“Since its beginnings, the Mac has been discounted—saddled with the claim that there’s a lack of native software when compared to the X86 PC platform,” David Morgenstern writes for eWeek. “Now, Apple and a growing number of virtualization vendors are pitching Windows compatibility solutions to the Mac masses. The rub? Most Mac users won’t need any of these Windows programs.”
“Still, the choices for running Windows on the Mac keep expanding. Apple and virtualization vendors keep refining their different approaches,” Morgenstern writes. “On Sept. 20, Parallels released RC Build 1898 of its Desktop for Mac v2.2 virtualization software. According to the company, the update includes performance optimizations; compatibility with the forthcoming OS X v10.5, called ‘Leopard,’ and Windows Vista; and support for a wider range of USB devices.David Morgenstern writes for eWeek.”
Morgenstern writes, “Apple and virtualization vendors are busy marching forward with improved support for running Windows XP and Vista on Intel Macs. But are there really so few native solutions that Mac users must resort to Windows? Or is something else going on? …When I researched a rather vertical niche segment the other day, I found that the Mac software field isn’t such a wasteland. Instead, there were plenty of choices for free and commercial software. The real problem came down to the difficulty in finding the Mac versions.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Apple does need to do a better job helping users find Mac applications. The best they have to offer isn’t as useful as it should be, as Morgenstern points out. See Apple’s “Macintosh products Guide” here.
Related MacDailyNews article:
Will developers stop writing Mac applications if Apple ‘Macintel’ computers can run Windows? – June 08, 2005