Mac+PC

Readers of this blog on user-driven development will be unsurprised to learn that I use a Mac. You may be surprised, however, to learn that I also use a Windows PC. Macs are great for a lot of things. No one can compete with Apple in making digital entertainment easy and fun. But at the same time, you can't beat a Windows machine for business apps and for full productivity when interfacing with other business users. And at home, I have to recognize that the games my 11-year-old daughter wants to play require Windows too.

Complex Gateway packagingThe Mac vs. Windows debate can certainly be fun. (Check out this animated parody of the ubiquitous Mac vs. PC ads.) But Mac *and* PC has been working very well for me for some time, and recently I combined the two as never before courtesy of a slick, new Intel-based MacBook and Apple's well-executed Boot Camp beta.

Simple Apple packagingApple's out-of-the-box experience is legendary, and the simplicity of the MacBook setup (3 steps: plug it in, connect ethernet, turn it on) was a predictable contrast with the more complex setup (6 steps, including some assembly) of the Gateway monitor. (I love the super-bright, ultra-sharp 24" FPD2484W, but how can the setup of your monitor take longer than of the computer itself?) And the fact that the svelte little MacBook can drive this monster monitor is a sensory delight all its own.

MacBook pumps OSX into giant monitorThe real User>Driven story here, though is Boot Camp. Apple didn't announce an official means of running Windows on their new Intel-based hardware until after hackers published pictures of it working on Flickr. Perhaps Apple intended to do this all along, but I have to imagine helped drive Boot Camp into public beta at the least. Perhaps it also helped to silence internal doubters of the idea.

Boot Camp lets me boot directly to XPThe results are nothing short of magical. After setting up my new MacBook, I downloaded the Boot Camp beta for free from Apple and ran the installer. It automatically made a CD for me with Mac HW drivers for Windows, partitioned my drive and prompted me to insert my Windows XP disc. (As of now, Boot Camp only supports WinXP sp2.) Now with a quick reboot I can have my slick new MacBook and a nifty (if utilitarian) XP notebook in one machine. (Of course, configuring XP also took much longer than configuring OSX, but I can't blame that on Apple.)

Windows on Mac works with all the same hardwareFor people like me who want or need both a Mac and a PC, this is a dream come true. I've got the PC I need and the Mac I really want for the price of the Mac alone. Despite any skepticism there may have been in Cupertino, I think this is a dream come true for Apple as well. How many people out there have always secretly coveted a Mac but couldn't justify buying one after paying for the PC their practical side demanded?

DVDs look great on the Gateway monitorWhether they planned this all along or not, Apple has clearly embraced the dual-use model. They continue to improve Boot Camp, recently adding support for their built-in iSight webcam and other features. Boot camp will also be part of Leopard, the next major version of OSX.
 

Comments

[Bruce McCarthy]

My good friend Lars Jensen says Boot Camp is "so 2006." He pointed me instead to Parallels. I looked closely into both solutions and picked Boot Camp based on a few key points:

* Parallels is more convenient. It doesn't require a reboot to switch operating systems, but allows you to switch on the fly as if you were switching between user accounts within OSX.
* But, parallels runs on top of OSX and therefore runs Windows apps about 30% slower than Bootcamp.
* Also, Parallels has difficulty using Mac hardware. It can't use the Mac video acceleration hardware (so no games) and it reportedly has trouble connecting to printers and such.

Parallels and Boot Camp are improving all the time so the balance of power may change, but for right now Boot Camp has more of what I need since it is my only access to Windows at home.

Parallels: http://www.parallels.com/en/products/desktop/

Cnet review: http://reviews.cnet.com/4531-10921_7-6546370.html

[Ben]

I also recommend Paralells. I couldn't use bootcamp at work because I switch between OS X and XP so much. Being able to copy and paste between the two is very useful. But then I'm not running any games. Connecting to networked printers has been no problem. I even run LiveMeeting from XP now, even though it uses a lot of resources.

[Bruce McCarthy]

Funny post by Ben Brophy on Windows being unaware it's on a Mac.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lfb/418979373/