Intel switch?

[jer446]

I am confused about the intel switch. Doesnt this mean that macs will now be able to run any windows software like games, or am i mistaken? That would help mac sales enormously because its one of the most major turnoffs that i hear from people... (that and "but macs are slow and have no software"

 

[generik]

I am confused about the intel switch. Doesnt this mean that macs will now be able to run any windows software like games, or am i mistaken? That would help mac sales enormously because its one of the most major turnoffs that i hear from people... (that and "but macs are slow and have no software"

Nope...

What will be possible is with virtualisation (provided Apple doesn't cripple it and disable that) it is possible to run VMWare at near full speeds, also for selected Windows apps it is possible to run it under emulation through Darwine.

Neither of these are supported and endorsed by Apple.

 

[rosalindavenue]

Nope...

What will be possible is with virtualisation (provided Apple doesn't cripple it and disable that) it is possible to run VMWare at near full speeds, also for selected Windows apps it is possible to run it under emulation through Darwine.

Neither of these are supported and endorsed by Apple.

Yeah, either that or just a flat out dual bootable mac-- that is, you buy a copy of windows and download some kind of bios hack to allow you to boot in windows; sort of like when you run SUSE or another Linux disto with windows on a PC. I suspect that it will be possible but that apple will make it enough of a pain that most users wont want to bother.

 

[mklos]

If Microsoft was smart, they'd develop Virtual PC 8 for x86 Macs. If Microsoft was able to do true hardware and software emulation at nearly full speed (which shouldn't be too much of a problem with an x86 CPU), then they could sell a ton of copies of VPC. This would enable users to run OS X and Windows at the same time. You would have a virtual environment which means that viruses and spyware won't effect your Mac directly, but rather just the Windows VPC image. I would definitely buy VPC 8 if I had an x86 Mac and Microsoft did VPC 8 correctly. Microsoft would be dumb not to develop this. I think it would help Apple too as switchers could have both OS's running. So not having an OS X version of a particular piece of software wouldn't be as big of a deal.

 

[dmetzcher]

I think we'll see something developed that will allow you to run Windows apps under Mac OS X (x86) in much the same way that we run Classic apps under Mac OS X (PowerPC) now. I don't think it will come from Apple, though. I don't really see how Apple could lock this down. In fact, I think they should add it to the OS and tightly integrate it so that the line between PC and Mac is gone for Mac users. This would leave, essentially, nothing for anyone to complain about when switching to Mac.

I think you have more to worry about from Microsoft on this one. If they do anything, they will develop VirtualPC for the new platform, and keep you using Windows, in a window, to run your apps. This isn't the same as having real support for Windows apps, but it keeps people using their OS. My idea would remove the middle man (Microsoft) and just allow the apps to run. MS could still make money, too. They could license the right to do this directly to Apple.

I think it will happen, one way or another. The question is, are MS and Apple going to be a part of it? Also, how good will it be if they are not a part of it?

 

[mklos]

I actually think that its the other way around. I think Microsoft has to worry about Apple. People are getting sick and tired of using M$ crappy OS. They're looking for an alternative and Apple is basically the only other useful alternative. Mom or Dad isn't going to use Linux, or Unix. So Microsoft would be smart to try and keep those users, or keep people getting copies of XP by making VPC work very well with x86 Macs. It doesn't hurt Apple because people still need to by the Mac to use the software. It doesn't hurt Microsoft because people still need to buy the software to use it, and people WILL buy the software for the apps that aren't available for OS X. All Microsoft needs to do is fully optimize it for x86 Macs using full hardware emulation. In other words, they need to make it very usable!!! Like running at least at 85% the speed of the Intel Macs.

This would make transitioning to OS X a LOT easier for people as they could run all of their old software that they have for Windows and gradually get the Mac versions as they get the money, or as they become available for OS X. Its a win win situation for both Apple and Microsoft. Apple has already stated that they're not going to hold anyone back from developing a way to run Windows on a x86 Mac, but they just won't support it. They are though obviously going to stop people from installing OS X on anything other than Mac.