Apple
What happens when the OS doesn’t matter?
What happens when the operating system you use doesn’t really matter any more? It started with dual-booting Windows and Linux, and using things like Crossover Office to run Windows apps under Linux (which is balky at best), and then things like Virtual PC for Mac, and now we have Apples with Intel chips that can dual-boot Windows and Mac OS-X with Boot Camp. But dual-booting is a pain, because you have to close everything and restart your computer.
Virtualization is where it’s at — running two operating systems side-by-side, so you can flip back and forth. I’ve never used it, but Parallels looks like a truly amazing experience. Windows XP and Mac OS-X running right next to each other, and the latest upgrade allows you to move Windows apps outside the Parallels window and drag and copy things from one OS to the other. Very cool. Michael Verdi has a screencast here.
There has been talk that Apple would include some form of virtualization in Leopard, the next upgrade to the Mac OS, but Apple executives recently quashed that speculation, saying the company is happy with Boot Camp and that Parallels involves “performance degradation.” By which they mean it causes your system to run a lot slower. Some Parallels users have said the same, but others have said for most normal computing tasks it runs fine (in other words, no video games or other graphics-hogging apps).
If you can run Mac OS and Windows on the same machine and use whichever program you want, and drag data back and forth at will between the two, what does an operating system mean? In a sense, it just becomes a visual preference rather than a system or standards choice. And if you spend most of your time using Web apps, the operating system means even less. We’re not quite there yet, of course, but would such a world help Apple or Windows more?
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it would eventually hurt apple because price would be the main issue fot eh masses. Apple’s growth would stop at some point.
It’s THE question though so my quick answer will change.
I don’t agree with Howard. Apple mkt share small, MS mkt share big. It won’t take a lot of switching Windows users to make a big impact on Apple. Microsoft is the frog in the boiing water on this one, IMO. And Apple has a long way to go before it worries about the masses in this market.
Oh - and I thought the Web was the next OS, anyway?
:)
What happens when the OS doesn’t matter? via Mathew Ingram: mathewingram.com/work December 3rd, 2006 at 22:20
Yeah, I thought so too — which brings up another Apple-related issue: If the Web is the new OS, then what does it mean for Apple that so many websites break when using Safari, and yet no one cares because the company’s market share is so small?
[…] What happens when the operating system you use doesn’t really matter any more? It started with dual-booting Windows and Linux, and using things like Crossover Office to run Windows apps under Linux (which is balky at best), and then things like Virtual PC for Mac, and now we have Apples with Intel chips that can dual-boot Windows and Mac OS-X with Boot Camp. But dual-booting is a pain, because you have to close everything and restart your computer. Virtualization is where it’s at - running two operating systems side-by-side, so you can flip back and forth. I’ve never used it, but Parallels looks like a truly amazing experience. Windows XP and Mac OS-X running right next to each other, and the latest upgrade allows you to move Windows apps outside the Parallels window and drag and copy things from one OS to the other. Very cool. Michael Verdi has a screencast here. There has been talk that Apple would include some form of virtualization in Leopard, the next upgrade to the Mac OS, but Apple executives recently quashed that speculation, saying the company is happy with Boot Camp and that Parallels involves “performance degradation.” By which they mean it causes your system to run a lot slower. Some Parallels users have said the same, but others have said for most normal computing tasks it runs fine (in other words, no video games or other graphics-hogging apps). If you can run Mac OS and Windows on the same machine and use whichever program you want, and drag data back and forth at will between the two, what does an operating system mean? In a sense, it just becomes a visual preference rather than a system or standards choice. And if you spend most of your time using Web apps, the operating system means even less. We’re not quite there yet, of course, but would such a world help Apple or Windows more? Comments Add to Del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit | Furl Bookmark WebProNews: View All Articles by Mathew Ingram Receive Our Daily Email of Breaking eBusiness News About the Author: Mathew Ingram [note only one “t” in Mathew] is a technology writer and blogger for the Globe and Mail, a national newspaper based in Toronto, and also writes about the Web and media at http://www.mathewingram.com/work and http://www.mathewingram.com/media. WebProNews RSS Feed More Blog Talk Articles Contact WebProNews […]
Unfortunately, you haven’t found out about the secret colaboration between MS and Apple to include all the API’s for Windows right inside of OS X. When the new OS X is released, all Windows programs will run on Macs without Windows. I have a 3rd hand source inside MS who was a former MS programmer.
That’s interesting, Robert. I’ve heard rumours about that. But why would it be in Microsoft’s interests to help Apple sell more of its hardware and OS?
[…] What Happens When The OS Doesn’t Matter?by Mathew IngramWe’re not quite there yet, of course, but would such a world help Apple or Windows more? […]
I have Parallels on my Mac - it’s pretty nifty. Sadly it does not task switch from Mac to the guest OS very quickly - it feels a lot like changing gears on a large truck. There is a shift, a lot of metal groaning as the gears clank and crash down below, your speed drops and then mmm-rrrrrrrrrRRRRR your speed picks up.
I’m sure a great deal of this is attributed to my ‘only’ having 1 GB of RAM.
I think Rob has a point. The OS killer a few years ago was the web browser - ask George Gilder! He wrote an entire BOOK about the telecosm and Microsoft’s imminent irrelevance.
[…] What happens when the OS doesn’t matter? » Mathew Ingram: mathewingram.com/work Some sort of convergence happening here… Mathew Ingram, my source for all things media, on virtualization. (tags: virtualization bootcamp parallels mac) […]
On the one hand, the trend toward OS mashups seems great (and I’ve been impressed with Parallels 2.5.3036 - especially given that it’s a beta). But practically, while it means transparent use of Win32 apps, it also means maintaining two different OSes - and one of them is Windows! Admittedly, the VM makes some of that easier, since it’s easy to back up the guest OS at moment in time when it was relatively healthy, but it’s hard to see the bulk of regular users wanting to deal with the care and feeding of two operating systems without a very good reason (some legacy app, say).
[…] When The OS Doesn’t Matter By Mathew Ingram Expert Author Article Date: 2006-12-04 What happens when the operating system you use doesn’t really matter any more? It started with dual-booting Windows and Linux, and using things like Crossover Office to run Windows apps under Linux (which is balky at best), and then things like Virtual PC for Mac, and now we have Apples with Intel chips that can dual-boot Windows and Mac OS-X with Boot Camp. But dual-booting is a pain, because you have to close everything and restart your computer. Virtualization is where it’s at - running two operating systems side-by-side, so you can flip back and forth. I’ve never used it, but Parallels looks like a truly amazing experience. Windows XP and Mac OS-X running right next to each other, and the latest upgrade allows you to move Windows apps outside the Parallels window and drag and copy things from one OS to the other. Very cool. Michael Verdi has a screencast here. There has been talk that Apple would include some form of virtualization in Leopard, the next upgrade to the Mac OS, but Apple executives recently quashed that speculation, saying the company is happy with Boot Camp and that Parallels involves “performance degradation.” By which they mean it causes your system to run a lot slower. Some Parallels users have said the same, but others have said for most normal computing tasks it runs fine (in other words, no video games or other graphics-hogging apps). If you can run Mac OS and Windows on the same machine and use whichever program you want, and drag data back and forth at will between the two, what does an operating system mean? In a sense, it just becomes a visual preference rather than a system or standards choice. And if you spend most of your time using Web apps, the operating system means even less. We’re not quite there yet, of course, but would such a world help Apple or Windows more? Comments Add to Del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit | Furl Bookmark WebProNews: About the Author:Mathew Ingram [note only one “t” in Mathew] is a technology writer and blogger for the Globe and Mail, a national newspaper based in Toronto, and also writes about the Web and media at http://www.mathewingram.com/work and http://www.mathewingram.com/media. Newsletter Archive | Article Archive | Submit Article | Advertising Information | Resources | About Us | Contact MacProNews is an iEntry, Inc. publication - 1998-2006 All Rights Reserved Privacy Policy and Legal […]