USA Today’s Michelle Kessler, in the annual back-to-school PC shopping article, asks, “Apple or Windows?”
Kessler explains, “The price premium for Apple PCs isn’t as high as it used to be, prompting some shoppers to try Apple. Amazon.com’s current best seller is a $1,045 Mac. But compatibility issues with Windows, which is found on about 95% of PCs, can still be a problem. (It is possible, but difficult, to run Windows on a Mac.)”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Yeah, it’s really difficult. Not. Is this Monday or FUDday?
• The Wall Street Journal’s Walter S. Mossberg wrote of running Windows on a Mac, “I’ve been testing Parallels Desktop on a new MacBook Pro laptop, and have found it works very well, despite a few drawbacks. I prefer it to Apple’s [Boot Camp] solution, even though the Apple approach is free and also works very well.”
• Jim Rossman wrote of Boot Camp for The Dallas Morning News, “Installation is quite easy. Boot Camp has an installation assistant that walks you through the steps of setting up the Windows partition and installing Windows… The Windows installation took less than an hour. Once I installed the drivers, everything seemed to work as advertised. In fact, the Intel-based iMac was a very fast Windows PC. Any PC user who has wanted to try the Mac OS or any Mac user who needs to run Outlook or wants to run PC games should put an Intel Mac running Boot Camp on their short list of systems to consider.”
• Paul Thurrott reported for Internet Nexus, “Parallels does perform very well for what it is, about on par with what I experience on the PC with VMWare or Virtual Server. That this is a 1.0 product is astonishing…. For those who just need occasional Windows application compatibility, Parallels is an excellent solution, no doubt about it. But if you want to run Windows regularly, Boot Camp is absolutely the way to go.”
We could go on, but the point has already clearly been made: There are at least two ways to run Windows on a Mac and neither are described as “difficult” by reviewers ranging from the highly-respected Walt Mossberg all the way on down to Windows fanboy/Microsoft apologist Paul Thurrott.
Contact:
USA Today Letters to the Editor: http://feedbackforms.usatoday.com/marketing/feedback/feedback-online.aspx?type=18
It is difficult to run Windows on a Mac because it’s difficult to run Windows in general. On a Mac would be no different.
FUD alert. FUD alert. FUD alert. FUD alert. All hands on deck!
Well said, Jimbo.
In other words, Michelle never has seen a Mac in her life, never have used one, does not know the hot air she spouts around so naively.
Michelle, ma belle, these are words I know you WON’T understand, my Michelle.
Indeed, but I have to wonder of who would want to complicate their lives and skip Apple’s own OS for Windows. When one uses Apple products what they are really doing is buying into a system that of which its benefits wouldn’t be maximized by using any of its components as a stand-alone item.
Quoting a Best Buy sales associate in your first “Buying Guide” tip?
I was going to read the full article to see if Michelle was educated enough to be taken seriously.
The statement could be correct, with a little explanation. If it were reworded to say, ‘It is possible, but difficult to run Windows on a Mac, just like it is possible, but difficult, to rund Windows on a Windows PC,’ then the statement would be completely accurate.
Remember the source USA Today…the M$ Bob of newspapers.
True. If you must quote a pimply faced
Best Buy salesperson for content, you
probably have no business writing the
article in the first place.
I know, I know. It’s FUDday!
This is a copy of the email I sent to USAToday and to the reporter:
I’m sure you’ve been contacted already, so I won’t go in to much detail. You realize that there are at least TWO well-known ways to run Windows on the Intel Macs, right? Parallels (http://www.parallels.com) and Apple’s own, “Boot Camp” (http://www.apple.com/macosx/bootcamp/).
I bought an Intel Mac for this very reason (to run Windows). Some of my college courses use Windows-only software. I’ve had NO problems running ANY Windows application or function using Parallels, and when I compare the speed with that of “Windows PCs” my Macbook is FASTER than the Dells and Microns that my friends have.
My friends and I are extremely tech-savvy. I’ve owned both Windows machines and Macs since I was a kid. I’ve built computers before. My friends are computer programmers and network administrators.
Frankly, I am shocked that you would make such a statement that “It is possible, but difficult, to run Windows on a Mac,” without further comment. It is completely incorrect. How did this get past your editor? Making a blanket statement like that with no back up is just poor reporting and/or editing. I’d be surprised if you don’t hear from Apple’s Marketing Department at the very least, and Apple’s Legal Department at the other end of the continuum.
I am really losing faith in your newspaper. This “article” is an example of why I rarely go to USAToday for anything of real importance.
I picked up a new Mac Pro on Saturday, along with a copy of Parallels. I installed it this morning at work and so far is has yet to work. It crashes about 6 seconds after I “Power On” my new Virtual Machine. Oh and it doesn’t just crash, it crashes OS X. I get this dark window shade looking thing that glides down over the desktop that says something to the effect of You must restart your computer, by holding the power button down until your system re-starts” I’ve had Macs for over 5 years and that is the first time I’ve seen that happen. I can’t remember when the last time OS X has locked up completly on me. I’ve had apps bomb, but not the whole system. WTF?
or take it this way….. (and I paraphrase here);
‘But compatibility issues found on about 95% of PCs, can still be a problem.’
‘Windows is found on about 95% of PCs’ (It has to be found folks, just to be sure you are running windows.)
‘It is possible, but difficult, to run Windows ‘
‘Michelle Kessler, the PC ass, is high.’
(PC=politically correct)
WTF? Who knows? What have you done wrong? We have Parallels installed here on tens of intel Macs here at CERN running Windows, Linux various flavors, and Scientific Linux, the CERN certified Linux distro.
Not a glitch to any Mac.
Run the problem with Parallels support, they’ll find what you have done wrong.
Alan Thompson-
it’d be better to simply forward the positive reviews (quoted above) that were done by Mossberg, et al.
To THE EDITOR.
If you read the Wall Street Journal (Mossberg), then you are probably smart enough to use Windows on a Mac.
If you fit the profile of your average, middle-America, can’t-locate-Lebanon-on-a-map USA Today reader, then I’m sure using Parallels or BootCamp is more difficult.
Therefore, the columnist is correct.
Mintu
What the hell is this reporter talking about? Run bootcamp and install Windows XP. Load Apple’s drivers. Done. Yea that’s really difficult, NOT!!!!
I’m running all kinds of software including games and they all work just as good as if it was a PC. No slow downs of any kind.
Bootcamp runs like a native PC and there are no vmware issues. Mr. Kessler is talking through his FUD behind!
USA Today is a rag for 4th graders and losers.
If you didn’t know, you know now!
I have an idea. Let’s take little bits and pieces from other articles out of context and present them as our own new story!
USA Today: Put away the Easy button.
FUD
Believe me, it is more dificult to run Windows on a PC that running it on a MAc.
Ah, USA Today, our great national newsletter. Tell me, was this article on the “Think-n-Do” page?
Also…
John, I believe the writer was a woman, that would be Ms. Kessler.
Verbose, WTF, you did something wrong.
I know the people that get USA Today have difficulty reading, but surely the writer and her Editor should know better. Have they never heard of researching a subject before publishing the story?
“Windows is so difficult to run on this thing!!! Why does it keep starting up with that Apple logo?”
F windows.
It is possible, but difficult, to run Windows on a PC.
So, what’s your point Miss Kessler ?
Installing Windows on a Mac is no more difficult than Reinstalling Windows on a PC (which you have to do periodically anyhow). The only difference is that PC vendors save you the trouble for the first install.
He’s right.
It’s difficult to install and run Windows on anything.
Preinstalled at a mom & pop Mac store is the way to go.