“Perhaps the biggest way that we [Mac users] define ourselves is in what we are not. We are not Windows users. Adamantly NOT. Everything that Windows represents, bloat-ware, an inconsistent user experience, an unrefined UI is what we Mac users are not,” HAdley Stern writes for Apple Matters. “Which is why the latest obsession to hit the Mac community is one that I find so odd. That being booting Windows natively. I am writing this from a brand new MacBook Pro (just got it today, in fact). It, so far, appears to be a beautiful machine. The screen is bright as heck, the processor is zippy. OS X runs beautifully within its dual core Intel framework.”
“And yet so many people out there want to boot Windows on this machine? Why oh why, I ask. I can understand, even respect the hackers who want to do it out there to see if it can be done. But the fact that this seems to be so popular (there are sites, wikis, forums dedicated to just this one task) seems to me to bode ill for the Mac experience,” Stern writes. “If OS X is so darn freakin’ good why do people want Windows on their Mac. Buy a Dell, at least its ugliness will match the ugliness of Windows. Virtual PC was already enough of a weird thing, but booting Windows on a Mac? Sacrilege, I say… So, everyone out there who is reading this I want you to take the Apple Matters pledge of allegiance to the Mac platform. Pledge that you won’t even think about trying to dual-boot your Mac, now and forever. Amen.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Nobody “wants” to run Windows, but they do want to run certain Windows-only apps. Instead of waiting until never for apps like AutoCAD to come to Mac OS X, running Windows apps on a Mac is the next best thing. We’ve learned how to survive and thrive with 100% Microsoft-free Macs, but architects and many others who wanted Macs, but were stuck with an app or two that was critical for their work now have the entry into Macintosh that they needed. That is a good thing. Plus, the more Window-only folks who get to try Mac OS X and the excellent Mac-only apps and suites like iLife, the better it will be for Apple. Many who think the need Windows, we call it the Windows “insecurity blanket,” will now be able to consider a Mac for their next PC. That can only help Apple to ultimately “embrace and extinguish.”
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Related article:
A corporate view of Apple’s Boot Camp announcement – April 07, 2006
Video of Parallels running Windows XP on Mac OS X – April 07, 2006
Macs that run Windows will calm potential switchers’ irrational fears – April 06, 2006
Old thinking Macheads – Steve is moving on, Apple is moving on. Macheads, zealots, fanboys, whatever; time to get with the new Apple thinking.
Larry:
very well said. I agree.
How could a lawyer be so stupid?
Sign the horse and buggy pledge…
This is so funny.
Time to grow up. Apple is a hardware company first. Computers that can run multiple OSs are inherently more valuable. Maybe only to a few right now, but the OSX architecture offers freedom that is very attractive and appreciated by those in the know.
the only real reason i have to work in XP is a website made in dreamweaver on the mac will look or work right until it’s been tweeked on a PC for Internet Explorer.
Lets hope that once folks do get XP to dual boot on their mac, and leave XP up for more than a few hours while connected to the web, their XP parition will be so messed up with malware and viruses that they will switch back to OS X becuase it WORKS.
Notice how easy they make it to delete XP once yuour over it, just erase the XP parition and get all that hard drive space back.
the only real reason i have to work in XP is a website made in dreamweaver on the mac will look or work right until it’s been tweeked on a PC for Internet Explorer.
Lets hope that once folks do get XP to dual boot on their mac, and leave XP up for more than a few hours while connected to the web, their XP parition will be so messed up with malware and viruses that they will switch back to OS X becuase it WORKS.
Notice how easy they make it to delete XP once yuour over it, just erase the XP parition and get all that hard drive space back.
the only real reason i have to work in XP is a website made in dreamweaver on the mac will look or work right until it’s been tweeked on a PC for Internet Explorer.
Lets hope that once folks do get XP to dual boot on their mac, and leave XP up for more than a few hours while connected to the web, their XP parition will be so messed up with malware and viruses that they will switch back to OS X becuase it WORKS.
Notice how easy they make it to delete XP once yuour over it, just erase the XP parition and get all that hard drive space back.
the only real reason i have to work in XP is a website made in dreamweaver on the mac will look or work right until it’s been tweeked on a PC for Internet Explorer.
Lets hope that once folks do get XP to dual boot on their mac, and leave XP up for more than a few hours while connected to the web, their XP parition will be so messed up with malware and viruses that they will switch back to OS X becuase it WORKS.
Notice how easy they make it to delete XP once yuour over it, just erase the XP parition and get all that hard drive space back.
Scary thing is a little Mac mini, from my last day’s use of it, is one screaming fast little Windows machine, really a quick, spritely little bugger even with only the base memory.
Funny thing about Windows XP–it’s now a five-six year old OS, running on hardware faster than anything it was ever anticipated to be used on. Kindly as if you were running OS 9 on a G5. The couple of minutes I spent with Word XP on the mini were faster and more responsive than Office 2004 on my G5, which is pretty much you would expect…
I promise to never, ever dual boot Windows XP on my G4 Mac mini or my 12″ PowerBook G4.
you now what – I agree… if this creates more longevity for Apple and makes Apple more popular – screw the idiots who think it’s an exclusive club.
Theres a real simple issue that is addressed on this site – much to the chagrin of the fanboy… Steve Jobs will die like all the rest of us. Chronologically maybe before myself. I want to see Apple survive his passing (I wish he could live forever)… what this move does is entrench longevity in the brand. Face it – before iPod – it could have disappeared. It still could – it’s just with a move like this – it hedges the odds.
I think it is a neat idea – games will get cheaper for my kids. Parents who think they can’t buy Macs because files are incompatible (yes – those people still exist) will buy them. We can play the same stupid clock perception games as the PC world now – it goes on and on.
The MDN responses are more and more pathetic each day (the other day the attack was on misspelled words – give me a break) – I’m learning to hate this site – just need to stick to the articles.
It’s like listening to Rush as a democrat – get through all the diatribe, filter the blabber, and you learn something about Washington.
Hurray for Mac.
signed,
lifetime Mac user
Actually, I do want to run Windows.
I’ve never run anything but OS 8.5 thru OS 10.3.9. I refused to touch my wife’s PC. I don’t even know how to turn it on.
But now I’m ready to try that sucker. As soon as she buys me a new Mac to try it on. ahaha. Yes indeed.
The real Apple has rotten…
Larry, I’ve been supporting Apple products for 20 years now…so I’m always in the new way of thinking!
However I have no need or desire to put windows on my personal Mac. My wife likes the idea of dual boot because of her work, she needs to use Windows like many people do. She really likes Apple hardware and OS X, but like others, she is forced to use Windows at work.
So I’m going to buy a MacBook Pro for her and install Windows so she can use it at work.
At this point I am unsure if I will have to do the same for customers in our stores. If this is what our customers want and need, I’ll do it.
yeah, this is retarded… It’s like proclaiming that I am only going to eat st. andre’s cheese and never eat cheddar cheese again. The former may be better than the latter, but no-one cares what I will or won’t do.
All I can say is xp is faster on my imac than I ever experienced on a dell or gateway box. I’ve gotta use if for a couple of programs and it’s fine. Rebooting is so fast it’s not worth complaining about.
I’ve got 4 friends buying 4 iMacs this week, switchers all. One of them is getting an additional 4 iMacs for her 4 hair salons. Simply because of the minimalist design. This “xp on a mac” strategy will work.
Porting itunes over to windows was the big boost behind the ipod growth. Now allowing windows users to experience the mac will have the same effect.
Dell and Gateway are going to take a big hit this year.
Larry the Lawyer said it perfectly
Apple is now “Thinking Different” as how it used to think.
Wonder what is expecting us. Doomsday…Bwahahahahah
I’m a big fan of the right tool for the right job. Over the years I’ve used over a dozen different operating systems; the reason I use OS X now is because I have found that for most jobs the Mac tool is the right tool.
But swearing never to use Windows? Come on, that’s what zealots and fools do. If Apple really *is* better, using Windows won’t harm you; if Windows does something better than Apple, wouldn’t you like to know it so you can see how Apple improves it?
That’s good. Get over it.
Give it a rest. I am so glad my mac will now run windows. I can now program the phone systems we sell – and only have to take 1 laptop with me.
cb writes
1-“Steve Jobs will die like all the rest of us. Chronologically maybe before myself”
Time for you to apply for a job at Apple and work hard in order to replace him. LOL
2-“I want to see Apple survive his passing”
I think is something everybody wants to see. But i want to see HOW they will survive without him.
3-“I wish he could live forever”
Who wants to live forever?, as the Queen song says.
im glad i hardly ever need to use windows, i think everyone will get fed up with the whole windows thing soon – they just doing it because they can, after that they probably think, “now what…i know ill go back into osx and do some cool” lol
The author of this piece is a fricking idiot.. If you don’t want to boot into Windows, THEN DON”T DO IT.. No one is forcing a gun to your head and telling you that you have to run Windows, it is simply an OPTION.. And a damn valuable option for the majority of computer users who need to use a specific Windows only app for whatever reason.
What a stupid moronic idea this pledge is…