Like everyone else, I was very interested in Apple’s announcement of Boot Camp this morning. I give it a thumbs-up, if only because it’s an option, and options are good. I think it’s a positive sign that Apple isn’t afraid to put Windows XP next to Mac OS X on the same box. (Imagine the converse - Microsoft putting Windows XP next to Mac OS X on their boxes - if Microsoft made computers. I seriously doubt it would ever happen.) However, while I think Boot Camp is a nifty option, I don’t really think it’ll change things much.
Certainly there is some subset of (loud) technically proficient users (who seem to excel at making their presence known all over the Internet, but are virtually non-existent in real life) who have a need to dual boot XP and X on the same machine for one niche reason or another. To those people, I say, go for it, and good luck to you. Enjoy your dual boot machines.
For everyone else, I say, what’s the big deal? I can’t see a typical computer user (that’s computer, not Mac or Windows) finding this of much value, or alternately, worth the trouble. Imagine the following exchange in your local Apple store next week:
Potential buyer: Can I run my Windows software on this new machine?
Apple salesperson: Yes! You can download some software off the Apple website that will let you dual boot Windows and Mac OS.
Potential buyer: Dual boot?
Apple salesperson: Yes, you can boot into Windows or Mac OS to use your old Windows stuff or your new Mac stuff.
Potential buyer: So I can’t use them at the same time?
Apple salesperson: No.
Potential buyer: So I have to restart the machine each time I want to use one or the other?
Apple salesperson: Yes.
Potential buyer: Hm, ok. So I have to download something from the Apple site to do this?
Apple salesperson: Yes. The Boot Camp beta. I’ll write down the URL for you.
Potential buyer: Beta? URL?
Apple salesperson: Yeah, beta. That means it’s not officially supported. A URL is a website address.
Potential buyer: URL… that’s a new one. Anyway, it’s not supported? What does that mean?
Apple salesperson: If you have any problems, Apple will not help you.
Potential buyer: Well if it breaks my computer I want Apple to help me.
Apple salesperson: Yeah, that would be nice, but they won’t. You’re on your own.
Potential buyer: Will it transfer my programs and files from my Windows machine to my new Mac?
Apple salesperson: No.
Potential buyer: Um… ok. So I’d have to reinstall everything and copy it myself?
Apple salesperson: Yeah. You’ll also need to have a Windows XP Home or Professional SP2 disc to get Windows on there before you install anything.
Potential buyer: Did my Dell come with that?
Apple salesperson: I don’t know.
Potential buyer: What if I don’t have it?
Apple salesperson: You’ll have to buy a copy of Windows XP.
Potential buyer: That doesn’t come with it? How much is it to buy Windows?
Apple salesperson: About $200.
Potential buyer: Do you sell it here?
Apple salesperson: No.
Potential buyer: Hum.
So you can see from my little drama here that dual booting Windows is likely of very little consequence to most potential Mac purchasers.
In fact, I think it’s of very little value to more intelligent potential Mac purchasers as well. For years, I’ve read countless people who say, “I’d buy a Mac if it only [did] [had] x.” Shortly thereafter, Apple introduces feature x. Then the same people say, “Yeah, that’s great, but it still doesn’t do y.” Stop this pointless charade and say what you really mean: You don’t like Mac OS X because it’s not Windows. That’s fine. If Windows is what you want, you can have it - it doesn’t hurt me any. Just stop playing your little peek-a-boo game and state what you think (if you even realize it). People of this ilk will never buy a Mac even if it dual boots Windows XP , so Boot Camp means nothing to them. Other intelligent users have looked at a Mac, in some major part, because they’re leaving Windows to begin with, so they couldn’t care less if it dual boots XP or not.
The downside to all of this is the two new lines of stupidity we’re going to hear over and over:
1. Apple is transitioning to Windows.
2. Software developers will stop making Mac software.
Apple is not transitioning to Windows. They’ve spent almost a decade developing Mac OS X and it would be suicide to throw it away. OS X is a major differentiator of Macs against Windows. PC manufacturers run a volume business, shaving every nickel off a box to make a profit, and if Apple were to compete in that market, they’d be clobbered. Apple is still very much a hardware company, and abandoning the software that makes their machines unique to enter an already crowded market segment where margins are razor-thin is just plain dumb. Apple has made a successful business selling non-Microsoft OS machines for 30 years, and it’s more profitable than ever. There is no reason to transition.
Software developers will not stop making Mac software because there is obviously a market for it. Again, for 30 years, Apple’s users have been buying software for their machines and they’re still doing such right now. The vast majority of Mac users will not dual boot Windows. They’ve already consciously chosen the Mac’s features, integration, consistency, look-and-feel, and experience (or any combination thereof). People who use a Mac do so by choice and will continue to do so in the future, and as such, will continue to buy Mac-based software. Developers that write for the Mac will continue to do so, not only to continue to sell Intel-based Mac owners, but also the multitudes of PPC-based Mac owners as well for whom Boot Camp doesn’t run.
This is also not some kind of release for Apple’s 30th anniversary. The anniversary was April 1, and today is April 5. Boot Camp is also a beta for a feature that will be finalized in Leopard, presumably later this year, which is far, far away from the anniversary. Get over it, and stop that stupidity.
There’s now a wave of talk that Boot Camp is a “game changer” (great, another new trite phrase that we’ll grow to hate), but I disagree. As I’ve demonstrated here, I think Boot Camp is a good option for some small subset of users, but for the Mac community as a whole, who purposely chose the Mac because it’s not Windows, who own PPC hardware, who don’t want or need Windows software, Boot Camp is a curiosity at best.
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April 5th, 2006 at 4:39 pm
I agree that the people who need/want dual booting are far and few between.
But I disagree in that I think this does change the game a quite a bit.
To some extent it does change the competition with Microsoft, in that you can have a clear comparison between Windows and the MacOS without the question of hardware muddling the question.
The real “game change” is that those people who (by choice or necessity) must use Windows, yet have desired the hardware that Apple uses, now can buy an Apple to use as a high end Windows machine.
Apple is likely to increase its hardware sales based on this development, at the expense of PC manufacturers.
I’m sure that the drivers Apple is providing to run Windows on Macs will make for a better Windows experience than on other hardware. (Maybe not right away, as it’s still in beta. But once it’s released officially, I’m sure it’ll do the job well.) The other PC manufacturers may well have to play catch-up.