There’s a lot of buzz in the Mac world about how the Intel-powered Macs can run Windows (often better than PCs can run windows).  All the new Mac users love to just jump in.  I’ve jumped in too, and I have to say the built-in Boot Camp option is not my favorite way to go.  I’ve become a HUGE fan of Virtual Box by Sun Microsystems for its simplicity, open source standards, ease of use and installation, and price (FREE!).

What virtualization products don’t really understand is that most applications have crossed over to Macs.  Most of the time I need a Windows box, I need it for a short period of time and I’m not really ‘moved into’ it.  It’s for one-off tasks that require the occasional PC app that hasn’t crossed over.

Like most people, once I’ve moved over to a Mac, I’m out of my PC. I don’t need a PC most of the time, and I am less inclined to buy and support an additional app for the occasional need of a PC.  This is what makes Virtual Box so great:

• It’s Free and open source
• The Virtual Hard Drive is open source
• You can do just about everything you need with a virtual machine
• You can run unlimited virtual machines as long as you have enough system resources
• It’s a small app, loads fast, boots fast
• It has drivers for great integration with Linux, and Windows

Here’s a download on a few other multi-boot options and why they may not be for you:

• Why I don’t like Boot Camp:
  • Partitioning: Apple thought those of us who moved over from the PC world would hate it if we couldn’t cling on to our own bad habits. So Boot Camp partitions your hard drive so that you can boot directly into your XP image and act as if you never bought a Mac in the first place.  While this may be necessary for a few of you out there, for most of us, we really don’t need a Windows machine to such an extent that we have to sacrifice a portion of the hard drive for the occasional need of a PC.  Should you no longer need the XP partition, it’s a pain to get rid of it.
  • Limited Use: Boot Camp is limited to a few variations of Windows products.  On the Apple Support Site, the following is explained to us:  “Important: Boot Camp is designed to support only Microsoft Windows Home Edition and Professional with SP2 or later, and Microsoft Vista. The required Macintosh-specific drivers provided by Apple are only intended for these releases.”
  • Windows 7 support has yet to happen: Here is an update for Windows 7 support. Oh and by the way, once the release is out, you still can’t use your Windows 7 if you bought your Mac before 2007.
  • Booting is confusing and a pain for a novice.
• Why I don’t like VMWare Fusion:
  • It costs $80-100.
  • If you’re going to spend money, this is your best option.
  • Future upgrades after 12 months cost more.
• How about Parallel Workstation?
  • Cost is about $80
  • Not all upgrades are free
  • If you really care about running a dual platform day in and day out, this may be a good option.

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This is such a great ad, I can’t help but see the eventual end to PCs in the consumer market if Microsoft doesn’t step it up.  I had to share this:

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I just updated my XP machine with IE8.  Keep in mind I freshly wiped and installed XP and ran updates as needed.  No funky software yet.  As I usually do, I emotionally prepare for these updates with a fresh burrito from Chipotle and begin the soon-to-be-error-prone process of upgrading.

Though I hesitate to install IE8, I push past my initial mental roadblock and click through the dialog boxes.  After the reboot, I launch the new and improved IE8, and accept the default settings so I can start browsing.  I click Tools, then Windows Update, to make sure I am fully patched, and the browser crashes as soon as it reaches the Windows Update website.  I know some of you see me really beat up Microsoft on my blog, and honestly, this is why.

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