It's official : Windows boots on a Macbook Pro!

[CougTek]

With a picture included.

:mrgrn:

 

[ddrueding]

ugh...

 

[Sol]

I'm still far more interested in getting OS-X to boot on a PC... or better yet DirectX to install on a linux box...

 

[Sol]

moving a little off topic (or on topic perhaps...) does anyone else find it odd that Apple didn't wait for Conroe before moving to Intel chips?

They've now moved backwards to a 32bit system when they could have waited a little longer and had a really nice 64bit system instead... Which they will probably want to move to in the next couple of years anyway leaving them with a group of users with 32bit Intel based systems they have to support...

 

[Gilbo]

moving a little off topic (or on topic perhaps...) does anyone else find it odd that Apple didn't wait for Conroe before moving to Intel chips?

They pretty much were waiting for Conroe, for the big boys, the Power Macs. Their laptops and the Mini had always used G4's (32-bit PowerPC chips) so 32-bit wasn't a step back at all like it would have been for the Power Macs. 64-bit is also really only useful for its expanded memory addressability which small form-factor designs can't take advantage of anyway.

I think they simply use dthe Yonah chips to move the whole switch thing along, and, most importantly, to make sure they didn't lose too many sales to people waiting for Intel chips after the announcement.. As soon as they made that announcement everyone was immediately set to not buy a thing until the Intel version came out. OTOH I think Conroe was exactly what the switch was all about. The bigger, professional applications are timed to be available natively on Intelltoshes at or in the months following the release of Conroe.

 

[Mercutio]

I'm still far more interested in getting OS-X to boot on a PC... or better yet DirectX to install on a linux box...

OSX runs just fine on a PC, once you get the right set of patches.

 

[sechs]

You mean, find the right install disk, bittorrent boy.

 

[Mercutio]

Wasn't that the question?

I am a torrent whore. I admit it.

But one of my students gave me the OSX 10.4.4 DVD, so it might've come from ed2k or gnutella or IRC, and I can't say which for sure.

 

[Santilli]

Well, Apple has a history of offering substandard hardware, on changes from one chip to another, that should create increases in sales.

The idea being to maximize profit, since a bunch of people wait for the switch, like the move from 64080(?) to G3, etc.

Anyone notice if the reviews indicate hardware that is limited, or uses poor chipsets, etc.?

s

 

[LunarMist]

Is it legal to run Windows on a Mac and/or OSX on a PC?

 

[Santilli]

Yes, in all likelyhood. I can imagine Apple writing some sort of contract that
limits their operating system to their hardware, and burying it in fine print.

Would a court inforce such garbage???

I don't know. However, Apple is not shy about using their lawyers to blugeon people into complying with their wishes, using the threat of legal proceeding costs to win/settle their cases.

This is a grey enough area that legal research in your area would have to be done, and, the legal precedent found. If I lived in Cupertino, I wouldn't be
real happy about trying to defend myself in court, there.

S

 

[Sol]

It's probably less grey right now since there is only one version of OSX for X86 and that comes with all X86 Macs so you can't buy a boxed copy anyway. You could always buy an X86 Mac and put a linux distro on it then put the copy of OSX onto your white box but that's a lot of effort just to make things grey...

 

[LunarMist]

I would rather run the Windows on a Mac notebook.

 

[Tannin]

leaving them with a group of users with 32bit Intel based systems they have to support...

You mean they support users with hardware older than 6 months? News to me. (I don't try to follow what happens with Macs, but I thought they just threw you to the wolves and told you to buy another new Mac whenever they changed platforms.)

 

[Sol]

Well I've no evidence but I'd always just assumed that Apple must do something right to garner thier pack of rabid zealots... With lacklustre hardware for insane prices poor compatability and only relatively recently even a reasonable OS I just couldn't see Apples "hip" image accounting for it entirely by itself...

 

[Bozo]

Apple makes it easy

http://www.apple.com/macosx/bootcamp/


Bozo :mrgrn:

 

[mubs]

Dang! Doesn't say if you can read/write Mac data thru Windows with the drivers provided. If only one didn't need the Windows activation poop, this would have been a good way to get off the Windows treadmill.

 

[Buck]

I want an easy way for the Mac OS to work on my PC.

 

[Sol]

As I understand it if your willing to buy some new parts for compatability and don't mind being a patch level or two behind then it's not too complex, just a matter of grabbing some patches or a prepatched ISO and installing...

 

[Santilli]

What an amazing change in business strategies...

I can't get over the incredible change....

Almost makes me think macs might, sometime in the far future, be a viable alternative. Now, if they just provide quality, unneutered, hardware for thier price, I'll be convinced...

s

 

[Sol]

I don't think it's all that amazing a change... Apple have gonefrom saying "We're not going to stop you running windows but we're not going to help you" to "Actually we will help you". In the end Apple still sell the Mac hardware and OSX so they make the same money if you run windows or not. The only potential downside for them would be mac users getting to prefer windows and switching to PCs... Personally, even as a PC user I find that about as likely as Apple aparently do so this strategy seems perfectly logical to me. The more people who you can enable to use your system the better. Even if you never switch entirely you still have to have a Mac to try this and they all come with OSX.

Actually the only real risk I forsee would be if the EU forced Apple to unbundle OSX as a result...

 

[Santilli]

Well, still issues are the OS changing every six months? Now, that shouldn't
have any hardware excuses. Will all the 3rd party software producers do the
upgrade every month charge, as in the past? I can see this with pc hardware, easily. Want to upgrade? No drivers, unless you upgrade to the newest version of OS XXX, that has the new drivers(you can see the hint of that in the above post by apple, requiring the "latest' version of the OS, etc, for the current drivers.

Will Apple still use sucky hard drives, a Steve Jobs special, and nueter otherwise industry standard hardware when they sell it?

Apple's got a ton of past bad acts that need to be addressed, prior to this former mac addict getting anywhere near a Mac, even with XP on it...

s

 

[Santilli]

Sorry Sol:

I'm not thinking the last couple years, I'm thinking from my first Mac Plus to now, in perspective...

s

 

[Sol]

Well I'm cirtainly with you in that I'd much rather install OSX on my own, high quality, reasonably priced, hardware than actually purchase a shiny plastic thing from Apple...

 

[Santilli]

I really don't trust apple at all with hardware. Even their famous laptops have had some sort of twist, or problems, in my experience, or been absurdly overpriced. Their towers have sucked eggs, giving you a emachine with a Alienware price.

S

 

[mubs]

I want an easy way for the Mac OS to work on my PC.

Maybe you'll get your wish. Cringely seems to think so.

 

[Mercutio]

Apple has absolutely nothing to gain from doing that. They sell hardware - and make money doing so. Their OS works WELL with that specific hardware. Apple can't possibly support the billion and one possible configurations of beige box in the world. Supporting OSX on non-Apple hardware would, I have no doubt, dilute the brand substantially.

That said, I think from this point on there will ALWAYS be a way to make OSX work on a beige box. It's not going away. The question is, will having that option in any way change the current relationship "hackers" have with *nix?

 

[sechs]

OS X is BSD... with a very nice windowing system.

 

[RWIndiana]

If I bought an Apple, personally, the only reason I would want to use Windows on it is for novelty, and more likely I would use Linux on it anyway. But then, I don't ever plan to buy an Apple.

Would anyone here actually *prefer* to run Windows on a mac instead of OS X?

 

[Santilli]

If someone GAVE me a super high end mac, with scsi raid boot drive, and
removeable drive setups, I'd certainly consider playing with it.

Otherwise, forget it.

S

 

[Bozo]

Installin Windows on a Mac would allow you to play a lot of games.


Bozo :mrgrn: