What’s next for the Intel Macs?
After installing Windows XP in MacBook Pro and having received tons of comments and emails from the readers I’m just wondering what’s next? For users, for Apple and for Microsoft. Being able to dual or even tri-boot intel Macs (actually any single hardware) would be a bliss. Imagine having seamlessly, legally and with full support booting a single machine with OSX, Windows and Linux. I don’t think normal home users would be excited about this for now but this would be a nirvana for majority of geeks. For Windows users (like me), they can easily see and try for themselves what’s it that makes the Mac users so religious about their OS. And if they can find this X factor that hooks the Mac users then this might even trigger a mass migration from windows to Macs.
The best of all three worlds in one machine. The first step has been taken. Thanks to OnMac.net. And now progress will greatly depend on Apples next move. I think Microsoft is not in a position to influence the game ahead because they’re just a software company and would be happy to sell more Windows. Apple has the ball in their court and let’s see how they’ll play. What is apple planning to do about this? or they already knew this would happen and have prepared a good plan to make best out of this situation?
What will Apple do next?
Apple has already said in the past that it will not try to stop those trying to run other OSes in it’s hardware. So, there are several possible actions that Apple might take.
- Honestly stick to what it said and just carry on as if nothing has happened. But I doubt this will happen.
- On every major update try to break the dual-trio boot. Making the life of dual/trio booters a nightmare.
- Quietly encourage this. Maybe they wanted/expected/knew this would happen. And take full advantage. Being the number 1 hardware maker beating Dell, HP and IBM. They’ll be the only hardware vendor whose hardware can run all major OSes including the one and only OSX.
- Offer an alternative solutions similar to wine (crossover) that can run windows applications within OSX. This will definitely pull a lot of users like me to Macs.
What about onmac.net?
I think this will be a major movement that will grow for some time to come. This project will be popular and successful if Apple doesn’t officially let other OSes in it’s hardware. The enthusiasts, geeks and hackers will be more determined to find solutions, hacks and workarounds to defy every obstacle Apple creates (intentionally or unintentionally). I think that this is going to be a big community which Apple cannot ignore. But this project will die if Apple officially lets you install Windows/Linux in it’s intel Macs.
What do you think?
iMac 20 inch iMac 17 inch MacBook Pro 2GHz MacBook Pro 1.8GHz
While dual-booting Windows on a Mac is a positive step, and nice to have, I wouldn’t consider it to be an ideal situation. If I have to switch from one OS to the other, I don’t want to have to wait to reboot each time. I want to be able to switch between the OSes instantly.
To me, the ideal solution would be to have VMware running on the Mac OS X host OS. Then run Windows and Linux as guest OSes. (I doubt that Mac OS X would be able to run as a guest OS, at least on non-Apple heardware.) This way, I could have all 3 environments running AT THE SAME TIME. And all 3 would be running natively. VMware allows the guest OS to run in full-screen mode, and you can switch between them with a simple key-stroke. I’m hoping VMware releases a Mac version soon. When they do, I’ll buy a decked-out MacBook Pro to run it on.
The second-best solution would be a Mac OS X port of WINE and/or CrossOver Office. This would allow you to run Windows programs from within Mac OS X. It’d probably also give you cut&paste between the programs, which I don’t think VMware can do. The major downside is that it doesn’t provide 100% software compatibility like the other 2 solutions.
To me, dual (or triple) boot is the 3rd-place solution. But it’s a good first step, and definitely has its usefulness. But it doesn’t quite give the true “best of both worlds”.
The best thing would be if someone (hacker maybe?) could enable the vanderpool technology built in new intel chips in order to run the three different OSes simultaneusly… Difficult?
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maybe another 13000 dollars could make a difference! 🙂