PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY By WALTER S. MOSSBERG Boot Camp Turns Your Mac Into a Reliable Windows PC April 5, 2006 1:33 p.m.
For mainstream computer users doing typical tasks, Apple Computer's Macintosh models have huge advantages over the prevalent Windows computers from companies like Dell and Hewlett-Packard. The Macs have better, sleeker, hardware designs; a superior operating system; much better built-in software; and virtually no exposure to viruses and spyware. Apple's flagship model, the iMac, is the best consumer desktop on the market. But, there's a big barrier for Windows users tempted to switch to the Mac: software. While there are thousands of programs for the Mac's operating system, called OS X, potential Mac buyers often find they have one or two Windows programs they must use that have no Mac equivalent. These range from custom software required by their employers; to niche programs for specific industries or hobbies; to games. On Wednesday, Apple took a historic, and potentially huge, step to remove that obstacle to switching. It introduced free software that makes it easy to install and run Windows on the latest Mac models, as a complement to the Mac operating system. With this new software, called Boot Camp, you can turn your Mac into a fast, full-fledged Windows computer for those occasions when you must run a Windows program. That makes the iMac, the Mac Mini, and the MacBook Pro laptop the only computers in the world that allow mainstream users to run both operating systems at full speed. I've been testing Windows on a new iMac for several days, and, except for a couple of trifling annoyances, it runs perfectly, just like a stand-alone Windows PC. I was able to install Boot Camp, and Windows XP Pro, on the Mac in under an hour. After that, I installed 15 Windows programs, most unavailable in Mac versions, and all ran properly. In Windows mode, the iMac was blazingly fast -- far faster than my two year old H-P Windows computer. And every function of Windows I tested, including Web browsing, email, and music playback, ran flawlessly. [MORE Next Post] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:202907 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
