Apple releases Bootcamp for Windows 7

for the delay:

Microsoft would not "let" Apple run Win7 on a Mac until Stevie Jobs performed a "special service" for Stevie Ballmer. Ahem...by agreeing to install Bing on all new and existing Applegadgets (via remote control, to the powerless horror of Apple users everywhere).

I'm a PC-Mac, I'm a PC-iPhone...that way lies madness!

BTW, i believe the REAL reason for the delay would more likely be due to a href="" this /a than 'political' reasons as you cite. It seems there is some issue with the driver that provides access to the OSX partitions, requiring a tool to unmount them before applying the update. I find it quite believable that they found this last minute and since they had only said they would update the drivers before EOY 2009 that means they didnt delay too long at all.

I do however agree they have lagged generally though, since RC has been out for a long time now.

I use Windows 7 / MBPU exclusively, the hardware is fantastic - not just the CPU, etc its more about the battery, form factor, awesome touchpad, great power connector - the little things that add up to the best laptop i have ever owned (first Mac i might add).

However i love Windows 7 - IMO its the best OS at the moment - i now prefer it over Ubuntu and OSX - thats just my choice i guess. In any case i have been doing it since RC was released - the ISSUE is is that the drivers for Vista that Apple had released were bullshit. Sound not working properly, power management issues, etc. Hopefully this is what they have fixed in the new release, which i will try tonight, though i HIGHLY doubt it. They have no real incentive to make the experience great, just usable. For example the battery lasts 5 hours under Windows for me, but around 7 under OSX. WHile this could be the OS running more services or whatever, it could also be due to the lack of ACPI support, meaning the screen does not auto-dim, etc. This all comes down to the provided drivers and i have blogged about it many times. In any case im intrigued to see how the new set of drivers, i mean "Bootcamp (tm)" performs.

LOL. Boot camp has been able to run Windows 7 since the early betas of Windows 7. Apple Just now oficially support it. Remember a Mac is Just a PC with better build quality. Boot Camp is just a set of drivers. The Vista Boot Camp drivers worked fine with Windows 7. You always get your facts way wrong whenever you write a negative Mac-related post.

Having come from the Windows purist camp, and still having a great dislike of all 'Fans Mac', I do however give credit where credit's due. My flatmate has a Mac Pro 8 core hooked up to a nice little 55" Samsung Series 8000 LED LCD TV, and quite simply the seamless polish of OSX as compared to windows (which I still run; a custom build of XP as well as Windows 7 hooked up to a 52" Samsung Series 6 LCD TV) and I will be migrating to Mac with my new machine.

I find myself more and more conflicted as time goes on. The feeling of betraying my dyed-in-the-wool Windowsian principles to sneak into the loungeroom and use my flatmates' Mac Pro used to leave me feeling a little dirty and hypocritical. However, the simple fact is, it's so damn enjoyable to use once you spend a little time on it. Front Row, activated from the cushy comfort of my lounge via a neat little remote; iTunes store where I can download HD TV shows and rent HD Movies; and the simple, ergonomic seamless polish, subservience, supported by innumerable intangibles I just can't quite put my finger on which Windows 7 just doesn't have.

Windows 7 is like an American Corvette from the 70s: It is fun don't get me wrong, but feels like a collection of dischordant iron bolts welded together in a clumsy clunky collection with a brutal engine and hot shell smoothed over the top. OS-X feels like a Porsche 911 or Mercedes E63; you can feel the unified one-ness through the entire machine. Nothing clashes with anything else; it feels... better all over. I sit in my Porsche, and it may not have 600bhp but it's perfectly matched to everything else it contains. It's not a crate engine dropped into technology from the 50s with 2008 bodywork stretched over the outside.

My next machine will be a Mac Pro. I'm willing to pay the extra money for it. And I hate Mac Cultists, so it's nothing to do with religious fervor it's just got to do with a better user experience, pure & simple.

EFI is standard in al Intel motherbaords and has been for years... macs ar enothing more then over priced PCs. The only difference is the OS, the hardware is the same.

Why?

because I get to use my favourite operating system on the (objectively) best, quietest, yet powerful kit available (IMac 27 Corei5 4gb ram ATI 4850 - and you could specc it with a Corei7...)

So - yes it does make a lot of sense (to me) to run matters this way.

fantastic combination, could not be happier.

Actually so do various other versions of windows, including vista sp1 and all itanium versions of windows.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd744321(WS.10).aspx

http://download.microsoft.com/download/7/E/7/7E7662CF-CBEA-470B-A97E-CE7CE0D98DC2/UEFIrequirements.docx

Even though the hardware is pretty close to standard PC components these days Apple don't have a traditional BIOS (which are rather old and creaky by modern standards) from which Windows expects to boot. Instead it uses Intel's EFI system - a much cleaner and more modern design, but not very common. Bootcamp needs to provide a mapping between BIOS calls and EFI. Bootcamp also includes device drivers for non standard bits of Apple hardware (like touchpads) and manufacturers standard drivers for more conventional parts (like graphics chips).

Nick seems to have failed to spot the obvious point here though - if someone is prepared to pay a premium over cheap PC's for a Mac then chances are they WANTED a Mac, not a Windows box. Being able to run Windows code on a Mac is more of a fallback than a permanent state of affairs for most Mac users, and VMWare or Parallels do the job at least as well for these circumstances.

Just more of Nick's worshiping the mighty Vole lets all bow down and give a prayer of thanks to the All Mighty Vole for an operating system that is almost as nice as Snow Leopard.

..that this is a Nick article. He'd rather take a nightly reserved booking up the oxo tower from the Anti-christ before admitting Apple did anything right.

Hummmm, I find that like to be ~very~ subjective. Since OSX looks nothing like Windows. Save that it is just another take on a GUI, which IIRC was first created by the good folks at Xerox.

As to why Crapples need a specific Bootloader just to run a different OS (In this case Windows Seven), does it, to me seem odd. As I'm sure the WIndows offers you the chance to boot an ~optional~ OS, of course again IIRC One would have to slam the "F8" Key to actually do that.

But, more to a point why buy a Mac, if you plan on running Winblows.

You just don't have these kinds of problems with GRUB and your run-of-the-mill Linux Distro(s)....

"boots fast and looks as just nice as Snow Leopard"

as just nice, my new quote for my Forum Sig..... Epic Gramhur fer Engrish.