It was perhaps one of the most significant events the PC industry has seen in the last decade: Apple opening up its hardware to Windows operating systems through its proprietary
Boot Camp software. Not only did it allow Mac owners running Intel-powered machines to dual boot XP at will, it did so completely gratis (well, save for the cost of a Windows license). Unfortunately, the honeymoon may soon be over for Tiger users accustomed to the free boot loader: according to a report on MacScoop, Steve and friends plan to begin charging about $30 for the software once
OS X Leopard is released and Boot Camp leaves beta for the greener pastures of commercial. For those Macheads planning to upgrade to Leopard, this wouldn't be an issue, of course -- the new OS will offer Boot Camp as one of its standard features. Still, if you're planning on keeping the old Tiger and your draft-N router around for awhile longer, it sounds like there's a good chance you'll need to squirrel away about $32 for the future: $30 for Boot Camp, and
two bucks for the privilege of
unlocking your wireless card's dormant 802.11n functionality.
[Via
Slashdot]
posted Jan 21st 2007 8:38PM
Take this comment and put it anywhere in the following statements:
Quit whining. A company CHARGING for software!??!?! GASP!!!!
I guess Microsoft should have never charged for Vista either seeing as how they gave away a free beta! And for the more ignorant - Boot Camp was ALWAYS a time-limited beta. I'd say $30 for a product that has less functionality in terms of rebooting but more in terms of hardware support (ie 3D) is a great deal compared to its $80 Parallels cousin.
This should be a non-issue
If this will be part of leopard, then they shouldn't just give it away free. Do you see microsoft giving away the Vista interface for XP?
Yes, actually.. it's the dark purple theme, that's available for free online from Microsoft..
That's patheric. They already over charge for their hardware and software, now they want to charge for the software that makes the Mac hardware special. This is sad. Microsoft gives out tons of software for free.. Apple? Nope.
c'mon, dont just make statements, support them with facts. isnt that the first thing one learns in elementary english classes?
You're so full of it. Compared to Vista, Leopard WILL be a deal, especially considering that the higher end vistas go for over $200 while having features that Apple already offers on Tiger which is a deal at $130.
Want to know why MSoft gives some software out for free? Because NO ONE would buy it if they charged money for it. And please, name one piece of software comparable to Boot Camp that microsoft makes that they do not charge money for. (rhetorical question, since they offer none)
You mean like Microsoft charging for Onecare when AV software should be free with an insecure OS?
its a two way street asshat.
That being said Apple needs to be slapped around by a lawsuit for nothing more then a driver and firmware update. But BootCamp? Give me a break. Its a major component update.
Hmm...charging $30 for a compilation of Windows drivers, most of which were written by HW vendors. Think Different.
yeah... my Apple Trackpad driver was written by a 3rd party right? and so was my Apple Keyboard backlight support and the built-in iSight, gesture support, etc.... /sarcasm
probably the only 3rd party drivers are for video and sound...
have you even used bootcamp?
How about DirectX?
Check your facts. Microsoft has included a free boot loader in Windows for as long as I can remember. Linux comes with free boot loaders. There are also many thirdparty freeware boot loaders available for the x86 platform. Boot loaders should be part of the OS like the case with Leopard, they shouldnt charge money for them even if they werent originally included on the disc. Boot Camp also gives many people a reason to buy a Mac, it automatically makes Apple money even when its free.
Apple costs more becuase they don't rush poorly written software to market. They get it right the first time!
This is perfectly reasonable. Boot Camp is part of OS 10.5, and is currently available to the public as a beta. If you want it, and won't be paying for Leopard, then it's reasonable to expect to pay for it. If you don't want to pay then you can run XP on your Mac with XOM, the open source alternative.
Did people make a big deal out of it when Apple released iChat AV with an OS upgrade and made users of older versions buy it? Maybe I'm forgetting, but I don't remember hearing such complaining as I've seen around the net about Boot Camp going non-free.
Ah, that Apple twit-wit. Re-read the post professor. I said most. As in the northbridge drivers, SATA, video, sound, USB, 1394. You know, the complex stuff that require more than few days to knock out. Keyboard backlight support? Now that's complex. And yes, I do use Bootcamp, on my MacPro. And I'm a driver developer, so I know exactly what I'm talking about. You?
So this is how apple get their 1 billion in net profit by charging for wifi and a $30 Boot software. What next apple charging people for a next update of itunes?
it's only a matter of time before that hapen. Charging $600 for a phone that cost $300 to make is really a smart thing apple, real smart.
I guess this is the only way for apple to be able to pay off those Law sue i been heard about.
Rule # 1. Apple, DON'T STEAL FROM OTHER PEOPLE.
Rule # 2. IF YOU STEAL, THEY WILL SUE.
Rule # 3. REMEMBER THE TWO RULES ABOVE.
This is why apple will next be a world leader in technology. NO INNOVATION AT ALL. It's just a matter of time before apple steal Sony Bravia LCD TV and resell it with a apple Logo. LOL
Uh no, they make their money by actually designing products people WANT not products that they're forced by neccesity to use. If OSX had the wide variety of 3rd party apps available that Windows does, MSoft would quickly find itself in second place behind Apple in OS marketshare. This is what some people don't get; there is NOTHING original in the computer software or hardware industry. NOTHING. Everything is based off something else and companies use each other's products as 'inspiration' for their own. Its nothing new and it will neve change, so quit complaining about it.
@Kev50027: Really? MS gives away tons of free software? Name something. IE and OE don't count - those are part of the OS according to MS. Anything in beta doesn't count either, because it's still in beta and may (just like Boot Camp) become something they charge for when the software is released as a final version. I will say that MS has given away the previous version of Virtual PC, but that's about all I see MS give away.
Meanwhile, Apple charges one price for their OS (unlike what we will see for Vista), and it can handle everything Windows can. If you were saying Google gives away software (such as Picasa, Earth, and Sketch-Up), then you might have a point.
I just don't see what you are attempting to get at. Boot Camp is not a trivial piece of software - the Intel Macs do not run a BIOS (the run EFI, which is supposed to be the successor to BIOS), so they have to make Windows think they are running BIOS in order for it to run. That, added to the partitioning software and the bootloader, is enough for Apple to justify charging Tiger users if they don't upgrade to Leopard.
Lastly: A theme is not an interface. Two entirely different beasts. Just because you put make-up on a sow doesn't make her a worthy date, does it?
Microsoft gives away tons of useful free software. Ever heard of Powertoys? Media Center add ons? They constantly throw free programs and other fun stuff up on their website.
I'm so sick of you disillusioned Mac lovers. Apple is so proprietary about everything it makes me sick. They STILL don't let you buy Mac and run it on a PC, no.. they have to keep things proprietary because they're afraid of supporting any actually GOOD hardware.. When a Windows machine can do everything a Mac can do for less money, I see no reason whatsoever to use a Mac.
Do Microsoft fans ever really consider the source of their Wood?
Get a clue! Have any of the morons complaining about the $1.99 dealt with Sarbanes-Oxley compliance in a Fortune 500 company? 38 lawyers, 42 accounts and 80 different opinions on revenue recognition. If you don't want it, don't buy it. Go deal the the bozos in Redmond, I'm sure you get real VALUE there, cough...
Parallel Desktop ...
how about CoreAudio and the pre-installed extensions for it. how about CoreImaging, CoreAnimation, the iLife suite, Aqua itself.... the list goes on and on....
Wait a sec; you think that they won't let OSX onto PCs because they don't want it to run on Good hardware? Its exactly the opposite pal; Apple doesn't want their OS operating on crap PCs that look like crap. Lets put a high-end MacPro against a high-end PC, and then we'll see who's wearing the pants. (hint: MSoft's skirt will end up being floor length)
There is absolutely nothing wrong with Apple charging for bootcamp; There isn't really any comparable windows software, and Parallels (as has been mentioned) is more expensive than $30. The only reason people are complaining is because its Apple. (oh and to put this into perspective, I don't agree with them charging for the Draft-N to be activated, but I at least understand WHY they may have to do it)
You don't run Mac on a PC, you douche. What you are desiring is to run OS X on a PC. If you're gonna bash, at least know what you're talking about.
Excuse me? My PC is FAR faster than any comparably priced ($3800) Mac. Apple doesn't want to write drivers for hardware, which is why they are suck pricks about putting their OS on anything but their own PCs. Crap PCs that look like crap? Last time I checked, Apple made white boxes. Who wants an ugly white/black box when I can have a Sony Vaio laptop, they are stylish. Have you seen any Mac desktops? How about the ancient plastic ones that looked like Apples? You think that's high quality?
You have to be kidding me, seriously, you are so close minded and ignorant that your defense of Macs is calling every other PC ever made "crap?".
No crap there's no comparable Windows software, that's because Apple has a stick up their butt, and doesn't want their OS running on anything except their racist white boxes.
I'm actually concerned that Apple hardware control is going downhill =/. Scratched up iPods, whining MacBooks, etc. Anecdotally, I seem to be hearing more horror stories about Macbook / Powerbook hdd failures than PCs. I still love the Apple look and feel, but maybe they have some growing pains?
I think it's important for high school sophomores with limited life experience to have a place to sound empowered. Go Go Engadget Helicopter!
So true!
IIRC Apple said they were going to charge for it when it got out of beta when they released it in the first place...
Do people really need to get this bent out of shape for $30?
Comparable PCs are 3/4 -> 1/2 the price of macs and infinitely more useful. Why would anyone want a closed system like a mac?
to feel special...
Gee, let me guess: never used one, right?
@Mirosoft has no free software
Are you people really that ignorant?
Go check the microsoft website downloads section. I can't be bothered to list them all.
Or to look cool...Apple can keep coming out with their "clever" commercials comparing a PC to a Mac, but people with real technical knowledge (aka not high school and college girls who think that MacBooks look "pretty") know the difference. My favorite is the most recent one they had on the AFC championships today saying how the Mac laptops come with the webcam built in...woooooow, that is such a selling point that I would easily pay $200+ than for a comparible pc laptop (sarcasm).
Ok, I've been reading these humorous exchanges, and yep, it sure doesn't take much to get both sides fired up. I normally prefer to sit back and watch the action when it degenerates to this level of inanity, but I can't help myself when people bring out arguments like "...people with real technical knowledge (aka not high school and college girls who think that MacBooks look "pretty") know the difference...".
Well. I'm a Senior Software Engineer, with a Computer Science degree, and I've used Windows machines for many years. I only mention this so that I may POSSIBLY be included in the "people with real technical knowledge" group above, rather than the "high school and college girls" group.
About 6 months ago, I bought my first Mac, an Intel iMac to be exact. I did not care one bit about how it looks, but I desperately wanted a home machine which would do 2 things: perform fast and be reliable. I have to say it has been nothing but outstanding in achieving this.
I play in a band and after attempting to record and mix (more than 20 concurrent audio tracks), the iMac barely raised a sweat and did the job beautifully. This is AFTER trying to do the same on a high-end Windows machine. I won't go into detail, but my attempts at recording on Windows machines over the years have not been good. (I realise other people do have some success, but for us with our processor-hungry project, the Mac won hands down). I really don't think it is fair to say that people buy Macs just because they "look pretty".
The whole argument that Macs are just for the looks, the fashion statement thing is just ridiculous. The fact that they look good as well as perform well...fantastic, in my opinion.
It seems to me that there are some Windows users (not all, no, God forbid, not all) who might possibly be judging a computing platform which they have not actually tried. Try it out for a day, or a week, if you have access to a Mac machine. At the very least you will have more fuel to your argument afterwards. In general, my iMac has completely transformed my home-computing experience, and I am oh-so-glad I at least tried it out, because otherwise I never would have known what everyone was on about.
IDIOTS: Microsoft gives Virtual PC and Virtual Server for free (which allows you to run Linux, Windows, OS X) untop of Windows XP...
So don't preach without all the facts you idiotic apple fanbois.
VPC does NOT allow you to run OSX on your PC really... some hacked torrented version of it that doesn't deserved to be called a Mac product. but OSX itself, no.
Based on your comments, I find it suspect that you would have actually TRIED a similarly equipped $3800 MacPro. It would smoke your system .
And no, I didn't call all PCs crap, its common knowledge, however, that more than a few of them ARE. More than a few of them don't look all that great either. (Vaio desktops and Dell XPS machines being a notable exception.
@Dave:
"but people with real technical knowledge...know the difference."
Yep, we used OS X before the commercials came out.
(Where we!=Dave)
@Kev:
Then call me racist!
again... if $32.00 is too much for you, don't spend it.
people have to make a living, Jobs is no different. MacBooks and the MacMini are not over priced either...
seriously folks, technology has never been free, (okay so there was napster but look how that turned out!).
Yeah. And did you hear Veronica is ACTUALLY going for Homecoming Queen?! Ewwwww! Doesn't she know she sucks? Like, ewww again.
It's so weird-- like, how could she have friends when so many of us think exactly the same way? And she's like.. like.. so... ewwww.
High skool rules. Down with thinking!!!!
You don't hear about PCs breaking and PC errors and viruses because it's common knowledge. If your Dell notebook has a faulty , you just send it in to Dell and they fix it or whatever. Sure, you bitch about it for a while- but nobody listens, because that's what you expect.
An Apple gets a software glitch though, and you guys throw your hands in the air and think the sky is falling. I think it's a testament to our stability. I take it in stride.
Chris
Main difference in Apple and M$ is that People actually like paying apple for their software... I mean PPL wait in queues for hours to get their hands on SW like Tiger, and probably leopard when it's been released. When was the last time you payed for an M$ software and felt happy about it?
It'a just when you buy an apple product, You know it's gonna work before u come home.. ur comming back from the store satisfied, thinking "what's the quickest way to get home" to try this.. cuz they just work.. On the otherhand, M$ you never know until you pop the disk in and try it your self.. There's a good chance of it working perfectly (maybe not exactly the way you wanted it to, but atleast they work as M$ intended to) or it might end up not running at all..
Atleast thats why I personally dont like buying expensive software frm MS. specially windows, Say i pay £200 for a disk come home and it says my drivers are not certified blah blah hence it wont run properly, I would be pretty angry.. With Mac, If it says it works on a MacBook, or an iMac, it just works.. perfectly.. every damn time..
If you have a windows machine and an OSX machine, you wanted to do something that both machine's were equally capable of doing (may be make a DVD or some spreadsheets or whatever) what machine will you use? dont think too many ppl would say windows.
1. Macs look like shit. Its all about advertising and fanbois needing to justify their purchase.
2. Performance wise, they are shit compared to similarly spec'ed PCs. See no. 1 above.
3. Why are people paying for shit? See no. 1 and 2 above.
1. please please please do name 1 PC/Laptop that looks better than an Mac/Macbook out there
2. Which PC/Laptop did u compare to a Mac that had better performance for value
3. A lot of people pay for Macs, for Mac Software. BTW if you take the Windows user base what % do you think actually paid for ANY of the software they have in their system?
4. I am not a Mac Fanboy, I have 2 Windows Laptops and 1 Windows PC at the moment compared to 1 Macbook. There's nothing to justify, Only regrets of buying 3 Windows Machines. (I should've stopped at 1).
5. You have never owned a Mac or atleast used one as far as I can tell, so next time when you go shopping pop in to a mac store and have a look around. (Macs also uses Mice and keyboards so You'll be fine, don't be scared)..
6. :)
Sounds logical to me.
Okay, show me a $3800 brand new Mac with the following:
Core 2 Quadro 2.66 Ghz overclocked to 3 Ghz
2 GB RAM
150 GB 10,000 RPM HDD
2x 500 GB 7200 RPM HDD
Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTX
Toughpower 850 Watt Powersupply
Prove to me that a $3800 Mac is any bit faster than this machine sitting right next to me.
1. Just about any Sony Vaio laptop.
2. The post right above this.
3. Are you kidding me? The millions of PCs that are sold every year has Windows pre-installed. It's included in the price, are you stupid or something? You think they get Windows for free? I assume a minor percentage of people running Windows have gotten it illegally.
4. You obviously don't play games or use many programs, then.
5. I have used many Macs, and I get frustrated every time I am forced to use one, the interface is so counter-intuitive.
Hey Uh, you do realize that it WILL be a part of the OS, right? It just won't be a part of the OLD OS once Leopard is released. A lot of it most likely has to do with the way Leopard will interact with windows (Boot Camp is not fond of Vista in its present state) and I'd imagine that a lot of the features required to run Vista cannot simply be added on to Tiger with an Update. Apple knows that many people will buy macs once Leopard comes out with BootCamp, but they do also recognize that people that bought macs because of the BC Beta KNOW that the Beta is only a time-limited piece of software and that they'll have to pay for the real thing.
A boot loader that emulates and creates a virtual BIOS to boot a completely different OS than the system was built to operate? - You feel should be completely free?
Sure. You dev up something complimentary and we'll see how it goes over.
On the Mac vs. PC argument, it's been going on for ages guys.
Mac builds nice looking, great working hardware. PCs are developed by everyone under the sun, and are hence given a terrible reputation. A Mac system spec'd to the same as your desktop will burn it up in flames. No question about it. You'll be little pieces of dust floating in the air. A Mac system equipped to spec will burn any PC.
It's sad that most of the Mac bashers here have never used a Mac system, or haven't used one since the G3. Please, please- for your own sake, go use one. Just go to the Apple store close by and tell them you'd like to try one out. Tell the guy you're a diehard Winblows fan, and have never touched a Mac- but want to learn the ways of the Jedi.
...
Chris
Ok... now a lot of ppl are slipping put of the point here.. The basic story is "Apple's gonna charge $30 for boot camp" rite?
now.. what is boot camp used for? to run windows.
Whom are we having arguements with? Windows fanboys/Mac Haters.
See the point? We are never gonna run Windows on a Mac for any useful reasons. Windows fanboys are never gonna buy a mac. So why are we still arguing over apple charging $30 for BootCamp? Mac Haters should've never even commented on this article.. totally out of ur league.. now go back and play with calculator.. (which came freeeeeeeee with windows.. wooohoooo!)
I agree that a lot of windows machines are shit, but my personal windows box doesn't have a brand name. Like a lot of my peers if I need a new computer I find the components I want and I put the system together myself. I install a clean version of windows (which is incredibly stable if the manufacturer hasn't fucked with it) and I can enjoy the most advanced 3D games on the market. I can also enjoy a remote desktop connection with my PC at work, does OSX have anything like that?
Apple hardware is over priced, and their software releases and OS updates are expensive, they charge for everything. (for instance I'm using Windows Media Player 11, a piece of software upgraded for vista, on my XP machine, I won't be charged for it when vista is released)
@Aaron
" I can also enjoy a remote desktop connection with my PC at work, does OSX have anything like that?"
Mirosoft themselves provide a free Remote desktop client for Macs, Which works perfectly fine. (I use it all the time). And dude, dont even talk about OSX's networking /remote capabilities whn you dont have a clue what you are talking about.
OSX is built on Darwin (which is a Linux like, Unix based core), Unix is the most networking capable OS in the world... You ask for something it's there..
Now to the overpriced hardware bit, ok look at this now. I configured Exactly similar spec'd Mac Pro and a Dell Precision Workstation. Hardware used:-
2x Dual Core Xeon Processors @ 3Ghz
4Gb RAM
QuadroFX 4500 512MB graphics
1.5 TB HDDs (2x750GB)
Mouse, Keyboard etc.. but the above are the Main specs.
Mac Pro has Wifi and Bluetooth (dell doesnt have).
Guess how much they cost?
Mac Pro £4,899.02 INCLUDING VAT!!
Dell £5,478.00 EXCLUDING VAT!
Including VAT the dell was £6,466.03..
Thats almist £1500 more expensiver than the Mac.. Still think macs are over priced? think again..
(Go to the apple site and the dell site and see for your self.. I aint joking)
The only roadblock is the BIOS, the system itself works totally fine with Windows since Macs use the same hardware as a typical PC. If you remember there was a free boot loader for Macs before boot camp came out, that one was made the hard way. For an Apple programmer that has direct access to everything he needs in the EFI its extremely simple to create an emulator. There have been many video game emulators made by high school kids, if you want to talk about getting something to work on a different system then you cant get much more different than that.
LOL! you guys arguing about these stupid stuff. just download your Leopard or Vista on bt for free. who pays for software nowadays?
Why does ever mac person assume that people who are commenting negatively against the mac assume we've never touched a mac before in our lives, or at least not recently? I've been to the Apple store before, and they do look great. It's just on a usability level that I don't find any more justice to buy a mac than another neat laptop (EX: Sony Vaio)for much cheaper. I even used my sister's imac, and I really didn't like using it. The mouse, the keyboard, sometimes the way it showed up on the screen was real annoying. It's slick, but it's not enough for most people to spend cash on. Think about it, why isn't everybody a mac user? Because not everybody finds the needs for a mac are great. I'm no hater or lover. I'm just honest.
As others have already said, this is really not that crazy.
Boot Camp has been touted pretty much from the beginning as something that would be a feature of Leopard, and the public beta was something that allowed people to try it out now, and also to help give feedback and improve the product (which is of course one of the big reasons behind a public beta). I don't recall Apple ever promising a free version of Boot Camp for anything besides Leopard, and frankly wasn't expecting it to be available in its final version for Tiger at all.
It seems like Apple is giving people who want to stick with Tiger the option to be able to make use of the Boot Camp functionality without having to pay the full price to upgrade to the full OS X 10.5 if they don't want or need the other features of the new OS. As others have pointed out, this is somewhat similar to what Apple did with iChat AV.
Apple could just as easily have not even made a final version of Boot Camp available for Tiger (again, which wouldn't be that crazy considering it was always touted as an upcoming feature of Leopard, not something meant to be a free feature of Tiger), forcing Tiger users to buy Leopard if they wanted to use it, and I imagine there would be a pretty big outcry over that as well.
I find it funny how all the people that are clowning on apple have the lowest ranked. This is a big "FUCK YOU" to all you apple fans.
Mac users are already used to paying more for their Chinese made PC`s...so why not charge them? Bend over , Mac users !
@John Doe
What are they going to sue them for? Not providing access to a piece of hardware that is not yet certified and isn't supported by Tiger? Its not like they were advertising Draft-N technology and then asking you to pay for it. Fact is, most people won't be able to use it anyways, since N is still in its infantile stage, and if you DO need it, its because you have a new Airport or Apple TV, both of which come with the necessary drivers.
As you can see, there's no argument that someone could come up with that couldn't be shot down by lawyers.
Another misinformed Mac user...it`s like asking Leo Laporte for Windows advice...his knowledge is outdated. We who use Windows have free AV and anti-spyware programs to use. And if we want to be safer than even a Mac...we just use the FREE "Sandboxie" program.I have used XP for years with and without AV...and the truth is I never got infected , I just use common sense computing practices , asshat ;)
too bad macs dont have viruses to be protected from.. :( i feel so bad.. I want a virus in my mac..
With a news piece in this nature, could we at least wait for the official press release to announce.
MacScoop's report is extremely skimpy, almost an one-line rumor. I'm not certain we should encourage others to bash a company bashed on such minimum credibility.
Let me add... MacScoop's report reads like a hearsay of another hearsay via one unknown source.
Engadget, you folks surprised me...
No ill will. Simply a slight reminder of responsibility.
One of the most significant events of the last decade? That 2-3 percent of the market is able to run the same OS 90 percent of the market is already running? It would have been significant if they released OS X to whitebox-manufacturers, now it's only a novelty for the PC-industry as a whole.
LOL! it's like QuickTime Pro again. No doubt most users actually using Boot Camp and that pre-N stuff with Tiger will get those for free from somewhere on the Internet.
Apple charges for iLife, software available with its OS, albeit greater capabilities. Would you expect ms to offer their os for free? Remember, ms came up with the idea of offering multiple oses of the same product but with key features missing or unenabled in order to get people to spend more ms tokens on the more expen$ive version. This is $30 here, a fair price for most software. If you don’t like it, then buy Parallels....
Just a couple of things to add to the discussion.
1) EFI. It's true that Macs boot off an EFI chip as opposed to a BIOS one. But Apple released a firmware update at the same time as the Boot Camp Beta that contained a BIOS emulator. You don't actually *need* Boot Camp to install Windows on a Mac, but it does contain a GUI'd partitioning tool.
2) Charging for software. It's been mentioned on here already, but I find it odd that people expect any software company to give something away for free. It's been in Beta up until now. Why would they give it away? Microsoft gave away free Vista betas. If I buy a new PC, I get Vista as part of the deal. If I want it on my old PC, I expect to have to pay for it.
3) Fanboys. Both sides of the fence. Please, grow up will you. You all sound uneducated and foolish when you start 'bragging'. It's a computer. Inside, it's full of wires and circuit boards. Get over it!
4) Kev 50027. Whatever your opinion on the Mac vs PC 'debate', you did yourself a diservice with this comment: "Microsoft gives out tons of software for free.. Apple? Nope."
If you had bothered to just do a tiny bit of research you would have known Apple has offered iLife '06 for over a year now. Photo editing tools, audio creation utility, high def movie editing, DVD authoring and web site creation tools have been a part of the price tag for a long time.
Comments like that make your subsequent arguments weaker, as you risk coming across as someone who doesn't know what they are talking about.
Let me see.
Apple might charge for the full product of a software that allows people to use the competitors OS, if you don't buy the latest version of their OS. Since you can get the beta until the Leopard is shipped - and if you purchase a mac after leopard is shipped it will be bundled I really can't see an issue.
Will Bootcamp run Vista, or just Windows XP Home?
What about a Mac Mini, can that handle Vista?
I believe it can.
As to the original topic, $30 is a drop in the bucket compared to its usefulness... I think we've all bought software that cost more than this, then used it a greand total of one time.
As usual, both sides are completely pathetic in this case (for the most part).
Most of you Mac bashers have never even used one and still have an image in your heads from the early 1980s. You elitist Mac assholes are no better, preaching about how your OS is the greatest thing since sliced bread and "Omg M$ is t3h ghay lolololll" is how most of your comments can be broken down without losing much.
When is it going to get through your asbestos suits that Macs and PCs can both do a lot things really well? Macs are better at some things, PCs are better at some things. Macs are stable, in part, because there is complete control on the hardware side. It's a lot easier to make your system stable when you can basically predict every combination of hardware that's going to be on the machine.
PCs, on the other hand, are more open. You can put whatever hardware you want into a PC, do some work, and odds are high that you'll get it to work properly. In addition, Windows sees a lot more usage worldwide, so odds are excellent that you'll be able to find software for it.
See how that works? Pros for both sides, cons for both sides, you mouthbreathing Neanderthal fucks. You're giving *everybody* a bad name, whether they worship at the Altar of Stevie J. or the Altar of Billy G. Just fuck off.
I'd find it quite funny if Microsoft were to include some sort of code in Vista which detected and prevented it running on Macs...
with big red writing "NO CRYSIS FOR YOU! TEH LOL!1!!"
Apple software/OS's are cheap, but they also update them a lot more often than Windows. Since Windows XP was launched, there has been OSX 10.1, 10.2, 10.3, 10.4, and now 10.5. $130 for each one... $650. Windows XP Pro OEM however, costs...$129. Windows Vista Home Basic OEM... $90. A total of $219... $431 cheaper than how much you'd spend upgrading OS X.
Macs are not really for games. Thats why I have 3 Windows machines. You are comparing macs to PCs in different areas. Macs are mostly used for Creative/Research etc areas. I would love to see how your super duper overclocked PC do, rendering animations and such compared to a mac.
Well, Different PPL have different opinions on different things.. but even the hardcore M$ fanboy would think twice before making comments like "I get frustrated every time I am forced to use one, the interface is so counter-intuitive.". The aqua interface is hands down the best interface in the world.. You can't even argue about it..
Like Mr Lizard said, by looking at your previous comments I highly doubt that you have used a mac recently.. And by looking at your PC specs You are probably the type of a person who sits near the PC the whole day Playing CS or WoW or whatever ppl play these days and brag about how many n00bs u pWn3d, on XFire.
Actually, I'm a freshmen at a rather difficult to get into college, and working my sorry ass off for a major in political science and a minor in psychology. You can't say the aqua interface is the best and claim it's a fact, that's your opinion, and opinions can be based on false facts, but they cannot be "wrong". I dislike the interface for several reasons, and I find Windows XP/Vista easier to deal with. Doing minor tasks in Windows tends to require fewer mouse clicks than on a Mac, and I'm not a huge fan of navigation using the keyboard.
I do play games, but only on weekends, and rarely even at that.. mostly Battlefield 2142 when I'm not doing work.
For gods sake people, get over yourselves already. This was a post about Apple chargin 30 bucks for a great app and a set of high-quality drivers to run Windows XP on your Mac, not an invitation for flamers to try and prove their worthless points. People just need to realize that Apple computers are now officially better than PC's now because they run both operating systems, at full speed, or in virtualization mode which is simply amazing.
Don't like paying Apple for Boot Camp, or don't like the dual boot system?... then look into Parallels Desktop for Mac. Think Parallels is too expensive?... then just settle into the lesser features of Boot Camp. Don't like either? Then do some fucking reasearch and look into XOM which is an open source solution to put Windows XP on your Mac.