Take the No Windows-Booting Pledge

by Hadley Stern Apr 07, 2006

Mac users have a lot of strange habits. We are known to have rituals when we unpack our latest machines. We will argue passionatelyabout the virtue of one menu bar item (over whether even using menu bar items is mac like) over another for hours on end. And yes, we will even create websites dedicated to discussing the minutia of the Apple experience.

But perhaps the biggest way that we define ourselves is in what we are not (Beeblebrox, affectionally, is not included in this generalization). We are not Windows users. Adamantly NOT. Everything that Windows represents, bloat-ware, an inconsistent user experience, an unrefined UI is what we Mac users are not.

Which is why the latest obsession to hit the Mac community is one that I find so odd. That being booting Windows natively. I am writing this from a brand new MacBook Pro (just got it today, in fact). It, so far, appears to be a beautiful machine. The screen is bright as heck, the processor is zippy. OS X runs beautifully within its dual core Intel framework.

And yet so many people out there want to boot Windows on this machine? Why oh why, I ask. I can understand, even respect the hackers who want to do it out there to see if it can be done. But the fact that this seems to be so popular (there are sites, wikis, forums dedicated to just this one task) seems to me to bode ill for the Mac experience.

If OS X is so darn freakin’ good why do people want Windows on their Mac. Buy a Dell, at least its ugliness will match the ugliness of Windows. Virtual PC was already enough of a weird thing, but booting Windows on a Mac? Sacrilege, I say.

Sure, I can hear already all the good responses. Like there is the real estate program I want to be able to run that is Windows only, or, look at all the cool games on Windows. But these arguments will lead to a further undermining of the Mac platform. Developers will just think, hey, if a Mac person wants it they can just dual-boot so screw the Mac platform. Not good.

So, everyone out there who is reading this I want you to take the Apple Matters pledge of allegiance to the Mac platform. Pledge that you won’t even think about trying to dual-boot your mac, now and forever. Amen.

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Comments

  • Amen, Stewrat.  Amen.

    Beeblebrox had this to say on Apr 12, 2006 Posts: 2220

  • My personal reason for running XP on my Mac is strictly for gaming purposes. Why have a PC just for gaming running XP and a Mac running OS X for everything else, when I can just have a single Intel powered Mac which runs both? For this reason, Virtualization software has been meaningless to me as it generally doesn’t offer any 3D acceleration. But with Boot Camp, everything from Rome Total War to Elder Scrolls Oblivion zips along nicely on my iMac 2.0GHz.

    bobosama had this to say on Apr 12, 2006 Posts: 1

  • A Pledge not to dual boot? C’mon now guys this is just friggin silly. I am a MAC Convert, am comfortable on either system but prefer the MAC a million times over windows. But I have to admit it is a nice feature. And yes now the MAC can do it all. How often will I boot into windows? Hardly ever. I go along with the chap that said “if you don’t want to dual boot than don’t do it.”

    MikeD had this to say on May 31, 2006 Posts: 3

  • Hmm.. I never used Mac.. But I sure love Apple products.. Windows Vista - just love it too! The graphic.. the bugs smile) .. No, really..I think it’s the best OS.

    Virtual Office had this to say on Oct 02, 2007 Posts: 1
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