Windows on Mac via Boot Camp

Well, since everyone else is jumping off that bridge, let me also weigh in on my thoughts surrounding the advent of Apple's BootCamp.

First of all, I'm somewhat stunned at the high proportion of nay-sayers at MacInTouch about this decision. They say that this will mean that no one will ever port anything over to the Mac again. Um, in what consumer universe do YOU live in? Because in my world, those who haven't ported to the mac NEVER WILL. They made their decision long ago, committed their resources into an established codebase, and they're willing to live with the consequences for the long haul. "But what about Microsoft? Why would they update Mac for Office anymore?" Lemme ask you this... how many of your Mac friends own Windows XP installs? (uber-geeks need not reply there) Odds are, not many. So killing Mac Office is not equal to saying "Buy Office for Windows." Rather, it's akin to "Buy Office for Windows, AND a license for Windows while you're at it." Mind you, they could do a cross-grade, but has Microsoft ever done such a thing? If so, I can't recall it.

There MIGHT be some worry about Adobe bothering to port their software over to Mac OS X, though. I feel that worry is legitimate. Adobe struck me long ago when they killed off Premeire on the advent of Final Cut Pro that they were going for the bucks FIRST, and the interfaces for their apps have gone steadily downhill ever since. Hell, I've said it before: when there are ENTIRE WALLS at the bookstore devoted to EXPLAINING HOW TO USE YOUR APPS, there is SOMETHING TERRIBLY WRONG with your interface. There are volumes of tricks in Photoshop alone that require extensive handholding to learn. The toolbar is practically a joke by now, with almost all functions relegated to their single-letter shortcuts, committed to memory for pro users like myself. In fact, the only purpose for the toolbar now is a comforting acknowledgment of history by the developers themselves; you could almost turn off the toolbar completely. Did I mention we're talking about THE TOOLBAR, for crying out loud? The reason is that the expertise in Adobe applications is a craftsmanship for the new millenium, handed from one generation to the next, and manipulated via contextual menus, palettes, and the evil, evil, EVIL "contextual palette controls" which fly under power-users' radars for YEARS before they are discovered. Is apple free of blame here? No, but we're talking about whether Adobe would jump ship, and, by extension, whether we'd care (yes, of course we'd care... for a little while). I doubt Apple would jump ship from, um, Apple.

Yet BootCamp has the internet geek-o-sphere a-buzz IN 24 HOURS. and it's only in beta! (which is a brilliant idea, by the way, as Apple will take feedback and incorporate it into Leopard a.k.a. 10.5), as WWDC in August promises to be ENORMOUSLY HUGE, with every major Mac developer descending on the place to see how this all plays out in the first demo. Yes, there are clueless IT managers who insist they will not consider Macs, even with this as an option, due to hardware costs, as if this will be a huge support nightmare for them. Why is that, exactly? Oh, that's right, because these IT managers are talking out of their asses. They don't see ANY Mac-specific software that anyone would want to run. They apparently see no advantage to the Mac OS, so why boot into it? And this statement obviously means they have NO CLUE about the fact that, with Macs, ONE SOLUTION FITS ALL. The units have always had very, VERY similar hardware specs, so it's easier for apple to keep drivers supported, and therefore easier on which IT to manage Windows. Go figure.

In fact, I foresee, as Mr. Gruber at DaringFireball eloquently put it, Macs becoming a "superset" of hardware vendors. Seriously, would you pay a premium for a computer that gave you access to ALL software? I mean, ALL of it? If you liked the idea of using your computer for lots of things, then yes, I guess you would (and we'll conveniently ignore the fact that the Mac mini is still PRETTY DAMNED CHEAP and can compete pretty well... Meanwhile, these self-same IT guys argue a $400 barebones Dell box versus an iMac. Well, YEAH it's cheaper. but put that same MAC MINI against that barebones Dell, and for a couple hundred dollars extra (assuming you're buying retail and not bulk) you get A LOT MORE.

Of course, no matter how much you gnash your teeth, this is big, and it's only going to get bigger. Another area of revenue for Apple is that many Mac users who may have entertained buying a PC for Windows-compatibility, testing, etc. (N.B. I know I considered it many times), and now our dollars WON'T go there, but rather into the Mac and whatever software we want to run on it.

These are exciting time, folks... Admittedly, though. a bit crazy, too.