I grabbed the hacked package that allowed people to run XP on their shiny new Intel Macs because I figured one day it’d come in useful. Well, looks like I was wrong, because another unthinkable has happened: Apple has released an official solution. Boot Camp is a new dual booter that will eventually be included in Leopard, the next OS X release, and comes with everything you need to run Windows XP (and possibly earlier versions like 2000, though this is unclear) on your Intel Mac except a copy of Windows.
The cynic in me thinks this is a bad idea. Apple is opening a pandora’s box by officially supporting a tool that puts Windows on your Mac; what about the legions of home users who want Windows, install it, and find things that go wrong? Will they call Apple tech support? And what happens when Apple tells them they can’t do anything? Can you imagine if you called Dell and asked for help with Windows, and they told you to shove off? (well, actually, I wouldn’t put it past Dell to fuck over their customers, but that’s another story.) If Boot Camp was an unsupported tool, or at least not packaged with the next OS X release, Apple would have some breathing room, and I think they’re going to need it.
The little kid in me is pleased as punch, wants a Mac again, and will be paying very close attention to the next Macbook/iBook release.
No one’s forcing anyone to repartition their drive here, and if you’re inexperienced enough to run out and try this without understanding the potential consequences, too bad. You did make a backup first, right?
(Prediction: next blog post is about this: http://www.uts.utoronto.ca/board/michaelerobertsonappointedutsprincipal.html)
Comment by Victor — April 5, 2006 @ 2:15 pm
Two things:
I don’t think I’m going to have any trouble doing this, and I’m fully aware of the consequences. That’s not my point. My point is one of Apple’s big selling points re: Macs is that they’re easy to use and great for people who’ve never owned a computer before, meaning a lot of the userbase will be inexperienced users who won’t know what a hard drive is, let alone what the potential consequences are. They’ll just see that they can have Windows and OS X on the same machine and do it, and then if/when things go wrong, they’ll call up the people they bought the machine from—Apple. Apple will give them the standard “we didn’t make Windows, don’t talk to us” response, as they should, and leave a bunch of people wondering WTF is going on, and wow, Apple sucks because they won’t help me with my maybe-unsupported maybe-supported configuration.
At no point do I say that Apple would be doing the wrong thing by telling their customers to piss off, except that by including Boot Camp with Leopard, they’ll be creating the expectation of support where it shouldn’t exist. Fine for me, since the only time I use tech support is when I know something is broken and need a replacement. Bad for my old landlord, who would probably get XP on her theoretical iMac from a nephew or something, and be horribly confused when she couldn’t get her poker game running one day. Backup? What’s that?
Second thing: does UTS now have a one-year maximum term of principals or something? Also, I got the alum magazine in the mail today and actually read the article on the new agreement with U of T. Noticed that students are now paying $12,000 a year for tuition? That’s twice what it was when we were going there; can’t imagine I’d be able to pay for it now if I were ten years younger.
Comment by Wesley — April 5, 2006 @ 5:11 pm
First thing: It’s about Apple giving people choices in regards to what they can to with *their* hardware, and I’m all for that. I hate locked-down hardware and I don’t buy it anymore. Plus, you need a Windows XP SP2 install CD, and there’s only a few ways you can get one anyways:
- from your OEM white-box PC seller
- bought it at retail for $inflated_price either original or upgrade
- pirates on the ‘net seas, y’arrr!
Dell and other huge PC sellers don’t give you real Windows CDs anymore, and Apple won’t be selling them either. Dual booting has always been in the realm of the power user, and I don’t think Boot Camp is going to fundamentally change that. Can we just agree to disagree?
Second thing: When I started in 92/93 I’m fairly certain that tuiton was about $2800. That October was “The Assembly” when we learned we weren’t getting any more bucks from the government. At the time, tuition made up half of the school’s income, the other half coming from the gov’t. When I left in 98 it was up to $6000-$7000, and IIRC tuition was now 75%-80% of the school’s income. So it’s doubled again in eight years… haven’t gotten the latest magazine yet, but part of me wishes they’d stop publishing it and just save the bloody money for the kids’ education!
The last few principals they’ve hired externally have been disasters… hence my musings on how I wish they’d find someone within the school to lead it.
Comment by Victor — April 6, 2006 @ 8:43 am
Fair enough. It seems I’m the only one who thinks Boot Camp = dual boot for the masses, so if it turns out I’m wrong, it won’t be the first time. Like I said, if I ever get my hands on a Mac, I’ll certainly be using Boot Camp. (Though a little part of me wishes it’d work with W2K SP4; I never did get completely comfortable with XP.)
I’ve had so little contact with UTS since undergrad that I had no idea about the principal situation, aside from the revolving door issue. I’d say that the school I knew is probably dead, but then everyone always feels that way after they graduate. Considering all the stuff that’s happened since I left, though, maybe my class really has a point…
Comment by Wesley — April 6, 2006 @ 9:57 am
Well, you were right:
http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/04/13/1550228&from=rss
Comment by Victor — April 13, 2006 @ 3:13 pm
And what do you know, retailers are selling MacBook Pros with XP pre-installed, further blurring the distinctions regarding which company supports what part of the machine.
Comment by Wesley — April 20, 2006 @ 4:42 pm