Windows assimilates Macs

[TLAM Strike]

We are Microsoft. Lower your firewalls and surrender your Macs. Your computers will become vulnerable to viruses and spyware, Your ITunes will adapt to Windows Media Player. Resistance is Futile.

Windows on a Mac
by Justin Ziemniak
An interesting twist of fate.


Apple Computer has always been known to be one of the biggest innovators in the PC industry. Even after many years of manufacturing, slick, white and clear plastic computer enclosures and LCD monitors, no other competitor has trumped their computer design.

Apple’s Macintosh computers have always included Apple’s proprietary operating system, Mac OS. Again, Apple is at the top of their game with their innovations in their OS and extra applications they package it. Mac OS was designed to only run on Mac computers, and Microsoft’s Windows operating system would only run on PCs (primarily Intel and AMD processors). Essentially, Macs and PC machines boot up differently, so they’ve always been completely separate from one another.

Macs have only retained a very small market share of the personal computer market because of the small number of programs created for them. Software developers have mostly stuck to the PC platform as that’s what’s controlled about 95% of the user population. For fear of being limited on what software they can install, most users have opted to stick with a Windows machine, even if they’ve had an unsatisfactory relationship with their PCs. Apple users have for years expressed interest in running Windows on Apple’s superior hardware, but Apple has remained true to its Mac OS operating environment.

Then, in June 2005, Apple announced it was firing long-time PowerPC processor supplier, IBM, and transitioning all Mac computers to Intel processors. And in January 2006, the first Mac computers with Intel chips were unveiled. Well, that started a fury of competition among computer geeks and hobbyists to see who could get Microsoft Windows XP to run on an Intel-based Mac. There was even a contest with a cash prize of $14,000 to the first person to prove they’ve accomplished this feat. On March 13th, it was confirmed that a Mac enthusiast known as “narf� had loaded Windows XP to run along with Mac OS X without causing any conflict to each other on an Intel Mac, and claimed the prize.

April 5th 2006 comes around, and Apple announces a new software utility they developed called Boot Camp, which enables Microsoft Windows XP to run natively with Intel-based Mac computers. The software, available as a free public beta, can be downloaded at www.apple.com/macosx/bootcamp, and allows you to choose whether you want to boot up using Mac OS X or Windows XP at startup (called a dual-boot configuration). To run Boot Camp, you must have an Intel-based Mac with a USB keyboard and mouse, Mac OS X 10.4.6 or later, the latest firmware update, at least 10GB of free hard drive space, a blank recordable CD or DVD, and a single-disc version a Windows XP installation CD with SP2.

Boot Camp simplifies Windows installation on an Intel-based Mac by providing a simple graphical step-by-step assistant application to dynamically create a second partition on the hard drive for Windows, to burn a CD with all the necessary Windows drivers, and to install Windows from a Windows XP installation CD.

Apple says the final version of Boot Camp will be available as a feature in the upcoming Mac OS X version 10.5 “Leopard.� Apple does not provide support for installing or running Boot Camp and does not sell or support Microsoft Windows software.

So what does all this mean for us longtime Windows users? I think we’re going to see a lot of PC users switching to Macs with Intel chips running Windows XP.

Apple hasn’t been too successful in attracting users of its wildly popular iPods to purchase its computers. Apple has made the iPod brand a household moniker, but the Apple computer hasn’t accomplished the same notoriety. However, the popularity of the iPod among the masses and the new ability to run Windows and Windows applications (such as games, office applications, etc.) on the Mac, may turn many PC users to the Mac platform. Just think about how popular the iPod got when Apple opened up iTunes software to Windows users. Now, Apple is trying to do the same thing with its computers.

But keep in mind that Windows on a Mac is susceptible to the same attacks you would get on your PC. It’s not the hardware that hackers are targeting, but the operating system. So, if you are destined to have a Windows XP system on a new Intel-based Mac computer, you’ll still have to be vigilant in keeping Windows and your antivirus program updated.

http://www.techny.com/articles.cfm?g...=0.12784372384

So the old joke is right, windows is built on Borg technology. It adapts to new technology and assimilates it in to its collective just like the Borg.
Be careful around your PC otherwise this be you...

[Oberon]

So I guess that makes Linux this then:

[XabbaRus]

Mac's superior hardware?

Never been an Apple fan. Maybe it is irrational but I have always thought they were more style over substance and you paid a few hundred more than for an equivalent Windows system.

I guess we will see how many go over to Mac but I don't know if it will be that many.

[TLAM Strike]

I agree with you Xabba. When I was in school in normal classes it was all Mac and they were dodgy little machines only good for typing a document or surfing the net untill they locked up. In computer classes it was all PC. PCs mean business.

[scandium]

Originally Posted by XabbaRus

Mac's superior hardware?

Never been an Apple fan. Maybe it is irrational but I have always thought they were more style over substance and you paid a few hundred more than for an equivalent Windows system.

I guess we will see how many go over to Mac but I don't know if it will be that many.

There is substance there but its pricey, has tended traditionally to lag the PC in performance, and is not supported by nearly as many software developers. The shift to Intel processors and support for Windows XP should mostly eliminate these obstacles. Kind of late in the game for Apple to be doing this now but perhaps better late than never.

[XabbaRus]

Dunno what it is with me an Macs. I don't like Steve Jobs eitehr after watching one of his product demos at some conference and some comments he has made in the press just make him seem like a sanctimonious arsehole.

Also whatever you thinkn about MS, Bill Gates does give a large amount of money to AIDS and Cancer research. With his fortune I think it is the morally right thing to do and he does it reasonably low key.

Does Jobs donate money to that? Probably does but hey.

Irrational maybe, I hate macs, Apple and iPod.....


die and burn in the valley of silicone death.

[Wildcat]

On a note related to silicone;
http://web.archive.org/web/200201251...119320009.html



The story is a joke by the way

[TLAM Strike]

Originally Posted by Wildcat

On a note related to silicone;
http://web.archive.org/web/200201251...119320009.html



The story is a joke by the way

Next to riding the bomb like Slim Pickens or flying in to a black hole listening to Johnny Cash like Raymond T. Butts that’s the best way to go!

[Neutrino 123]

Hmmm, reminds me of this humor bit:
http://st-minutiae.com/humor/gates.xhtml

...and remember, Linux is only free if your time has no value...

[kiwi_2005]

Mac's are stable more than windows will ever be, if mac was more gamer friendly i would be a mac user.

[JSLTIGER]

Originally Posted by kiwi_2005

Mac's are stable more than windows will ever be, if mac was more gamer friendly i would be a mac user.

But that stability comes at the price of an extremely narrow hardware range.

[DeepSix]

Originally Posted by JSLTIGER

But that stability comes at the price of an extremely narrow hardware range.

PCs may be Borg technology, and Macs do put a certain emphasis on style (case in point, the latest commercial showing blue jeans and 5 o'clock shadow vs. business suit), but that right there (quotes above) is the only reason I switched to PCs.

[TLAM Strike]

Originally Posted by kiwi_2005

Mac's are stable more than windows will ever be, if mac was more gamer friendly i would be a mac user.

I've never had a windows box go BSoD when inserting a bad 3 1/2 floppy disk. I've seen Mac lock up by the dozens with this disk. I still keep it, it's labeled 'Anti-Mac Weapon'. Windows reads the disk fine or it did before I started using it as a coaster (trying to make it worse). Macs are more stable my ass.

[Wim Libaers]

Originally Posted by Neutrino 123

Hmmm, reminds me of this humor bit:
http://st-minutiae.com/humor/gates.xhtml

...and remember, Linux is only free if your time has no value...

It's free.
``Free software'' is a matter of liberty, not price. To understand the concept, you should think of ``free'' as in ``free speech,'' not as in ``free beer.''

http://www.fsf.org/licensing/essays/free-sw.html

The term ``free software'' has an ambiguity problem: an unintended meaning, ``Software you can get for zero price,'' fits the term just as well as the intended meaning, ``software which gives the user certain freedoms.''

http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-s...r-freedom.html


Besides, even if you really do want to refer to the costs, it's not as if Windows is maintenance-free. The main difference is that people already know Windows and/or are accustomed to its flaws and annoyances. With Linux, you lose lots of those, but you gain a few new ones that are unfamiliar (and therefore a bit scary) to many people.

[Sharkstooth]

Originally Posted by TLAM Strike

I've never had a windows box go BSoD when inserting a bad 3 1/2 floppy disk. I've seen Mac lock up by the dozens with this disk. I still keep it, it's labeled 'Anti-Mac Weapon'. Windows reads the disk fine or it did before I started using it as a coaster (trying to make it worse). Macs are more stable my ass.

I have to totally agree here. I always hear about the stability of Macs vs the unstability of Windows, and I've found it to be just the opposite. In the past I used a Mac for alot of artwork--but no more.

And to tell you the truth, the Mac users that are so very loyal to Steve Jobs just makes me smile. Its a business!

They can keep using their 'beta-max' cause I'm going to use what is most versatile with the best performance, and that would be a PC.