Apple embraces the dual boot
April 5th, 2006
Apple does it. Very interesting for Apple to come at it this way. Windows users are used to a little more pre-announcement love than Mac users. Quite a development.
And maybe the rumors are true that one day it won’t just be a dual-boot system, but a real-time run of Mac OS and Windows. That kind of machine in a laptop would be a web developers dream come true. I wonder if such a technology would grow market share. o
April 5th, 2006 at 8:38 am
I’ve been debating about whether or not to switch to a Mac with my next notebook purchase. Having the option to switch to a Windows boot might just convince me.
April 5th, 2006 at 9:02 am
And you said Macs don’t have a virus problem.
April 5th, 2006 at 9:29 am
The only problem with the dual booting is that I never want to log out of OSX just to get to Windows. Still, this is nice to see. I wish I had a MacBook to try it on…
April 5th, 2006 at 9:35 am
Eight, I always said “yet”.
Also, Apple is better than Microsoft at patching vulnerabilities. Not perfect, just better.
April 5th, 2006 at 9:44 am
I fear I actually may not be smart enough to use a Mac. That is my primary reason for clinging to PC’s. Please, don’t be hatin’.
April 5th, 2006 at 10:08 am
I’m so torn about this. I’m primarily a Mac user (I have both). I remote to my Windows machine from my Powerbook, and it just looks WRONG. I work in computer support at a university with about a 40% Mac population, I could greatly benefit from a machine that could dual boot (or as you mentioned, one that could run both natively and simultaneously). Yet I still can’t see myself actually doing it.
I imagine it will be good for Apple financially, but I feel like they’re getting in bed with the devil. Or more accurately, Apple is in bed, and has the covers pulled down waiting for the devil to jump in. They’re asking for trouble, inviting the Windows world in.
April 5th, 2006 at 10:23 am
I wonder, will apple bring out a version of Mac OS X I can run on my no mac hardware? I’m sure there are all sorts of driver issues, but… I wonder
April 5th, 2006 at 10:27 am
that is fabulous news.
i can’t wait to get a dual core machine and try it out. (i will wait, but i’m looking forward to it.)
with this ability, there’s no reason not to switch my home desktop. yes!
April 5th, 2006 at 10:35 am
This could a precursor to something Dvorak mentioned a month or so ago: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1923151,00.asp. Everyone said he was crazy, but maybe not.
April 5th, 2006 at 10:47 am
What are they gonna do next? I might wait another year for an even more exciting Mac before getting one.
April 5th, 2006 at 11:03 am
It might grow market share, but possibly more on the software side if they opened up the OS. I installed a hacked 10.4.3 on a PC and it ran like a damn (other than the NIC, for which there was no support). I’d like to be able to run dual-boot on a dual-core laptop, but as pretty as the MacBooks (still gagging on that label) are, I can buy dual-core in a PC flavour for less. If the OS would run with full hardware support, I’d consider buying it, since it’s geekity-fast.
April 5th, 2006 at 11:13 am
Thank GOD for you and all your meta-ness. Now that I don’t work in an office, I get all my nerd news from you. Seriously. Thanks.
April 5th, 2006 at 11:15 am
I’ll be taking advantage of this later in the year when my favorite software is finally optimized for the Intel processor, and the intel processor is available on a machine that can have dual hard drives. I’ll have the XP Partition on a completely seperate harddrive, that’s for sure.
April 5th, 2006 at 11:46 am
This feels like great news . . . but I have this nagging concern. If windows eventually runs native (and well) on a Mac box, what incentive do some of the small to middle-sized companies have to continue Mac software development?
April 5th, 2006 at 12:05 pm
Blurb, that type of technology is just hitting the big time in the server market (i.e. VMware, Xen, MSVS). Firms are scrambling all over themselves trying to virtualize everything, as the exponential growth in the number of systems has left them with little space, power, network, etc. At my firm, we’ve been able to implement a 25:1 virtual to physical server ratio. The development community is going nuts. Having Windows, Linux, and Solaris on x86 platforms all on the same physical host is a wet dream for them.
As an fyi, VMware’s GSX (host-based hypervisor) is going to be renamed Virtual Server and provided for free beginning in June.
April 5th, 2006 at 12:56 pm
‘Boot Camp’ has a much nicer interface than the hack that won the ‘boot XP on Mac’ competition and it is fully supported by Apple.
Pros: Windows on a Mac (obviously); the possibility to triple or quadruple boot on your Mac if you’d really like to (OS X, XP, Linux, Solaris); web developing all on one system; XP hardware drivers provided by Apple; increased Apple/Mac marketshare.
Cons: Your Mac can get viruses/spyware/malware just like any white-box PC. Hooray.
Like others have also mentioned, my next notebook will be a Mac, without a doubt.
April 5th, 2006 at 2:48 pm
This is certainly a step in the right direction for the design community. You still have to reboot to use windoze, but it probably won’t be to long before some third party developers figure out a solution and cash in (hint, hint, developers).
April 5th, 2006 at 3:26 pm
Yeah, well when will is support duel boot into os/2?
Seriously though, I can see some benefits, but at the end of the day, why wouldn’t you just run with two seperate servers/laptops?
April 5th, 2006 at 3:58 pm
If I’m working on a site and want to check browser compatibility, I’d love to have both OSs in one portable machine. While a dual-boot isn’t exactly ideal, it saves me from having to boot up the PC desktop we never use.
Plus, I don’t have to lug around two laptops.
April 5th, 2006 at 4:07 pm
“Plus, I don’t have to lug around two laptops.”
This is why I will be getting a macbook pro in the not super far future. I am often doing all of my personal stuff on a mac, but I have to bring my PC with me for specific software, and things like Autocad that I need for work. This way i will finally be able to travel with one less bag, and not get the strange looks from the TSA when i have four laptops between my wife and I.
Awesome news, glad to hear it!
[ed. note: Just use quotes.]
April 5th, 2006 at 8:39 pm
Wow, I never guessed someone would go so far to have both OSs available for travel. If I travel with my PowerBook, I just TermServ or PCAW into one of my PCs if I need to. I’m a light user these days, though.
Now, Blurb, you have to reboot your laptop twice (once to boot into Windows, once out) to test compatability, wouldn’t it be easier to just boot your old PC once?
I can understand the two laptops issue, but I’d rather have two seperate sessions running if I wasn’t traveling. Then you can test and adjust on the fly, without going through that code, reboot, test, reboot cycle over and over again.
April 5th, 2006 at 9:46 pm
I am pretty excited about this development. I just bought a MacBook Pro and when I saw this announcement, I decided that Apple officially sealed my undying love for them and their products. Sometime this week I’ll load Boot Camp and see how it goes. Well played, Apple. Well played, indeed.
April 5th, 2006 at 9:58 pm
Hi Jon!
I was wondering if you were going to touch on any of the changes that seem to be bubbling under the surface in the Mac world! I am an unwavering Machead since my inception to them in the 80’s, while my boyfriend is a diehard Windows fan. Ever since Mac’s adopted the new Pentium processor, he seems to think that Windows is going to win out by gradually morphing the Windows/Mac OS into one system. This seems both shocking (I can’t imagine it!) and yet, some how possible. I’m wondering if you’ve heard anything about such a phenomenom (Boot Camp aside) and if you’d share your computer know-how so maybe I can drop some knowledge on my computer challeneged but loveable bf.
Great blog!
April 5th, 2006 at 11:35 pm
It’s unfortunate that this is created for windows people that cling to their outdated OS with programs that are not written very well. 95% of software in this world is better on a mac, and a lot cheaper. There are exceptions of course like AutoCAD, Microsoft Outlook (full exchange support), and a few more. But overall the mac has more free (and better) options because development tools are so easily available and free. I turn all the switchers to the software at http://www.opensourcemac.org/. It covers anything that doesn’t already ship with a Mac standard… quite a few gems.
April 6th, 2006 at 12:42 am
Blurb - Can’t Dylan up there run AutoCAD from a virtual PC on his Mac?