[veryniceguy2002]

Well, more than just to lure Windows user to switch to Mac... I think Apple wants to get into corporate market. By marketing the Macs which can dual-boot on Windows, it would make the corporate IT department heads less excuses to say "It's a Mac, and we have to change all the software to Mac version, and cost too much for software licence changes..."

Note that Apple doesn't even licence Windows from Microsoft to offer any kind of bundling. This would allow those large corporation using their licence agreeement with Microsoft to get their own Windows (saving acqurisation cost).

What do you think?

[analogika]

Nope.

Corporate drones that need explicit instructions for every aspect of their workflow and spend most of their day working in three different applications in parallel are NOT going to be told by their IT people to dual-boot into OS X.

Apart from that, corporate I.T. guys know full well that 80% of their jobs wouldn't exist if Windows weren't the dominant system.

[veryniceguy2002]

Apart from that, corporate I.T. guys know full well that 80% of their jobs wouldn't exist if Windows weren't the dominant system.

That's the point! But what if Apple say you are buying a Windows machine... Apple would be happy to let the corporation to buy Mac and use it as Windows machine first, and than slowly (once a signifcant installation base has been established) then Apple can say there's a better OS than Windows...

[Kevin]

Corporates for the most part don't know tech. They leave that to the IT guys.

They listen to the IT guys.

[vinster]

The corporate world won't adopt Macs running Windows because Apple doesn't provide tech support for Windows/Bootcamp. Apple's only doing this because they can.

[ort888]

Restarting your machine and booting into another OS is a pain in the butt. I don't think boot camp is going to be adopted by many people who aren't hobbyists or power users. What is the advantage for a Windows office to go out and buy Macs that cost 3 times as much as a Windows box so they can duel boot into Mac? There is none.

[jasonsRX7]

Well, FWIW I am a corporate IT admin and I just got a MacBook Pro to try out with Boot Camp. It arrived on Monday and I just RMA'd it today. No one reason why I'm sending it back, it's just several factors coming into play.

-Aluminum case is too easy to dent
-It runs too hot, particularly in Windows
-It's too big
-The trackpad is too wide (my palms hit it)
-Keyboard and mouse are a pain to use in Windows
-No built in modem
-No pcmcia slot
-Hard drive isn't easily accessible

I knew all this stuff before I bought it, and I'm not saying the MacBook sucks; if it was for personal use I'd love it. Those are just some of the reasons why it's not a good fit for my use at work. I was really hoping those issues wouldn't present themselves, but for me there's just no getting around them.

I really hope that Apple eventually releases something more comparable to the Thinkpads... Modular, more durable and flexible even at the expense of asthetics, and sized somewhere between the 12" and 15" Powerbooks. I really do hate to send this thing back

[Dr.Michael]

Originally Posted by analogika

Nope.

Corporate drones that need explicit instructions for every aspect of their workflow and spend most of their day working in three different applications in parallel are NOT going to be told by their IT people to dual-boot into OS X.

Apart from that, corporate I.T. guys know full well that 80% of their jobs wouldn't exist if Windows weren't the dominant system.

seconded!
Corporates have spend money to train their people the use of windows. This would be wasted if they start using Mac OS. Plus for the average corporate user money counts. Macs are more expensive than the cheapest dull box. The cheap macs are not expandable. So they are out. So why should anyone buy expensive macs to use windows instead of cheap (put here whatever cheap brand you know).

In the meantime I think boot camp has been done for those of us who have to use windows from time to time. To make them buy a second mac or give them a tool so they can save their money instead of buying a second box from the wrong hardware manufacturer.

Or maybe its a deal with Microsoft? They have done it before. Apple has ditched the newton to free the market for windows ce. Microsoft has continued to sell office for mac. There are opinions (Linzmayer) who claim that was a deal between apple and microsoft.

[tooki]

Have you ever worked in corporate or higher-ed IT? Expandability is, in most cases, never used. Companies prefer to get new PCs than to upgrade old ones.

And as for cost: Macs have a higher acquisition cost (slightly), but the total cost of ownership is appreciably lower. This has been shown by study after study.

tooki

[Dr.Michael]

Originally Posted by tooki

Have you ever worked in corporate or higher-ed IT? Expandability is, in most cases, never used. Companies prefer to get new PCs than to upgrade old ones.

And as for cost: Macs have a higher acquisition cost (slightly), but the total cost of ownership is appreciably lower. This has been shown by study after study.
tooki

I know that total cost of ownership of a mac is cheaper. But costs are calculated quarter wise, sometimes by the year, not for the lifetime of a computer (3 years). And in the quarter/year you buy hardware macs are much more expensive.

Same with leasing costs.

[tooki]

Only a stupid IT department doesn't look at TCO (yes, lots and lots and lots of IT departments are stupid).

But no matter how you run the numbers, Macs come out cheaper: TCO includes things like support and training costs, and those are typically ongoing costs, not one-time. Those show up regardless of the timeframe for accounting.

tooki

[Dr.Michael]

edited to nirvana

[production_coordinator]

IMHO, Apple did it to get more people buying their hardware... PERIOD.

Anything extra will be frosting on the cake as I don't see Mac users abandoning the platform.