explodingboy

By now most everyone has read the news about Apple releasing an application called Boot Camp, which will be included in OS X 10.5, Leopard. For those who haven’t yet read about Boot Camp. The application lets you create a boot disc with all the proper Windows drivers so you can safely install Windows XP on your Intel Mac. This in essence can be a huge move for Apple’s hardware sales, but I have my concerns.

Let’s say John Q. Windozeuser decides he wants to buy a Mac because he like his iPod, and has decided that Apple computers are just all around nifty. (Which they are. Go buy three or four!) So Mr. Windozeuser gets Windows XP up and running, on his brand spankin’ new Mac and begins to mess around with his normal programs and games for performance evaluation. He is happy and content with his new purchase.

Eventually though it begins to happen. It may not happen the first day, or the first week, or even the first month, but eventually XP will start running sluggishly, because of spyware, viruses, etc. Even though Apple clearly explains that Windows running on a Mac is like Windows running on a PC, and it’ll be subject to the same attacks that plague the Windows world… Mr. Windozeuser starts to become annoyed. Why is my Mac running so slowly? Why does my Mac have a virus? I thought these fancy Macs didn’t have trouble with viruses. What is the deal?

This is the point where Apple with either be hugely successful or suffer. If Mr. Windozeuser and millions others like him can understand that his problem lies in the OS and not the actual computer, he will be more likely to experiment with OS X, become comfortable in the Mac world, and spend the majority of his time working in OS X. Therefore accomplishing what I believe Apple has set out to do in the first place. If he doesn’t understand his problem he very well might become dissappointed with his purchase and be turned off of Apple products in the future.