the definitive reason for this particular Windows Vista delay on Dell Computer,” Robert X. Cringely writes for PBS. “It is easy to forget that Microsoft works mainly through its OEM partners, which include Dell, HP, and many others. If Microsoft announces a date by which some future product is going to be available, they can only do so with the agreement of the OEMs. I know we hear (and I write) a lot about Microsoft beating up its partners, but Bill Gates can’t put new software on a Dell computer without Michael Dell’s permission.”
“According to those familiar with the way Dell qualifies new software, they are very careful about their shipping OS/application sets. They put together new builds every quarter, and test them for a full quarter. This means that to ship something in October it has to be into a build set in July, which means it has to be slotted some time in April. And that’s just for an application. Now imagine what Dell’s test plan looks like for a whole new operating system,” Cringely writes. “Last week, a Microsoft data security guru suggested at a conference that corporate and government users would be wise to come up with automated processes to wipe clean hard drives and reinstall operating systems and applications periodically as a way to deal with malware infestations. What Microsoft is talking about is a utility from SysInternals, a company that makes simply awesome tools. The crying shame of this whole story is that Microsoft has given up on Windows security. They have no internal expertise to solve this problem among their 60,000-plus employees, and they apparently have no interest in looking outside for help. I know any number of experts who could give Microsoft some very good guidance on what is needed to fix and secure Windows. There are very good developers Microsoft could call upon to help them. But no, their answer is to rebuild your system every few days and start over. Will Vista be any better? I don’t think so.”
“Now to Apple and its Boot Camp utility announced this week to allow Intel Mac owners to boot into either OS X 10.4 or Windows XP. Readers (and Wall Street) took this to mean much more than I did, and I like to think I am correct,” Cringely writes. “Boot Camp, itself, is unexciting. So you can boot into Windows or OS X, big deal. You can’t boot into Windows AND OS X. You can’t cut and paste data between the two OS’s or even access the same data, as far as I can see. For this you’d need Virtual PC – a Microsoft product – if only a version existed for the IntelMac platform.”
MacDailyNews Take: You definitely don’t need Virtual PC. Virtual PC is dead. See Parallels releases first virtualization solution for Intel-powered Apple Intel-based Macs for one example of a solution. Others are sure to follow; perhaps even from Apple themselves. Boot Camp will be a different thing altogether when integrated into Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard.
Cringely continues,”I doubt that its existence, especially as a beta product, is going to make some Fortune 500 company suddenly sanction the purchase of Macs because they can, with some effort and an extra $100, pretend to be Windows machines.”
MacDailyNews Take: It’s interesting how far off base Cringely is on this: Macs plus Boot Camp aren’t pretending to be Windows machines. They are Windows machines while they are running Windows. While we feel for the poor Mac, and Mac users, that’ve been temporarily dumbed down, this isn’t Virtual PC-like “pretending” we’re talking about here.
Cringely continues, “the only company that truly benefits from Boot Camp is Microsoft, because they’ll get to sell a retail copy of Windows XP for every copy of Boot Camp and retail XP makes Microsoft about three times as much money as the OEM version. Microsoft LOVES Boot Camp and I am sure they’ll say that shortly. After all, Boot Camp sells more copies of Windows without threatening more sophisticated products like Microsoft’s own Virtual PC. One reason why Microsoft isn’t surprised by Boot Camp is because Microsoft has been working with Apple to make sure that Windows Vista runs well on IntelMacs. Apple will support Vista dual boot, though I don’t know if they will become a Vista OEM, but I can’t imagine why they wouldn’t if it will help sales.”
MacDailyNews Take: If Microsoft “LOVES” Boot Camp, then they are suffering from delusions of grandeur: Why would Microsoft want anyone who doesn’t already know to experience the difference between Windows XP and Mac OS X? That’s like a NYC hot dog cart vendor offering taste tests vs. a five-star restaurant’s filet mignon. In the short term Microsoft could sell more copies of Windows XP. In the long run, though, people who’ve tasted the filet aren’t going to want to eat Microsoft’s hot dogs anymore.
Cringely concludes, “I predict that Apple will settle on 64-bit Intel processors ASAP (with FireWire 800 please), and at that time will announce a product similar to Boot Camp to allow OS X to run on bog-standard 32-bit PC hardware, turning the Boot Camp relationship on its head and trying to sell $99 copies of OS X to 100 million or so Windows owners.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Does Apple really have to go that far?
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Microsoft loves boot camp because Microsoft honestly believes that Windows is a good OS. They are delusional ya know…
Cringely, on the hand has fallen off of his rocker. I stopped finding his predictions insightful some time ago…
Boot Camp=unbelievable free advertising for Apple
Why is the stock down 3 percent this morning? Is the attention span of investors really so short?
Motley Fool article uses a formula that values AAPL at $136. Very interesting read:
http://netscape.fool.com/news/commentary/2006/commentary06040619.htm?logvisit=y&source=eptnetlnk308100&npu=y
I think Cringely is offbase here. OS X is not going to appear on a Windows box anytime soon if EVER. There are simply too many differences and cultural roadblocks. People wanting to make the switch are FAR more likely to buy a new Mac mini, use bootcamp to still access those elements of Windows they find necessary and will understand over time how much more secure, and elegant OS X really is. However, despite this truth, Windows XP in most installs I’ve seen (thousands)…is simply FASTER than any Mac I’ve ever used. Since I currently support over 40 macs ranging from 8.6 to 10.4.6 in all sizes and shapes as well as a few Windows systems and have been involved with computers since the 1970’s…I speak from experience.
So… little things like being able to move a window by clicking on the side, or resize it the same way, and yes, system responsiveness seem to be issues for switchers
pr… can’t say I agree, the new Intel based Macs are pretty damn responsive.
totally bogus, apple is a hardware company (which has been confirmed further by recent events) and would never sell their OS outside of a Mac. they (apple) know the money is in showing people you can dual-boot with their computers, but can’t do that with HP, toshiba, etc. once people realize that, apple won’t have to try and sell osx, the computers will sell themselves.
It’s pretty hard to sell apple hardware if os x can be run on much cheaper dellboxes (yes i know they are pretty poor compared to apples, but the average joe who has never known the luxury of an apple computer will settle for it). I think virtualization is the way to go, hope apple comes out with a solution and doesn’t get in trouble for it. (I mean if apple provides a solution currently provided by another company, for every new mac that ships, isn’t apple using it’s position to the other company’s disadvantage?)
Crigley totally blew it at the end. I agree with MDN, why would Apple sell OS X to beige-box Hell? Why would Apple cut the hardware revenue. Why would Apple abandon the millions of Apple hardware fans?
Sure the soul of the computer is the OS, but someone has to be the quality and innovation leader in hardware too. Apple wins biggest when they do both.
Crigley has intereting and plausable insights, but some of his conclusions are a bit too far out in left field. (there’s my baseball analogy)
I’ve got som mixed feelings about this… it sort of hurts me beïng MacAddict for almost 17 years now!
I will probably run boot camp if OS X 10.5 doesn’t contain virtualization technology.
Will I buy a new XP licence? Will I hell!
Microsoft is not getting one penny more out of me in response to the years of time wasted on their pile-o-dung operating system. No, I’ll use the copy I already suffered through and even then only for about two programs, in highly unique circumstances, and to support and legacy file backups that I have not yet converted to the Mac equivalent software. I already use Virtual PC for that purpose and no I didn’t buy a new copy of XP for that either.
Surely Apple are after existing XP customers who can likewise transfer their licence (albeit through Microsoft annoyingly stupid reactivation process)?
pr is right.
Now that Apple builds PCs albeit with EFI instead of Bios there isn’t much to distinguish Mac and PC. OS X is that difference. A mac will run OSX, Windows, Linux etc etc. A PC is unlikely to run OSX.
I simpl cannot wait for the Conroe Macs. I am waiting to fill my boots……
“Oh here we go” gets it. Cringley does not.
Next…
pr: However, despite this truth, Windows XP in most installs I’ve seen (thousands)…is simply FASTER than any Mac I’ve ever used.
Just from my own business and family I have noticed that Windows XP is snappier, peppier, faster than our Macs.
Mike,
All I can say is that I HAVE an intel Core duo iMac and opening windows,
accessing files, and general system snappiness is not “apparently” (no benchmarks here)..quick to the touch as most current Windows systems. I see the difference every day. I personally hate Windows but I don’t ever wait for it to respond. With OS X…I do. Just my personal experience.
I’m not talking about horrible waits…(though we’ve all experienced kernel panics and the spinning beach ball of death)…just a half second to 3 seconds throughout the experience.
I installed one for a Windows switcher and he’s constantly grumbling…
“come on! Open”…so I looked..and sure enough he had a ton of icons on his desktop (a system slower)..but even with those put away..it lagged behind his older Dell.
oh here we go…:”apple is a hardware company (which has been confirmed further by recent events) and would never sell their OS outside of a Mac.”
Yeah, just like we all thought Apple would never go to Intel processors or Pixar would be sold to Disney.
Steve has a change of attitude, a new vision. Time for all you Macheads to open up to new ideas and thinking.
I wouldn’t do this but some Mac users that uses boot camp will download a corporate version of XP with SP2 Slipstreamed or it themselves.
or
Current Windows user can use their current boxed Systems (DELL HP etc.) with Windows and can make a Windows XP Slipstreamed CD and simply use the COA number off of their machines and Authorize Windows XP. The user finally can stick it to Microsoft just like Microsoft was sticking it to them.
The news the Vista won’t ship this Christmas and Apple with Boot Camp it could be a great Year for Mac System Sales (Maybe the best ever) and add that with iPod sales Apple will be a force in 2006 – 2007.
it will be interesting to see, but I think it is MS who is scratching their heads right now and trying to figure out how this plays with their “windows-only” hardware partners. It is a bit ironic that MS could be helping Apple sell more machines (to the detriment of the MS hardware partners), and which may ultimately, assuming the buyers like OS X, start eating into the MS OS empire.
I think this is pointed towards the enterprise and high-end consumer – mostly at hardware companies – and I think it is Apple who is saying “Yeah, let me play as another “beige-box” PC maker. I’m the only one giving “value add” on my hardware, so let me compete at the high and middle ends against the HPs, Dells, Lenovo, etc. I’ll clean their clock. There is no excuse anymore, I run all the stuff they do and I am cooler looking and OS X will show them a better experience once they get bored/malwared with XP. Give me a chance to show my stuff.”
Well, Cringely isn’t afraid of dreaming. And I remember MDN posting last year; “When Cringely talks, we listen.”
That said, if Apple is indeed working with Microsoft to ensure Vista compatability .. cool. And double cool for Boot Camping OS X onto Windows, if that’s in the cards too. OS X is strong and the converts will indeed come, but it will take time. And any way that increases OS X exposure is fine and dandy in my book.
I think pr makes some good points in the first part of his analysis. But based on some of the benchmarks coming out the last couple of days running Boot Camp, it appears that it’s more or less a wash on speed now with Intel cpus.
I’m going out on a limb, obviously, but I think the speed issue is now dead. It’s going to be of what system do you want to run, not which one is faster from now on. Time will tell, but I agree Corporate America is flat not going to change over to Apple over this. Time to move on.
The current installed base of Macs are going to lag behind Windows boxes for the rest of their existence in terms of simple user responsiveness so the problem is…most people won’t make the distinction between INTEL macs and older ones. How long do Mac’s last? five to eight years? Or more? So this will be an issue for some time to come. As Mac users, and switchers migrate to the intel based macs, this will ease of course, but for now and the next few years…speed and the user experience will CONTINUE to be an issue.
Selling shrink-wrapped versions of OS X that can run on regular (non-Apple) PCs would only make sense if a new version of OS X also included some means of running Windows programs (yellow box ? red box ? Darwine ?). Then a current Windows user could actually replace Windows with a new OS X installation that would still use the old programs.
I don’t see Apple providing this type of solution, but that would be the way to finally compete with Microsoft head-to-head.
Bootcamp only runs on Mac Intel machines with the firmware installation. It won’t work on a generic PC and besides it is not an OSX installer it is a Windows XP installer so why would you need it for a generic PC anyways? This guy obviously didn’t do his homework.
I think Cringely misses the big, big picture (surprise)
Apple is giving switchers a reason to switch AND NOT buy Vista.
Think about it:
Why buy Vista a full eight months from now (maybe) when they can buy new, beautiful Mac hardware NOW and get Tiger or Leopard at the end of the year.
They already own a copy of XP Windows.
They’re replacing their old PC anyway – WHY or WHY should they buy Vista?
They can play/use heir currect windows programs on a shiny cool, new MAC.
Apple can take a huge bite out of the Vista upgrade cycle.
BTW – the Mac Mini is perfect for those that have to replace their old PC with the copy of XP on it.
They can take all their existing stuff (keyboard, mouse, XP, software, etc.)
The delay of Vista has been the window (no pun intended) for Apple to take all the pieces it has and take a bite out of MS.
My two cents.