Switching to the Mac: The Missing Manual, Tiger Edition

appendix b: running windows on macintosh 495

appendix

b

F

reaky, yes, but true: If your Mac model debuted in 2006 or later—a Mac Mini,

iMac, MacBook or MacBook Pro laptop, or whatever—it contains an Intel

processor (either a Core Solo or Core Duo, the successor to the Pentium).

And that means that it can run Windows. And Unix and Linux, too, for that matter.

You’re the proud owner of the first computer that can run 100 percent of the world’s

desktop software.

Here’s how it works.

Boot Camp: Your Mac as Windows PC

In April 2006, Apple shocked the Cult of Macintosh by releasing what seemed to be

a heretical piece of software called Boot Camp. Its sole purpose: to let you install

Windows XP on an Intel-based Mac, so that you can run any of the tens of thousands

of Windows-only programs.

(It’s supposedly a beta version—not quite finished—of a feature that will be built into

Leopard, the upcoming 10.5 version of Mac OS X. But it works great.)

Some people hated the idea—and didn’t see the point. Wouldn’t Boot Camp open

up the Mac to the nightmare world of viruses and spyware that PC owners confront

every day? (The answer, by the way, is yes. If you install Windows on your Mac, you

must also install Windows antivirus and antispyware software to protect that half of

the computer. The Mac side is still unaffected by Windows viruses, however.)

But think of all the potential switchers who ...