Mossberg goes to Boot Camp and survives unscathed

While some early message-board reviews of Apple's new Boot Camp software -- which was announced earlier today -- seem to show that there are at least some hazards to running Windows on a Mac (see the pic at right, which is apparently one of the first Boot Camp-assisted Mac BSODs), The Wall Street Journal's Walt Mossberg has given the new boot manager a thumbs up. According to Mossberg (who was able to sneak a copy out of Cupertino a few days ago), after installing Boot Camp and Windows on an Intel iMac, Windows ran "blazingly fast," and all of the apps he tested ran "flawlessly." Mossberg put the install time -- including both installing Boot Camp itself and running the usual Windows installer -- at 57 minutes, 40 of which were claimed by the Windows setup program. Despite being generally pleased, Mossberg did find a few glitches, including having to reset the clock every time Windows is booted (apparently the system clock used by the iMac isn't recognized by Windows) and not being able to use Apple's iSight camera. All in all, however, Mossberg summed things up with what may soon become Apple's new tagline: "Whether you want to run Mac or Windows programs, an Apple computer may be the only computer you'll need."

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[Corey @ Apr 5th 2006 3:43PM]

Great work Apple.. i was very suprised when i heard this news today.

[Paul @ Apr 5th 2006 3:44PM]

how about 3D video drivers? - thx

[Azhar @ Apr 5th 2006 3:44PM]

Mr Mossberg... When are the new ipods coming.....Pleeese tell us if you know.

[Dermot81 @ Apr 5th 2006 3:45PM]

Mossberg may be the biggest Apple fanboy on the face of the planet, so I'd take any review he does of an Apple product with a grain of salt.

[z dogs @ Apr 5th 2006 3:46PM]

sweet .. now i have absolutely no reason not to buy a mac.

*saves money*

[aparrish @ Apr 5th 2006 3:54PM]

For the love of god, someone do some damned video benchmarks!

[Allen G. @ Apr 5th 2006 3:54PM]

I'm posting this from Windows XP on a MacBook Pro using Boot Camp. The install was flawless, and I've already installed Photoshop and a ton of other apps. Great work, Apple!

[Heyzeus @ Apr 5th 2006 3:54PM]

Everytime I install Windows on a PC without any other third-party software, it also runs "blazingly fast."

[brad @ Apr 5th 2006 3:55PM]

Bootcamp must not be too great if you can get BSODs... I haven't seen one of those in years. Hopefully they work out the kinks.

[Joel Rodriguez @ Apr 5th 2006 3:59PM]

Like good applefanboys, nobody questioned if this is a photoshoped blue screen. I don't remember when was the last time I saw a Blue Screen in Windows

[TZK @ Apr 5th 2006 3:59PM]

The CAMERA dosnt work? "SCREW that Clinton, I ain't going up there - no waaay! I gotta be back at the pharmacy on monday..."

[applesucksLeo @ Apr 5th 2006 4:00PM]

Bad drivers will make ANY OS crash...they were using Apple-provided drivers,not the native MSFT drivers you would use on a PC.I built my own PC with better hardware than a Mac for about 1/3 the price of a Mac.Mine doesn`t crash either. No thanks...don`t need to buy an overpriced box to (sort of)run XP.Stick to i-puds please Mr. Jobs.

[donut @ Apr 5th 2006 4:02PM]

it's only a beta, so i expect these bugs will be ironed out by the time Leopard is released. It's funny...Apple originally insisted they wouldn't support dual boot...so much for that! I guess they saw the hackers have done it, so there's really nothing to hide any more.

[daschupa @ Apr 5th 2006 4:04PM]

Man, Apple has moved up in my opinion of them. Actually helping people to install windows is very un-Jobian of Apple. Maybe this is just a ploy to make people see which operating system they like more, but it is a really good way to sell more systems.

[MuDoggy @ Apr 5th 2006 4:05PM]

The only reason to buy an intel based mac is for the slim slim notebook size... when they come out with the 17" widescreen with a X1600 ATI graphics card and only 1" thin, thats when you'll see apple rush ahead of the game. I mean, now that everyone is using the same hardware, WHY can't everyone get to 1" thin??

So, how do games run on Windows on Mac?

[Buzzcut @ Apr 5th 2006 4:11PM]

Good point #7. My PC was "blazingly fast" until the system tray filled with anti-virus, IM, and a crapload of other crap that craps out my performance.

Want a fast computer? Don't install any software! If you can't do it with a browser, don't do it.

[Steven.Castoe @ Apr 5th 2006 4:11PM]

Games won't run on the mac; 2 reasons.
1. Lack of video drivers

2. Lack of video hardware.

[Ami @ Apr 5th 2006 4:12PM]

Actually Joel, Windows still do get blue screens (at least my XP installed laptop does) Now its non-funct until I can my reboot cd...RIP my laptop.

[willyjsimmons @ Apr 5th 2006 4:14PM]

to Joel Rodriguez:

1.) driveimage your current XP install to a bigger drive.
2.) slap that new drive into your PC.

Instant BSOD.

Or even simpler.

Slap in an ATI 9200SE videocard along w/ another non ATI card.

Instant BSOD.

[Justin @ Apr 5th 2006 4:14PM]

DO the video drivers work for the iMac. Will it be able to run Games, i.e half-life 2.

J

[chuck @ Apr 5th 2006 4:21PM]

Off topic.. Can someone tell me what that damn stars next to ur name means? Because I want one!

[jcg @ Apr 5th 2006 4:27PM]

#6 (aparrish)
3D Mark 06 gedraaid: 1205
3D Mark 03: 4960

Found it on tweakers.net

[rip @ Apr 5th 2006 4:30PM]

Steven.Castoe:

You mean the intel and ati video drivers aren't actually video drivers?

And the ati gpu isn't video hardware?

Wow, all this time, I thought they were. :P

Please try talking about something you have a clue about. Like your belly button lint or something.

[josh @ Apr 5th 2006 4:31PM]

"10. Like good applefanboys, nobody questioned if this is a photoshoped blue screen. I don't remember when was the last time I saw a Blue Screen in Windows"

Wait... if they were apple fan boys, wouldn't they NOT want Boot Camp (an Apple product) to cause a BSOD?

[Jeremy @ Apr 5th 2006 4:33PM]

Right, the Macfanboy's would and the Applefanboy's don't. ;-)

[Walker Flynn @ Apr 5th 2006 4:34PM]

I think it's stupid. I bought my intel iMac to run MAC OSX tiger (and future leopard) not windows. I used to use windows and it was so hard to use... I LOVE my new macs! I will never buy another computer except an Apple (w/o windows)

[Daniel @ Apr 5th 2006 4:37PM]

Related to the fact that iSight is not working, I have
read somewhere on Internet today that if you run the Windows Update, the camera is recognized as USB camera.

Hope it helps.

[Andrew Stone @ Apr 5th 2006 4:38PM]

Important question... how is the partitioning working? If i have 10 gig of music, my .doc homework file, some pictures, firefox bookmarks, my buddy list, some Konfabulator widgets, whatever else on my hard drive, will both OS be able to use it? Or will whatever i do in windows be saved in my windows partition, so whenever i'm in OSX i'm SOL as far as all this goes? Pretty important thing to consider.

And would an external HD fix this? Pain for my laptop needs, but could help with a desktop.

[gabehoffman @ Apr 5th 2006 4:47PM]

I am posting this from my MacBook Pro running firefox on XP, the longest part of this is the patching of windows of course. I don't see why games wouldn't run, perhaps I'll download the unreal tournament demo for kicks. The camera does show up as a usb camera now, and my clock seems to be working fine, not sure what he's talking about in that review. It was cake to get it all going. This is the perfect setup for people that have to develop .net apps, but still want all the creative tools in OSX.
I'd say its perfect for gamers, but WOW runs great on this thing in OSX, and that's my only game right now.

[Dennis @ Apr 5th 2006 4:50PM]

"10. Like good applefanboys, nobody questioned if this is a photoshoped blue screen. I don't remember when was the last time I saw a Blue Screen in Windows"

That blue screen is called the install application. You haven't seen it for a while because you haven't installed Windows lately. If you had, you would remember staring at it for one to two hours or more.

[gabehoffman @ Apr 5th 2006 4:51PM]

Oh, one thing I can't figure out though, how to right click. I mean I know I can use an external mouse, but I'm not sure how to right click anything in XP with just the touchpad. Anyone?

[John @ Apr 5th 2006 4:56PM]

#30, Try CTRL-Click

But does it run Chyron's Lyric? SGL Live?

[broman78 @ Apr 5th 2006 4:59PM]

I wonder if boot camp would let you boot linux.

[JohnB @ Apr 5th 2006 5:04PM]

Games run GREAT. The drives included contain also genuine ATI drivers for the X1600. HL2 runs fantastic with most settings set to max.

[Nick @ Apr 5th 2006 5:07PM]

Anyone want to buy my PC? I'm getting a Mac! If the computer can run all the same programs and games (all in due time) then I see no reason to buy a PC any longer. I'm surprised that Apple is not goign to change a premium for this software. An extra hundred dollars to get XP on a Mac is not too crazy

[matt graves @ Apr 5th 2006 5:08PM]

One other cool thing about today's news is that Mac users will finally be able to try music subscription services like Rhapsody, Napster, and Yahoo Music Unlimited.

[Brad Johnson @ Apr 5th 2006 5:13PM]

Big Picture??? Nobody wants to weigh in on the big picture reason for Apple to allow Windows OS on it's boxes or is it too obvious for words?

If you're a Windows user you can buy a Mac without having to give up anything. The hardware is pricier but you get an extra OS (Mac) that doesn't wait for Vista. An extra OS that can potentially be everything that you need and rely less or not at all on Windows at some point. Hardware with better design. Software that is stable and a protected "walled garden" where everything integrates and works together nicely.

Apple doesn't have to convert the world either for this to be a monumental success. At only 5% of the market share if Apple gets a very small percentage of Windows users to try a Mac box they won't go back and 2x market share to 10% would send Apple stock through the damn roof.

Remember when people were complaining that they wished that they'd gotten in on Microsoft stock when it was affordable and then repeating those words every year for the next ten years? Remember those buddies of yours that complained "I wish I hadn't sold my Microsoft sotck cause I'd be a millionaire by now"?

Looks like history repeating itself to me.

BTW, AAPL is up about 10 % today.

[RevJonathan @ Apr 5th 2006 5:14PM]

You can only boot windows XP SP2 on this.
I still don't see why people would just at less hardware for more price. Apples have a great interface, why sacrifice your interface for windows?

The reason to get a Windows PC is because it will run better and faster provided you know how to optimize your system.

[Allen G. @ Apr 5th 2006 5:16PM]

gabehoffman:

Try this free utility for right-clicking in Windows on an Intel mac:

http://www.geocities.com/pronto4u/applemouse.html

[Andy @ Apr 5th 2006 5:31PM]

Why does Apple require that you burn the drivers to a CD? Surely Windows could just search a location on the hard drive?

[Bill @ Apr 5th 2006 5:31PM]

Does anybody think that it would be possible to install OSX on a standerd Intel Laptop and run boot camp?

What can I say, I still can't afford a Macbook Pro!

[Adam @ Apr 5th 2006 5:35PM]

I got that good old blue screen no more than 3 weeks ago and I didn't even do anything abnormal; I was just typing away contentedly in Word.

[jon @ Apr 5th 2006 5:36PM]

Apple a "walled garden"...ha!

The big virus that changed the culture of mac computing is very near. It will only take one that will screw everyone over because they thing that OSX is a "Walled Garden".

Just remember that Windows is the safest and most secure platform...the problem is that even though that is the case...there are thousands upon thousands of hackers that are barraging the platform constantly looking for flaws and ways to get in. They do this because 94% of the worlds computers use Windows. Now if the eyes of these hackers turn to Mac and it's increasing market share...you Apple fanboys will be eating your words. I've found that Macs are just as damn unstable as Windows...just imagine a Mac with Virus problems and spyware on top of all of those problems. You will have one damn fine looking POS.

[Quin @ Apr 5th 2006 5:41PM]

Can someone let me know if Microsoft ActiveSync is running properly with bootcamp so that I can turn my PC laptop into a MP3 Player in my livingroom...

[Franco Colon @ Apr 5th 2006 5:44PM]

How much HD space does having Windows on your Mac take?

[Tony Stanley @ Apr 5th 2006 5:53PM]

Number 41: Have you ever considered that getting upset over 'which operating system is more useable' may be the reason you can't get girls to like you?

[MakeMyDay @ Apr 5th 2006 5:54PM]

Are you people morons?

"GOOD JOB APPLE" ?

What exactly did Apple do? The Intel Macs are standard PC components. And now Windows runs on these standard PC components.

Wow yeah good job Apple at recoding Windows. The fanboy in this article even goes so far as to credit Apple for running Windows so fast. FFS. Enough with the Apple fanboys.

[Tony Stanley @ Apr 5th 2006 6:00PM]

Oops, I mean Number 42, oh and also numbers 44 and 47. And while we're at it; anyone who uses the term 'Apple fanboy'. Crickey people it's just a computer. Go play tennis or something. Work off some steam.

[Dave @ Apr 5th 2006 6:01PM]

"9. Bootcamp must not be too great if you can get BSODs... I haven't seen one of those in years. Hopefully they work out the kinks."

The way that BSOD occured was after Windows XP is first installed but prior to installing Mac drivers there is a "Camera" icon under "My Computer" that is basically the Windows OS seeing the built in iSight. If you click on "Camera" it goes to BSOD, but if you first install drivers the "Camera" icon disappears and isn't an issue.

Once you finish the Boot Camp instructions without first mucking around the Windows XP install is as stable as I have ever seen... it is simply fantastic.

[Brandon @ Apr 5th 2006 6:05PM]

Ok, you shouldnt knock apple for this, they had to make the drivers so everything wold work; think about how hard it was for nark and blanka to do it, plus Im sure there version isnt as full proof as apple's....
I have a some questions to anyone who has tried boot camp:
What happens when you try doing control alt delete?
Can you run windows games on it?
Another question, does it allow you to run windows media center?