Run XP on a Mac? Cool!

I have only walked into an Apple Store once and it was a great experience. Althought I am very much a Microsoft based techy and have no knowledge of the MAC operating system I have laways dreamed that all of the cool things you can do on a computer work better on a MAC.

If the performance is good and I can get a scrolling TWO button mouse to work I would love to get a nice white Apple computer on my desk with one of those beautiful clear and white wide screen flat panels.

Wait a minute, I would still have to get the wife to approve the $3000 purchase anyway...maybe the next computer then.

Bill -- I use a Microsoft Intellimouse. HTH.

The move does't seem (on the surface) to dig into Microsoft but it certainly could challenge the Dells of the world.
Work with Windows during your day job if you have to, go home at night and play with all the nifty iLife apps.
It's like having your suit/tie for work, then changing into something more relaxing and comfortable when you get home.

I'll be impressed when I can boot OSX on a PC.

This is exciting but let's suddenly not forget that dual-booting is a touch passe. Full or very close to full speed virtualization is what the target should be. I'm curious about Leopard and Xen.

This should encourage some PC manufacturers like Sony and Dell to design good machines, and not the all plastic hardware that we see now.

Once PCs get the "coolness" factor, this fever will die down. But, Apple is going to get a lot of switchers to OS X from Windows because of this effort.

The move could definitely dig into Microsoft. If people used the dual boot option and found they didn't really find themselves using the Windows side very often, then when Windows comes out with the new version, people would be less likely to buy it and just stick with the Mac OS.

I do not own a Mac or intend to, but it seems like a logical battle plan if Mac is really convinced that people will like their OS so much. I'm not saying it's a real threat, but it is probably something the people at Microsoft will want to pay attention to. People love the iPod, and if they get a nice safe entry into Mac land, who knows what will happen.

Bill, you can use any usb mouse, 3, 4, ... buttons and scroll wheels.

Also you can get an intel mac mini for 600$, no need to spend 3,000.

The intel imacs w/ 20" screen go for 1700.
HTH.

Appears to be a really good move against Dell in the education space also. Schools/Colleges no longer need to have separate computer labs with different boxes for different classes. The archecture students boot up Windows with Autocad, the next class with design students fire up OSX and InDesign (ya, I know it's available on both and I could have used a better example but designers just like Macs and OSX). Now, if they add in Linux!
Seems it would make life a whole lot easier for the SysAdmins.

Doesn't dig into Microsoft???

I've never been a Mac enthusiast, instead I've been pro-Windows primarily for the apps and hardware it supports, but also my comfort with Winxx OS functions and user interface.

If I'm going to have to pay a bundle to get a new spec-approved PC to run Vista, I might as well consider getting a Mac, and thereby get more for my money. I'll consider settling with WinXP rather than moving to Vista in this scenario.

For those non-Mac people (like myself) this is the gateway drug. Run both WinXP and OSX on a Mac, and possibly end up using Mac OSX more, only switching OSs for need of the apps not supported by OSX.

This was a clear shot across the bow. And for the first time, I'm listening to those soft hippy VW bug-driving, vase on the dashboard-types that swear by Mac.

Scary, I know.

I agree with Andy -- I'd be impressed with virtualization of XP running at the same time as OS/X, but dual-boot? Yawn. That is almost like having two laptops, two sets of applications, two of everything.

I agree with Andy: virtualization cool, dual-boot lame. Dual boot is like having two laptops: two sets of applications, data, etc. (even if you can mount drives from other OS's). Yawn.

So pay more for an Apple laptop (hardware) so you can run XP (and then Vista)?

The hardware isn't that cool.

Argh! And I thought my first comment got eaten! Sorry about that.

My PowerBook G4 works perfectly well with a Microsoft wireless optical mouse. At least it keeps me for a small (yet vital) piece. Apple still hasn't managed to make a great fist of a two button mouse.

But...before you jump in Robert, you might like to check out this discussion at: http://theocacao.com/document.page/251

I think this is something for RocketBoom

Great! Now I can make my iMac crash at will.

I'd prefer to run Windows on a Mac inside a vm rather than dual boot. Nonetheless, it's a cool feature and it's another of those "cold days in hell" like when Apple brought iTunes to Windows.

The hardware isn’t that cool.

Saying the "hardware isn't as cool" is like pointing to a steaming heap of dogpoo and saying it's as good as a 16-oz bar of gold.

Apple's hardware is better than anything DELL makes and it's finally possible to make an Apples-to-oranges comparison because the chips inside (Intel) are the same.

Nothing screams junk like looking at the base of a new DELL or other Wintel laptop - full of holes, bumps, illogically-placed switches and buttons, and ugly stickers whose text fades away over time - and comparing it with the Macbook which has a smooth base and silkscreened text (yes, that's even on the bottom of the laptop). You could say it doesn't matter.

But the manufacturers are often the same (Chinese), so it's disappointing that the Wintel world has so little respect for its customers. Personally, I hope this makes DELL respond by increasing its quality standard rather than see Apple start making guady, poorly assembled products like DELL does just because DELL's sell in higher quantity.

Oh, but it's very selective listening Robert. Bloggers have also being asking to be able to run OSX on their existing Intel hardware, and Apple have responded with legal action against sites promoting that. Good listeners respond to the stuff they don't like, too.

"That is almost like having two laptops, two sets of applications, two of everything."

Yeah, but for the actual SCHLEP here in meatspace of the extra hardware!! Virtualization would be better but this is a great step.

Best of all, Apple's made extemely easy to DELETE windows when you're good and sick of it.

Scoble said "You know, it seems to me that Apple gets blogging even though they don't encourage most of their employees to blog."

Are you talking about the marketing dept at Apple or software developers?

Blogging makes you lose focus and time. So if you are really serious about writing software, you don't blog, period.

By the way, while Microsoft announced their "Windows Vista (un)capable" crap, genuine crap for one, Apple is enabling scenarios for their customers. I hope Apple get what they deserve, momentum.

Looks like it really behaves like Windows also...BSOD...
http://www.eng.bu.edu/~anc/macosx_bluescreen/bl...

Yes, dual-booting is boring normally.

But you have to hand it to Apple: Windows only boots from BIOS, not EFI (the technology the new Macs are using).

Surely you should give them a point or two for supporting booting Windows on something that Windows doesn't support that is as low level as the EFI / BIOS?

More good news for MS's hardware partners. :P

Seriously, I have both at home - a high end Mac Ibook from last year (with Linux and Mac OSX) and last year's bottom of the barrel Gateway laptop with XP. I don't like the Ibook more, really. I use an external mouse with both. I much prefer having a unix shell in OSX, but hardware alone, they're just not that different.

Out of all hardware I've used/owned, Thinkpads are the best.

And Desktops are a complete commodity, I can't think of one reason to care about brand for desktops.

Mike: >So if you are really serious about writing software, you don’t blog, period.

If you want customers you pay attention to them, no matter where they are. Most software developers I know like having customers, or at least like having tons of people using their software.

But, why don't you go hang out on the Ruby On Rails or Firefox or Eclipse blogs and say that they aren't really serious about writing software and see what they say. Heheh.

Apple needs a Scoble :D

Mike #22, I was shocked at the Windows Vista Capable stuff, too. When a lot of the feature announced for Vista were mimicking OSX features, I assumed that those were the bare minimum. But Vista Home Standard (or whatever) won't support the Expose-like feature, running video in the taskbar,etc. I mean, OSX had these features on apparently INFERIOR hardware years ago, and Vista won't have these in January?

I don't get it. Search is the big deal in Vista? But we already have Google and Yahoo and MSN. How can Aero not be available on all PCs now? MS has had so much extra time to make this work. I'm absolutely dumbfounded.

btw, ars technica pointed this out:

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060403-6...

Not quite rational, but then that's the market...

"Apple shares gained $4.95, or 8.1 percent...while Microsoft shares rose 9 cents"

Scoble said "you should blog".

A scoop for you Scoble, I do blog the product I sell. I keep it minimally updated because I don't know to annoy customers or look a spammer. You know what, I have measured that it does not replace direct customer email.

Scoble said "you should hang out on RoR, Eclipse and Firefox blogs".

Another scoop for you Scoble, both groups above have evangelists. Those guys blog like crazy. Big scoop : they don't write code.
Of course, there are exceptions to this, but for the most part developers serious at cranking code are not blogging : it makes you lose focus and time.

> the most part developers serious at cranking code are not blogging

That's not true in the cases above. The guy who wrote Ruby on Rails blogs, and blogs well.

The people who write Firefox blog, and blog well.

It's not just the evangelists blogging.

Notice the really subtle message on that boot camp page?

No color.

"sucks to be you, but if you must run windows, here's how..."

I think Windows Vista is actually named Leopard, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates announcing their baby together to combat the scourge of Linux, UBUNTU anyone?

What would your coworkers say if you brought a MacBook into work one day? Wouldn't you get fired for something like that? ;)

I've been a Windows user all my life and I'm considering replacing my laptop or HTPC with a Mac as an experiment. This simple-dual-booting stuff makes it even more tempting.

Paul: we have many Macs here and many employees carry them around. In, fact, we even have, gasp, a Mac team that makes software for Macs.

I tried it out on my imac and it runs great. Very fast. All the drivers for wifi and bluetooth and the graphics cards are all there. Very simple and easy. Though seeing all the ridiculously ugly install screens and bootup text is a bit jaring on my imac, but it's worth it. I can see why you're tempted to get the mac book pro.

On a related note - Here's something wild - Spotlight will index your XP partition.

Scoble said "we even have, gasp, a Mac team that makes software for Macs."

Last I heard the MacBU is part of the game division.

Also, in last Mix06 talk, BillG talked about Office Mac with contempt.

Mike: it's not.

I was at that Mix06 talk and I never heard him say anything bad about Office Mac. Can you please provide links to where you saw/heard that?

i'll buy a MacBook for you if you promise NOT to put XP on it ;)

I have Macs and Windows and Linux machines, just as I have flat screwdrivers, philips screwdrivers, and torx wrenches. They are all tools I use, and some are better at some things than others. This move is pretty neat for me, as I can now carry one laptop instead of two on some of my assignments.

I think if you buy a Macbook you'll say to yourself, sometimes, "this is an f***ing stupid way to do things" and at other times you'll say "holy cow--this is how it should be." I hope you take the plunge soon.

I made the switch to an Intel Mac with my primary personal machine about a month ago, I don't regret the decision at all.

However if there was only one thing I could wish for on it, I would wish for an official and supported release of the .NET framework (and even maybe WPF, etc...). Make it a cross platform technology and I am sure you wont regret it.

I have blogged about the experience of switching across here on wordpress.com (http://macnewbie.wordpress.com).

New forms of attack on Microsoft. Interesting to see what would happen. Can you evangelize Windows against OSX, Scoble?
But spending another couple of hundred bucks for windows is something mac switchers might delay for a few months (and never do maybe).

I like it that Windows gets some competition to remain on top. How does MS collect tax from Apple?

Scoble said "Can you please provide links to where you saw/heard that?". Sorry, it's the Office dev conference,
http://metahost.savvislive.com/microsoft/200603...

Start-time : 00:46:05

Er... Why is everyone comparing a Mac to a Dell machine? If you want a good looking PC, you don't go to Dell, you go to Alienware (who still make the decent looking stuff, even if they're now owned by Dell). There are good looking PCs out there, it's just that the variety available also includes some ugly ****. with Macs, Apple are the only people saying what goes on the shelves, so they only allow the good looking machines in the first place.

And yes, I now want an intel Mac. But I want to run XP on it because I find it an easier Os to use. It's a good move by Apple. I like it.

Office 2007 and Office:mac have two different customer bases, and BillG was trying to make that clear in the clip you cite. It may be that his manner indicated contempt -- and I suppose I can understand why you might think that -- but his words did not. And I think his manner is open to intepretation.

Once PCs get the “coolness” factor, this fever will die down

------------

30 years and counting.. still waiting?

This is great for Apple.

Mac users will get a hacked version of XP to play games.
Windows users will consider a cheap Mac mini before Windows comes in 2007.

BTW Leopard in August? Sweet...

Running out of reasons to have a Dell?

I didn't see contempt there, Mike.

Will MS stop offering Mac:Office now?

Robert: And, yes, I'm very tempted to buy a MacBook.

To run Windows on? Noooooooo!!!!!!!! :) Even to dual boot a MacBook... what a waste.

Hi, long time listener, first time poster.

Scoble: "They see bloggers ask for things and they deliver."

Are you sure this wasn't a long planned stroke of genius from Jobs and his friends? The only noise I heard about running XP on Macs was post-Intel announcement. Isn't it likely that Apple had in mind this deft manoeuvre when they switched to Intel in the first place? I mean, it's a killer move, and I reckon the business people would have known that before the bloggers started clamouring.

Keep up the blogging. Liking it...

Why should companies develop for Mac now? Does Apple favor developers? I thought that was Microsoft's strong point. Isn't it dangerous territory?
What if Adobe decides to stop photoshop for Mac?

I think they were muscled into releasing this, by the hackers. No long stroke genius Kyle.

I wish to be proved wrong though. This is one company I don't want to be seen crushed by Microsoft.

When Steve Jobs announced that Macs would use Intel chips, I remember certain smart-aleck commented sarcastically, "So what's next? Apple selling Windows PC?" It might just become reality. Today, they offered Boot Camp, so you can install XP on a Mac, but I'm betting in the near future you can special-order from Apple a Mac with both OS X and XP pre-installed for you.

On Apple's website, the Boot Camp press release claims Apple "has no desire or plan to sell or support Windows", but didn't Steve Jobs use to say he would never put video-playing capability on iPod?

A Mac with both OS X and XP pre-installed? Why not? Makes business sense. Michael Dell needs to sweat a little.

Apple gets blogging

http://technovia.typepad.com/technovia/2005/08/...

"Think Secret posts some interesting details on policies for Apple Retail employees regarding returns and the the like, and includes an interesting bullet point on the company's policy on blogging :

'Furthermore, while Apple employees are granted permission by Apple to create their own personal Web pages and blogs, they are not allowed to comment on anything related to Apple on such pages. Furthermore, they are prohibited from posting in any capacity on any Mac-related Websites or forums, whether they identify themselves as working for Apple or not.'"

---

I find corporate blogging distasteful. Companies who resort to FUD tactics or leverage their employees to mount attacks on competitors in blogs lose credibility.

So in order to avoid this risk to credibility, companies might resort to oversight over employee blogs. So now readers can't be sure of whether blogs are really employee opinions or marketspeak. And so on.

Employee blogs might be great for small companies but I think their potential to harm large companies is greater than the benefit.

Nobody is talking about it, but hackers have also managed to install Mac OS on PCs (look, so this dual boot configurations is also possible there.
And now my main concern is: Is there any big difference now between a Mac and ,let's say, a Dell (forgetting of course aesthetic considerations)???

Chebax, I've read that the OSX EULA forbids running it on non-Apple hardware. Maybe that's why nobody is talking about running OSX on PCs (notwithstanding the hacker community).

Actually Robert, the Mac BU is in the games division, specifically, the Entertainment and Devices Division, and it's in the same part of that as the Xbox team.

Watching the video...god Gates is painful to watch..I mean he's the worst speaker ever. Obviously reading, twitchy, uncomfortable, unkempt, and sounds like he's just hitting puberty. Christ for fifty bazillion dollars, you'd think he could afford clothes that fit correctly.

He doesn't talk about Office:Mac at all, except to get done with it as fast as possible, without actually saying anything, which is the SOP for Microsoft Senior Leadership when the Mac BU is mentioned:

"Um..yeah...Mac...Office....um...yeah...they're....doing....stuff...lots of....stuff....LOOK! A shiny new change of subject! Ahhhh, sweet, sweet windows..."

He didn't say anything bad, he just didn't say anything at all, and that's normal. If you want good information from Microsoft about the Mac BU, and there's someone from the Mac BU there, you'll get it. No Mac BU people? Uncomfortable hemming and hawing. Sad, but true.

For those who wonder about virtualization, check this!

http://www.parallels.com/en/products/workstatio...

Why should companies develop for Mac now?

------

Cuz the marketshare will go UP not DOWN because of this..

The Windows XP is a link to your current software... soon you'll learn how little of it you need. This Book Camp is about one thing: teaching PC users to hate hate hate Windows. Just wait.

Leopard in August..

so, where will the support boundaries lay? Will MS support running Windows on an Intel Mac? Certainly Apple won't; they don't make the software. But I can see MS saying... "well, hmmm we've never tested running Windows on a intelMac so... not supported". Thus I can see customers being in no mans land.

Scoble, will MS step up and officially support running Windows, and other MS software, running on an intel Mac? I can certainly see them walking away from this for fear that customers will utlimately get turned on to a Mac.

@Mike (#61),

I see it differently. Why would Adobe (to pick an example) bother to continue porting PS et.al. to OS X Universal Binary when they can simply tell their customers to put Windows on their Macs? Then offer them a cheap cross-update from legacy Mac PS to Windows PS.

More about this on my blog:

http://foldblog.blogspot.com/2006/04/ot-bootcam...

@64. I gotta believe there is a considerable set of the Mac customer base that has no interest in contaminating their Mac with Windows XP

Dmad, I won't, that's for sure.

But if you *are* on a new Intel Mac and face the decision to either wait another year or so for the Universal Binaries or to contaminate one partition of your HD you might get tempted.

I have to admit. After hearing the news I decided to sell my Powerbook and buy the new MacBook PRO.

Anyone who would tell their Mac users "Go buy the windows version from now on" has decided that they don't want those people as customers period. Were Adobe to do that, then watch GIMP suddenly get a ton of funding and resources.

But Adobe's not stupid, nor is Microsoft. There's a great business case for Mac software, there always has been, otherwise, they BOTH would have stopped a long time ago.

"Anyone who would tell their Mac users “Go buy the windows version from now on” has decided that they don’t want those people as customers"

Well, telling your customers, "sorry, we'll need at least another year", even with Mac Intel being announced almost 9 months ago and XCode being around for four years now is not exactly a confidence-building attitude either.

I wonder how many people actually bought a copy of XP to check boot camp out. My guess is less than 2%. Someone actually wrote on his blog about having used a CD that came with his Dell to install it using Boot Camp. This reference has since been removed but still, I think a lot of people will buy a Mac now, and use their "old" XP until they don't need Windows anymore.

How about the rumour, though, that Apple are preparing a universal binary framework for Windows?

Then you may very well have people asking the reverse: why develop for Windows when you can just make one universal binary?

Yes, it will be just like .NET in theory, but this way you have the company actually developing the framework for other OS' themselves.

...god Gates is painful to watch..I mean he’s the worst speaker ever. Obviously reading, twitchy, uncomfortable, unkempt, and sounds like he’s just hitting puberty. Christ for fifty bazillion dollars, you’d think he could afford clothes that fit correctly.

Heh, glad I am not the only one that notices such. It's headache inducing, only Major Nelson comes close. His speeches are so robotic they could be a Kraftwerkian loop track. One major exception, his Tablet PC Launch speech was actually good, I guess his passion was into that, everything else seems like a computer-garbled cue card re-read. And someone hire him a TAILOR. Or the 'high-quality clothes yet worn bummy unkempt' the new 'geek' look thing? Perry Ellis does Seattle grundge sorta. Just been noticing this trend, Macy-quality clothes worn all sloppy.

70: I don't think you can use a Dell CD without tinkering with it. The CD checks if the computer is a dell.

Well, telling your customers, “sorry, we’ll need at least another year”, even with Mac Intel being announced almost 9 months ago and XCode being around for four years now is not exactly a confidence-building attitude either.

"The existence of a new compiler does not compel you to change your workflow"

Nice strawman, but no dice. Prior to Codewarrior going embedded only and Macs on Intel, there was no reason to switch a functional workflow just because of Xcode's existence.

Xcode has real problems with large amounts of code, especially with regard to to debugging, and this is well known in the Apple Dev community. As well, when it comes to compile speeds, Codewarrior ran rings around GCC, and it didn't need distributed builds to do so.

As well, it wasn't like any of the companies dealing with an Xcode move were doing NOTHING. Microsoft had to finish two major updates to Office 2004, and Adobe's not been standing still either. Now that the Mac BU has those updates out of the way, they've been able to go full-speed with moving to Xcode and doing the next version of Office on the Mac. Adobe is keeping to their normal release schedule, rather than doing a slap-dash port of CS2 and delaying CS3 for god knows how long.

Neither of them are JUST moving to Intel. In both cases, there's major new features coming.

Just because small devs have been able to move to Intel easily doesn't mean that's the story for everyone. Perhaps you should stop letting PR determine your reality.

Best comment ever on a WWDC by a Windows developer:

"This is so much nicer than the PDC. It's so bizarre to see people who actually care enough about detail to make sure their demos WORK."

I wouldn't call Wolfram Research a small developer just to pick one example. And the codebase of Mathematica 5 is hardly smaller than the other apps we are talking about here. Still *they* didn't seem to have any problems with XCode.

The truth is that Adobe just sat on their behind for the last few years.

More Mac users means more demand for Mac software. This is Apple removing one more barrier for switching.

When users are able to see OS X and Windows XP side by side on the same machine, it's obvious which OS they'll prefer. Just read the sidebar on Apple's Boot Camp page to read how they feel about "stuck in the 1980s" Windows.

John C. Welch, MacBU's target audience is primarily the home user, which is why it was placed in the "*Home* and Entertainment" division (along with Xbox, PC games, MSN, and some other stuff). Maybe that division was renamed "Entertainment and Devices" after a reorg, but that division always had more stuff than "games".

And the Office developers conference that you cite was about Windows Office 2007, VSTO, SharePoint and the like. It wasn't about Mac Office, so what do you expect to be said about it other than what was said?

BTW, do you ever get tired of trolling here? Your routine is sooo tired.

Molly,

I'm well aware of the Mac BU's primary audience. I'm well aware, better than you think, evidently, of why, and while there are some PR issues with the division it's in, it's not a totally bad choice.

You however, show absolutely no clue about where people use Office. if you think it's a home product, think again. What use do Home users have for Exchange compatibility? None. None whatsoever. That's a BUSINESS feature, in case you hadn't heard. Luckily, over time, the Mac BU has realized that the whole "Macs don't use Office in a business setting" is the codswaddle everyone has know it is for years.

Maybe you think that the only users of Office are in the home, but your perceptions do not in fact, define reality. I can point to quite a few large businesses and government installations with thousands of Office:Mac seats. Maybe you should do a little research on the users of Mac:Office before you tell someone intimately familiar with that product and its users who they are. And if you work for Microsoft, then your ignorance on the subject is, quite frankly, shameful, and you should be embarrassed to parade it about in such a way.

I understand what that Office conference was for. Obviously there was no place for Mac:Office there, other than Macworld, Microsoft senior leadership ignores the hell out of the Mac BU every chance they get. If you look at any time, outside of Macworld, that the Mac BU gets brought up to Microsoft Senior leadership, you get the same answer that Bill gave, or better yet, some prat in the Windows Mobile division goes off on a "We'll kick the iPod's ass any day now" rant. Even when it's someone who works for Microsoft asking them about it. When was the last time you saw Microsoft senior leadership in public stand there and talk about the Mac BU in a way that shows they have a clue about the work that team does? I bet not since Bill was on the screen during the keynote in Macworld Boston in the late 90s.

As far as my trolling, I'm sorry, is there someone forcing you to read my comments? It's certainly not me, I don't really care. But just because you don't like the reality of how Microsoft senior leadership acts when the Mac BU gets brought up, doesn't mean it's a good way to deal with it.

I think Apple finally got it and realizes that proprietary OSes are doomed. There is simply too much creativity loose in the world today to allow a single company to act as the enabler to what is possible with computers.

They have just recognized that and said "We're out of here" to the OS space. I'm interested to see where they turn their focus.

Mirror-posted to my blog, with helpful illustration

Molly, I had to refrain from laughing out loud at your totally ridiculous post. You start prattling off Microsoft divisions like they actually mean something. Everyone in the company knows that each division is a veritable clusterfuck, so your distinctions are moot.

Stop getting pissy because Mac Office routinely trumps the Windows version (when Microsoft isn't tieing its hands behind its back) and that the MacBU is probably one of the top 5 units working at Microsoft.

Man, the fucking ego on some of you Microsofties is obnoxious.

Durr, Molly's a busy girl. She's on a mission to ensure that we all know that Microsoft r00lz, everyone else droolz. Google:

"Molly C" Microsoft

and you'll get the idea. Because when she trolls, it's just being "Up with People!", so it's okay I guess. Whatever.

farlane.. off base.. this is a trojan horse..

if you think people won't prefer os x to win xp, ... then you must also think people won't prefer Vista to XP..

which is lunacy.

Do you think boot camp will still work in August when Leopard will be in competition with Vista? Everything else being the same, Vista will have an advantage because it can run on the faster 'cooler' AMD chips.

http://techmba.blog.asu.edu

Cringely agrees with you, Mike. I'm still undecided but I can see a compelling case for the Trojan Horse argument.

I feel that non-gaming computer users would probably prefer OS X to XP, given the choice. As to Vista/XP, I would imagine that the newer OS would be preferable but I hardly care. Croquet!

@79 If the MacBU relied primarily on the home user for its revenue base, I'm quite certain MS would have put a bullet in that group's head years ago.

Being a life long Microsofty I just bought my son a Macbook for college.

I investigated it after my home XP box crashed and I couldn't get my licensed version of Office to re-install after re-building the computer. You'd think M$ would have come up with something better by now. It seems like everyone else is. I even install UBUNTU and Open Office and my kids couldn't tell the difference.

I think it is cheaper than comparably equiped PCs which surprised me. The other big surprise it that it really did work right out of the box and is a blast to use.

BTW, the University requires windows machines to run their security related software and allows Mac's to just plug in.

Buon luogo, congratulazioni, il mio amico!