Windows on the Mac - Good news for Xara?

[gwpriester]

This article was in today's New York Times and should make Xara users who have to work on Macintosh computers happy (if they have one of the newer Macs).

NOTE: You may be required to register with the New York Times website to see the article. It's painless and straightforward and a good source of local and world news.

Gary

[bcire68]

Gary,

I just saw the same thing on CNBC, and my first thought was, "Will this kill the Xara Mac Version?" I didn't catch the entire report. Will Apple still have the Mac OS? Or are they killing it entirely in favor of Windows?

Either way, this is pretty amazing considering that Apple has remained the only viable alternative to Windows (for the average user) for so many years.

Interesting news....

Eric

[gwpriester]

The article in the NY Times said they are making the software (that allows Mac users to install and run Windows) available for free from the Apple website and the software will be incorporated into the next version of the Mac OS.

So Apple is just trying to expand it's dwindling market share and this is a really good move for them to attract Window's users who want to have the best of both worlds. Might even get me to buy a Mac.

Gary

[Soquili]

Reminds me of the mid 1970's when Apple II sales were practically nonexistant. To save the company they created a board for the Apple II that essentially turned off the Apple and made it a CP/M computer. At that time CP/M by Digital Research was the primary operating system for desktop computers.

[Charles Moir]

This solution they've announced is a dual boot, so it's either Windows or OSX, and no easy switching between the two (you have to restart).

What I'd like (and I suspect most other Windows users) is Windows on a Mac at the same time as OSX. I.e. Windows in a window. You can get this with VirtualPC for the Mac (which is slow and emulates the PC), but this doesn't work on the new Intel Macs. But I hope and believe it won't be too long before we have native speed Windows in a window alongside OSX. Then you really can have the best of all worlds.

But I don't think this diminishes the need for a real native Mac version, just that it would make the transition easier. We can't really say to customers. just buy and install Windows before you use Xara. So our goal remains a real native version on all three platforms and complete file compatibility across all versions.

[Albacore]

You can also see this article here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4883482.stm

[eobet]

...is just trying to expand it's dwindling market share...

Whoa, dwindling what? Did you just make that up, or have I missed something?

Anyway, I bought a Macbook Pro before Boot Camp was announced (but not before the XP-on-Mac competition was over), so running XP on it was a requirement for me. BUT, the main reason was that I knew that Adobe wasn't coming out with Universal Binaries until next year, and I need Photoshop for my professional work.

But this changes nothing for Xara, imo. It took a few days, but now I feel that I really don't want to use XP anymore, despite certain things actually being more usability friendly in XP (you really start to appreciate the "boring" XP taskbar, even though Exposé is helluva cool). Somehow, OS X makes me feel good. Perhaps it's the way everything fades smoothly... kinda tells you to "relax, take it easy, I'm here to make you comfy". When Xara is released for OS X, the only thing I will boot into XP for is the occasional game.

[jamesmc]

Yeah, Apple has dwinded from the 1980s when it seemed every school room that offered computers for use had an Apple.

I just imagine that some 3D artists are exploding with joy now as they will be able to create either on the Apple or in Windows and then be able to manipulate all with either OS software on the same computer.

When the Quad Processors come out, perhaps it will be possible to have Windows running on two of the processors and MAC OS on the other two. That way when one renders a huge file for output, they can dedicate their best rendering software on a specific machine.

Yes, the film and video artists industry may well be dancing in the streets.

[DanGruen]

... What I'd like (and I suspect most other Windows users) is Windows on a Mac at the same time as OSX. I.e. Windows in a window. You can get this with VirtualPC for the Mac (which is slow and emulates the PC), but this doesn't work on the new Intel Macs.

As an interim solution, it would be nice if a user could access some of the files from the "other side." For example, run Xara in windows and bring in a jpeg stored on the Mac. (I wonder if this would open up exposure to viruses from Windows to Mac...)

[gwpriester]

Whoa, dwindling what? Did you just make that up, or have I missed something?

Unless you consider 3-4% of the market the "lion's share"

Windows users make up in the neighborhood of 90-95% of all computer users.

Gary