Contest: Dual-booting WinXP and Mac OS X on Intel Mac

Even if MS don't produce a version of Virtual PC for MacIntel machines, presumably the current version will run unchanged why should it not? Of course you would then be operating in an environment which emulates a G4 on an Intel processor, in order to run VPC code which is emulating an Intel processor on a G4. But if it's true that the MacIntel processor is 2.5 times faster than a top-end G5, then the end result might still be faster. Maybe someone has already tried this?

In any case, what MS chooses to do is irrelevant. Lismore Software Systems for example are already well advanced in developing Guest PC for MacIntel machines. The current version of GuestPC already runs Windows 98 faster than VPC7 on a G4.

Also it's worth mentioning that if you run Windows under emulation and make sure you never allow it to connect to the internet, you can be pretty sure it will remain safe from infection. For ordinary users I think the guarantee (for the time being) of freedom from viruses etc. will be a major selling point for Apple. And if Apple bundled a copy of Guest PC or equivalent with every MacIntel machine, they could greatly ease the transition path for current Windows users by ensuring they would be able to use all their legacy Windows software for as long as they needed to.

Everyone is worried about what would happen to developer support if Windows apps could run on the Mac.

But maybe the worry should be the other way around. Maybe I'm the only one who remembers, but NextStep applications could be run on Windows.

This was called Open Step. When you installed one of these applications on a Windows machine, it basically installed an invisible version of NextStep on your pc.

To the user, they appeared to be working in a Windows environment. But all the coding to create the application was done for the Next OS.

Can anyone say if Apple has been working on a stealth upgrade of this technology? It would allow Adobe and others to program to the Open OSX environment, but allow users to run the applications on Windows.

Darwine did run on the original dev kits with OS X-86 rev 10.4.1 but it's currently broken, due to the newer 4GB/4GB virtual memory space mapping that replaced the original 3GB/1GB split, I suspect.

http://wiki.osx86project.org/wiki/index.php/Darwine_Apps#List_Of_Programs_Running_In_Darwine

Well, an area where Windows is superior to Mac is in video playback. Sorry, but the Apple DVD player is a POS compared to Windows alternatives. Also, video post-processing tools such as ffdshow haven't been ported to the Mac. Add to this that ATI and Nvidia put far more resources into video drivers for Windows than Mac and DirectX Windows video drivers have far more features.
A software layer would not work as drivers in general are much more directly connected to hardware calls.
Don't get me wrong, for most day to day activities, I prefer the Mac but, frankly, Windows is ahead in video processing. I'd like to see dual-boot.

I actually have no proof at all. after realizing that by being true to my old PC hardware manufacturers, getting AMD and ATI I pretty much screwed myself out of running OSX86 on my 64bit PC I lost a lot of interest in crossing OSs and have a $1k CS1.6 machine now.

this article is about as close as it gets:
http://www.microsoft-watch.com/article2/0,2180,1910364,00.asp

I do wonder how the security is on older betas like Whistler and earlier Microsoft OSs. perhaps tracing backwards would give some good info on what needs to be removed or altered.

szkud do you have a link about booting Vista on the Mactel's? The best progress I've seen anyone get so far is getting the "Press any key to boot from CD..." screen, but nothing further. I don't mean to question the accuracy of what you are saying, this is a topic I am very interested in and want as much info as I can cram into my brain.

To everyone who is whining about "why?" please do the rest of us a favor and shut up. Some of us need Windows for our jobs, some of us want Windows for games, some of us want to dual-boot Windows just to say we can. For the rest of you, don't run Windows, it's that simple, no one cares if you do or don't, but a lot of us are getting tired of hearing about how you won't.

pretty sure this is a contest to see if you can do it.
... not to bitch and moan about the pros and cons of windows xp vs. osx. if you don't want to do it, don't. leave it to the people that do.

you can install Vista already, so it might take stripping the XP install down a whole bunch or maybe getting an old Whistler install to do it.
that's all I've got though as I don't have a Mactel... yet.

Speaking strictly as a consumer who loves my Mac at home, but is forced to use a WinPC at work due to ERP software that is windows only compatible, I just want to have the option of using a Mac laptop at work. VPC, if it is a version that actually works well, would do the trick.

There are thousands (millions?) of computer users out there who are forced to use WinPCs in the business world, not because of MSOffice (which we all know is completely compatible) or network issues (basically a non-issue these days), but because of ERP software and/or accounting software that doesn't work on a Mac. My long days at work would be just a little more enjoyable using tools that work well, look good, and feel good.

Sure the idea a emulation layer sounds great... but (like all buts disreguard everything I said before) if Apple ships a windows emulation with OS X then companies wouldn't think twice about a Mac OS X port/version. Instead we will have to run the app in said emulation enviroment... bad bad bad.

The only "good" solution to this problem is if Apple makes a blue box (I think thats what it was... it might have been red) for windows... much much better IMHO.