Negative Reinforcement?

[Sesshi]

An interesting observation I've made after a while. And that is, for any number of reasons, Vista is less reliable under OS X hardware.

I have hardware of very similar capability and essentially the same platform running Vista, either natively on Windows hardware or via Boot Camp / Parallels in OS X.

Macbook Pro <-> Dell Latitude D630. Both Santa Rosa based.
Mac Pro <-> Dell Precision 690. Both 5000X-based.

A note again: I'm comparing like for like - not an older budget machine for example.

It's not enough to be right in front of your face. But the instances of 'application stopped responding' and other potential intermediate-level annoyances of Vista do seem to be more prevalent under the Pro and the Macbook Pro in either Parallels or Boot Camp.

I was wondering if it was the inferiority of the OS X hardware in terms of robustness - and it is certainly a concern in absolutes - which was causing this. But counting the Kernel Panics / Beach Balls Of Death and those Vista annoyances, it becomes apparent to me that no, that probably isn't the reason.It is probably down to ever so flaky drivers / etc, but either way it actually serves Apple well, if you think about it.

Perhaps this is not a surprise for some of you, but I was wondering - Could it be that Apple users are further conditioned to their supposed superiority of OS X over Windows by using a machine that doesn't run Windows as well as 'dedicated' machines? And are Apple aware of it, or even intending it (which I very much doubt)?

Discuss... or not. Just my observations as of late.

 

[bousozoku]

Is BootCamp out of beta testing yet?

They're likely slow to update things for Vista but it's probably because they're working on Mac OS X.

 

[Queso]

I reckon Microsoft are deliberately introducing reliability issues into Vista so that Parallels and BootCamp make the Mac hardware appear flaky. After all, every $ spent on Apple hardware is another $ for OSX development, so there's plenty of motive for Redmond to do this

 

[MRU]

Could it not just be juvenile Apple Bootcamp Drivers for Vista ?

 

[bousozoku]

I reckon Microsoft are deliberately introducing reliability issues into Vista so that Parallels and BootCamp make the Mac hardware appear flaky. After all, every $ spent on Apple hardware is another $ for OSX development, so there's plenty of motive for Redmond to do this

It wouldn't be the first time.

The case with DR-DOS and Windows 3.x was quite contorted.

 

[Bow Rekk]

I didn't think you could compare windows through parallels since you would be running osx at the same time thus making windows run less efficiently... Unless, of course, my understanding of parallels is wrong (which it could well be as I have never looked into it - I have no need for it).

This might sound really stupid and I am certain that there is a reason but why can't you just install windows as a sort of multi-boot without having to go through boot camp? Surely the components are equivalent in a mac to any pc? I know there is an answer but I am just interested to what it is. My understanding of boot camp is probably flawed too. Sorry.

 

[Sesshi]

I didn't think you could compare windows through parallels since you would be running osx at the same time thus making windows run less efficiently... Unless, of course, my understanding of parallels is wrong (which it could well be as I have never looked into it - I have no need for it).

This might sound really stupid and I am certain that there is a reason but why can't you just install windows as a sort of multi-boot without having to go through boot camp? Surely the components are equivalent in a mac to any pc? I know there is an answer but I am just interested to what it is. My understanding of boot camp is probably flawed too. Sorry.

Perhaps my point has been lost. Both Boot Camp and Parallels run Vista less well than a 'real' PC in a comparable class. Many people have been persuaded to switch by the concept that you get the best of both worlds with a Mac. However, since Windows runs less well on a Mac than a 'real' PC, isn't it a form of negative reinforcement?

The Mac doesn't have a BIOS, an essential component of a Windows PC. Boot Camp supplements that requirement. The underlying hardware platform on the OS X side these days is very similar, but there are differences - including the use of EFI instead of the BIOS, and inferior engineering to most price-comparable machines