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Windows Vista Beta Running on a PPC Mac
goombah99 writes "Macosxhints is giving a set of tips that let any Mac user boot Windows Vista on a Mac. In this case, it's not a native Intel boot but rather VirtualPC running on a PPC G5 Mac. Thus Vista and Mac OS X can run concurrently. There are no extravagant hacks needed, just a matter of finding the right set of configurations to let VirtualPC present the proper disk images for mounting and BIOS settings to the installer. This bodes well for native installs onto the Intel Mac." Actually, there have been successful (though not glitch-free) installs of beta versions of Vista on Intel Macs for a few months now. Here's a report from Hans Verbeeck (Developer Evangelist for Microsoft EMEA) on putting Vista Beta 2 on a MacBook Pro.
After trying the Vista beta, I am convinced that it will be a huge huge flop for Microsoft. The thing is that people who likely own hardware capable of running Windows Vista don't need the constant babyish security reminders ("Is it really YOU running this program?") that users who bought an eMachines something five years ago likely do. Does your grandmother have 256 MB of memory? because even with my 128 radeon Vista was sloooow. And I will stick to OS X on my mac, thanks.
Just grabbed a pair of MacBooks for this exact purpose- the *almost* wife and I both need office, and she learned everything on a PC at work. Rather than fight through weeks of "why did they move that button" frusterations, she can just boot into the exact same OS she uses at work (they require IE too...ugh) and get to it.
Better still- when she doesn't need Windows, she can use OSX, which means less support headaches/spyware hunts for me. According to her, OSX is far "cuter" too, so that's a plus (I think?).
This is my first Mac since my Apple IIe. It's not the end-all be-all super box that some are claiming, but I gotta admit, it makes *my* life a heck of a lot easier.
barack to the future?