New and Noteworthy: Embrace of Windows buffs up Mac's appeal for IT; Apple Matters: Don't dual-boot; more

Embrace of Windows buffs up Mac's appeal for IT ComputerWorld reports that Apple's development of software that lets Intel-based Macintosh systems run Windows XP natively met with the approval of several Mac-friendly IT managers, who said this week that the embrace of Microsoft?s operating system will make it easier to deploy Apple hardware. "The dual-booting capability 'definitely makes the Mac more attractive,' said Micah Lamb, a microcomputer support specialist in the IT services department at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. Lamb said via e-mail that Baylor has routinely had end users who preferred Apple?s hardware to PCs but needed Windows to run applications central to their jobs. Boot Camp will let them have it both ways, he said." More.

Apple Matters: Don't dual-boot Not everyone is keen on the ability to dual-boot Windows XP on Macs. An Apple Matters columnist says "Perhaps the biggest way that we define ourselves is in what we are not (Beeblebrox, affectionally, is not included in this generalization). 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. 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." More.

The Motley Fool: Apple 'may be the next Dell' The MacDaily News quotes the Motley Fool, who sees Apple's stock as valued very differently after the announcement of Boot Camp. "How do we value Apple's stock now [that Boot Camp has been released]? It's the first EFFECTIVE strike at Dell. It's also a strike at Microsoft, and uses its own OS against them. And it's a dual-edged 'Win' [sic] for Microsoft ... Every Windows user will consider a Mac if Apple prices them competitively, and continues to produce computers that have style, superior engineering, and better quality overall in a world of commodity tin-box PCs ... Flip side: Apple's strike at Dell and Microsoft will not be maximally effective unless users don't encounter limitations. They have to embrace Windows hardware, games, etc." More.

Previously on MacFixIt

• Mac OS X 10.4.6 (#4): Solution for inability to write to server volumes; Printer issues -- try connecting directly to the Mac
• Parallels Virtualization software debuts: Allows simultaneous running of Windows XP and Mac OS X
• .Mac sync services not available to some users
• Boot Camp: Questions and Answers; Troubleshooting issues; Benchmarks; more

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