XP on Intel Mac. From Apple. Link.

It's now possible. It makes it possible to slim down from the planned MacMini and some Dell laptop to just one Apple laptop. Cost wise it will run nearly the same.

Don't tell anyone, but if all goes according to plan I'll try this with Windows 2000 first. The reasons are simply my customers run that on many machines.

Bob

Isn't Microsoft still on track to produce a Virtual PC for the Intel Macs?

in the same line?
I would imagine that M$ will scale back any work currently being done on VPC but you never know.
The ability to work with both platforms at once is nice but emulation is always s l o w and VPC is notoriously slow. P2 @ 600Mhz is the best it can do.

Virtualization is the way to go but it has to do better than VPC.

P

about a Cross-Upgrade. This is where you purchase a copy of the software you already own that runs on your new OS.
If you play your cards right, you can get the software for a fraction of the purchase price.

It's worth asking about.

This new version of OS X (10.5) will have this Boot-Camp software included with it so any purchase of a new Mac, after 10.5 is released (Late 2006), will have it included. Then all you need is a copy of XP and off you go.

However, I would try the first option before anything else

P

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll that first as it would be a pain to reboot back and forth between OSX & WIX XP

jbphotog: I hope that Adobe will allow you to do a cross-grade. Even though installing Windows on a new Mac to run your old copy of Photoshop will cost less in the short term than purchasing PS for Mac, your long term costs may be higher. You will need to install and constantly update anti-virus and firewall software on the Windows partition. Going all Mac will be far easier in the long run, although it will not run at maximum speed until Adobe upgrades PS for Mac to run natively on the Intel processor.

Let us know how you make out with Adobe.

I'm not sure if this is actually an "official" blessing or more of a way to circumvent the hacking community poking around inside the guts of the Intel Macs trying to find a way to make XP work.

Of course, it could be part of some giant master plan that nobody, outside of the select few, have any idea about.

We'll see what develops

P

Ok, I think this could be a good thing and the start of something much bigger and, possibly, better.
Does anyone think that the ability to run XP on Mac hardware is going to encourage more Windows users to switch?

One of the frequent arguments against switching to a Mac, always seems to be the "need" to run Windows programs. Will this change things?


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more PC users to switch. Meself tho, I'm computer poor with Win98se, WinMe, and WinXP desktops. They will probably last me a while longer for non-business home & high tech PC games that we & the grandkids use. In time, I'll sure take a deep look at a MAC and probably get one.
'Course I haven't really looked to see if Apple has a computer with a thin LCD monitor that doesn't take up much space like the one's available for a PC.

Check out the Apple store for the Intel driven iMac 17" and 20" machines, check the specs and you will find that the entire machine is in the Monitor. Ain't no way you could describe the machine as thick!


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going to switch

Everybody's heard of Apple. So why doesn't everybody buy one?

That was a rhetorical question, btw...

They're easily accessable, yet sales-wise, Windows still continues to blow them out of the water. Some of the curious and a few geeks will look into this, but I don't think it's gonna help Apple's sales any.

Apple's new Mac Mini offers a very affordable way for users of "Windows," to experience the marvelous world of the Mac.

My father-in-law, who is a die-hard PC user, might switch only because he's so tired of his PC not working and tired of all of the viruses. If he switches, he better be able to run all of his "favorite" PC programs and utilites or nothing but bad things will come out of his mouth about the Mac. Will Windows XP operate on the Mac exactly as it does on his PC? Again, if it doesn't, I think many PC users (like my father-in-law) will poo-poo the Mac, just because it's a Mac. BUT...once he tries the native Mac iLife programs, he may give up the PC ship. Then he might be a Mac convert. Hopefully the Mac will comfortably allow him to port all of his data from his current PC into the Intel Mac, but again, this better be a reliable port-over or I won't hear anything but negative things about the Mac. We've got to keep in mind that for most PC users, there is nothing better in the world than Windows XP, so trying a Mac will be a huge hurdle.

"Will Windows XP operate on the Mac exactly as it does on his PC?"

Yes. It is Windows and not an emulation

P

Then this may be a good reason for a die-hard PC user to step out of the Dark Side and test the waters of the Rebellion. I know my father-in-laws daughter had to get a Mac for her classroom (she was also a die-hard PC user), and he's getting tired of hearing "happy" computer stories from her. I got tired of telling my "happy Mac" stories long ago.

If your father in law buys a Mac Mini, makes sure he remembers where he left it. It will be an awful lot smaller than his PC and he may mislay it somewhere on his desk.

Equally, if he buys an iMac, make sure he understands that no one has 'stolen' his computer.

Other than that, he can't go wrong really.

Now if I could boot to OS X and run virus and adware scans on the WinXP partition, well. Or, the kids get the Win XP ''gaming'' partition and after they trash it, running an image restore from the OS X side.
But having setup and seen Win XP on a 20'' iMac I have to say.. it looked better than most of PCs. Great display, nice form factor! Some people will pay the money to just run Win XP on an iMac because of this. It may cost more but think of Apple "brand" as the new Sony!

?but what will happen as Peter pointed out if a slew of viruses come crashing on the Widows software run on a Mac?
Is it really the Mac having the virus or Windows software run on a Mac?
Too early to tell?
My guess is that the hacks who originally ran Windows on a Mac can figure out a way to send viruses to Windows being run on the Mac.
Would it attack the software selectively?

Any guesses??

-Kevin

K, this is not an "IF" scenario, it is a "WHEN" scenario.

Once you have Windows running, on any machine, it becomes a virus magnet.
The OS is so vulnerable to outside attack that M$ declared that the best removal tool for malware is a total Reformat and Install of Windows.

Windows on a Mac will be NO different from Windows on a Dell or Gateway. Windows is Windows and, as such, is still a very dangerous piece of software to be running, unprotected, on any machine.
Remember that when Win is running on a Mac, the Mac OS is not running and the security of the Unix underpinnings is no longer there. The Mac becomes a Winbox, complete with ALL the vulnerabilities.

The greater danger comes when someone figures out how to get the virus to move from the Win Partition on the HD over to the Mac side. There are already programs out there that allow that sort of movement. I believe MacDisk is one such.

P

If Apple makes its Mac run Windows, does it want to serve some PC buyers that only want to spend no more than $300 for a new desktop or $500 for a portable computer? There are many computer buyers that have that kind limited budget.

Apple is not out to capture the very low end PC market.
There is a reason why some PC boxes are so cheap, they just do not have the same specs as the others.
Apple makes computers that run the Mac OS. The fact that they are capable of running Windows as well has nothing to do with the quality of the build or the specs of the machine.
The OS is not the expensive part of a machine, the hardware is.


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