HOME RUN
Only a day after yesterday's announcement by Apple on their Intel-based Macs now being able to run the Windows Operating System with new software called Boot Camp, several publications have already tested the mettle of this new capability.
A good example is this review by PC World, where they take a 20-inch iMac and run Windows and Windows apps on it. What I was curious about was how the system would do running mainstream applications, especially Windows-based games. And PC World has good news:
"It works. Impressively well. With games, even. That's our first impression of Windows XP running under Apple's Boot Camp on our 20-inch iMac..."
"Most impressive. Doom 3 and Far Cry both ran smoothly with high-end graphics options turned on...."
Here's another site, Cabel's blog, describing how they've managed to run Half-Life 2, another really graphically intensive PC game, on Mac hardware.
This is not just important to gamers like me. Today's games are among the most tasking of applications for computers today. And the fact that these games run well on the beta version of Boot Camp, in this first iteration is truly impressive.
What does this mean longer-term?
Well, obviously, most Mac fans are excited about this because it means they can buy these new Intel-based Macs and run the occasional Windows program they need.
But I think it's a bigger deal than that. Although not the consensus opinion, I think the surprise once this capability is baked into the next version of Mac OS X, Leopard, might be that regular PC users buy Macs to run the occasional Mac program.
Why? Because the Mac hardware is cool, innovative and unique. From the 1" thick, 17" Powerbook, to the elegant, all-in-one iMac, to the diminutive Mac Mini, the current line-up is a case in point to how Apple computers are so special vs. their PC brethren.
And the fact that you can run Windows apps just as well on these machines is a really big deal.
Apple may have the game-changer I've talked about before after all.
Of course, unlike most other Apple innovations, this is one capability the company will not advertise and shout about from the rafters. They even released Boot Camp, with an uncharacteristically low media PR profile yesterday...just a press release.
But I think the mainstream market will figure out why this is special on their own. And make running Windows on Macs a pretty popular thing to do.
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