April 5th, 2006
Intel Macs and Windows XP
While Apple’s beta release of Bootcamp ranks as one of the most unsurprising developments since the company first announced that Intel processors would power the Macintosh line, it’s welcome news for those with shiny new hardware. Dual-booting, while not as useful as virtualization, is an important step in bringing the best of the Windows and OS X worlds together.
I’ve been messing with ways to dual boot since the PowerMac 6100 DOS-Compatible and Orange Micro PC-on-a-board days. I’m also a veteran of the early days of Virtual PC when Connectix first introduced the product for the Mac, long before the hardware was really capable of fulfilling the software’s promise.
Now, if Apple would just get off the stick and build a Tablet Mac that could also run Windows XP Tablet PC Edition, I would run, not walk, to buy one. Hey, a guy can dream, right? Until that day, I must say this makes one of the new Mac Minis look a lot more attractive as an upgrade for our den where we’re running an old G3 Power Mac that’s in serious need of retirement.
Marc Orchant has been building, testing, and sometimes breaking hardware and software for 25 years. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
