Washington Post: Playing on Both Sides

Mar
08

By: switchtoamac at: 9:24 AM on March 8, 2007 | Comments (0)

In his March 8, 2007 article at the Washington Post titled "Playing on Both Sides", Rob Pegoraro details how Intel-based Macs can run both Mac OS X and Windows. Pegoraro initiates his article with the following two paragraphs:

"You might buy a Mac to get away from Microsoft, but it can be hard to avoid Windows,"

"Take the iMac I'm typing this on. It has the Windows XP Start button at the bottom left corner of the screen. Above it, Apple's Safari Web browser sits next to Microsoft's Internet Explorer 7. While I read a message in Mac OS X's Mail program, a message from Windows pops up, asking whether it can install Microsoft's latest bug fixes"

Pegoraro details how the new generation of Macs use the same Intel processors traditionally found on PCs. He makes mention of Apple's Boot Camp dual boot software and virtualization programs from Parallels and CodeWeavers. Pegoraro has a preference for Parallels ands states:

"Of the two newer programs, the just-updated, $80 Parallels Desktop ( http://www.parallels.com) is the more impressive. It lets you install any version of Windows, including Vista, then run it on the Mac desktop."

The article then goes into a detailed description of his Parallels experience. If you're considering the switch and are concerned that you won't find programs for the Mac, Pegoraro's following statement should put any fears or reservations to making the switch to rest:

"Many new Mac users, however, may discover they don't need to run Windows programs after all -- for just about any task imaginable, a good Mac program can be found"

A highly recommended read.