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Software Report: Apple to Charge for Boot Camp
Tuan Nguyen (Blog) - January 22, 2007 8:38 AM
Print E-mail del.icio.us 72 comment(s) - last by rippleyaliens.. on Jan 26 at 11:04 AM
$29 for the option to dual boot OS X and Windows

A report at MacScoop claims that according to leaked report from Apple, the final release of Boot Camp when released will cost users roughly $29 USD. Boot Camp has been available as a free public beta since early 2006 when Apple made its first transition to Intel processors. The software add-on allows x86 Mac users to install a fully working copy of Windows XP, which ran natively on their x86 Macs. Users who use Apple's Boot Camp are able to install and separately boot a fresh copy of Windows.

While the report says that the source of the leak is not entirely sure about the final cost of Boot Camp, they are sure that Apple will be charging for the download. Those who have Boot Camp now can still continue to use the software, but Apple apparently will cease driver support for those who do not upgrade. The report also claims that Apple will officially support Windows Vista via Boot Camp when it is released.

Boot Camp is expected to make its official debut along with Apple's next generation operating system, codenamed Leopard. The report also claims that Apple will be providing Leopard users with Boot Camp free of charge. Apple did make a comment in 2006 that Leopard will have Boot Camp fully integrated. Leopard is expected to make an official showing this coming spring.

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Nickle and Dime me to Death
By Tyler 86 on 1/22/2007 9:05:45 AM , Rating: 4
Well, shoot... I thought they were nice untill I remembered they want all of my money. Thanks for reminding me.

Nickle and frickin' dime.




RE: Nickle and Dime me to Death
By ksherman on 1/22/2007 9:16:32 AM , Rating: 1
maybe...

But any machine that can run Boot Camp will likely be upgraded to Leopard pretty quick I imagine. Seems to have some great enhanchments to the OS from what I have seen. I look forward to using it when I get my first mac, someday


RE: Nickle and Dime me to Death
By masher2 (blog) on 1/22/2007 9:30:00 AM , Rating: 1
How dare they charge for software they spent a few million developing? They should give away all products at a loss. It builds character.

And $29? That's outrageous...I could buy half a PS3 game with that much money.


RE: Nickle and Dime me to Death
By ghost101 on 1/22/2007 9:54:23 AM , Rating: 2
I doubt they spent enough to justify a $29 price tag. How much does making a piece of software which alters the bootloader cost? Its usual monopoly power in action. Apple believe people willing to pay for XP and $29 on top, thats quite ironic really since Apple are basically saying xp has greater value to users than os x.

You have no other option but to pay if you want xp. Therefore, Apple can make a tidy profit.


RE: Nickle and Dime me to Death
By ghost101 on 1/22/2007 9:58:00 AM , Rating: 2
I dont blame them for taking the option to make profit btw. However, it just highlights the problem with OS X. Apple's controls on 3rd party software is ridiculous. Just wait for them to gain a bit more market sure and youll be seeing antitrust suits.


RE: Nickle and Dime me to Death
By nowayout99 on 1/22/2007 10:48:44 AM , Rating: 3
It also pays for continually updated driver support (for somebody else's OS) as needed. Though $29 would be a typical premium like many of Apple's products.


RE: Nickle and Dime me to Death
By glennpratt on 1/22/2007 2:46:02 PM , Rating: 3
You mean I need drivers from Apple for the midrange COTS components they use? I think a ten year old could hack up the OEM drivers produced by the real hardware companies. And Apple provides drivers for Windows XP SP2 32bit. How exciting... What about Linux, XP x64, Windows 2003, BSD, etc, etc.

Ironically enough, Windows NT Bootloader and GRUB both have no problem booting OS X.


RE: Nickle and Dime me to Death
By S3anister on 1/22/2007 8:02:02 PM , Rating: 2
lol, i hate apple.


RE: Nickle and Dime me to Death
By S3anister on 1/22/2007 8:02:42 PM , Rating: 2
i own an iBook. and wow. it SUCKS. freaking thing is a "crapple" as i call it lol


RE: Nickle and Dime me to Death
By borowki on 1/22/07, Rating: 0
RE: Nickle and Dime me to Death
By glennpratt on 1/22/2007 2:48:33 PM , Rating: 3
Huh? Like gparted in Ubuntu? Disk Management in Windows Vista? I don't remember paying $29 extra for either one.


RE: Nickle and Dime me to Death
By Wightout on 1/22/2007 7:45:57 PM , Rating: 2
I think what you should have said is "Apple is basically saying XP AND OSX has greater value to users than ONLY OSX." Maybe, yes, no?

My question is if I already have the program running on my machine what would be the point of purchasing it now?


RE: Nickle and Dime me to Death
By S3anister on 1/22/2007 8:04:18 PM , Rating: 2
because eventually apple will make your beta thigey expire, most likely... unless it's physicaly impossible for them to do that


RE: Nickle and Dime me to Death
By patentman on 1/22/2007 11:19:24 PM , Rating: 2
"Its usual monopoly power in action."

Where in the heck did you come to the conclusion that Apple has monopoly power? Monopoly power over what? Bootcamp? If that is the case then everyone has monopoly power over their own goods, which makes no freakin sense.

Monopoly power is having market power in a defined market, nothing more, nothing less.


RE: Nickle and Dime me to Death
By ghost101 on 1/23/2007 6:36:15 AM , Rating: 2
Defined market being the os x market. Uncontested power over dual booting software.

That work for you? Microsoft would get into all sorts of problems if they attempted to close a section of the software market. But they get into trouble because of their market share. If Apple ever manages to reach 20% or so of market share, they will be facing the same scrutiny.


RE: Nickle and Dime me to Death
By FITCamaro on 1/22/2007 10:51:30 AM , Rating: 2
It shouldn't have cost them anything to make Windows work on their hardware. It's the same stuff thats in a Dell except for a few Apple specific things. Theres no reason Windows can't run on a Mac today other than Mac won't let it without paying money (once they start charging). I'll never own a Mac because 1) they're too damn expensive and 2) OS X sucks to use anyway. Rates up there with Linux in terms of ease of use. And its not high.

Say what you want about Windows. But its intuitive and easy to use. Where are your programs? In the Program Files folder. Where do you go to control everything. Control Panel. With Mac I have to fight it to give me a list of my network drives every time. And I still haven't found certain options in their tiny control panel that doesn't let you easily adjust certain things.

By switching to Intel processors, in my mind, the only reason to own a Mac is gone. Now they're no better at content creation than a PC. The playing field is level now because now the only thing that might make one better than the other is the software. But now developers have no reason not to put it on Windows since they hardly have to do any changing to get it to run.


RE: Nickle and Dime me to Death
By mydogfarted on 1/22/2007 11:45:17 AM , Rating: 2
You're kidding about OS X ease of use, right? You must be mildly retarded. Click on Finder, then "Programs" - how hard is that? Once you stop trying to treat OS X like a Windows machine, it's actually intuitive. Ask any graphic arts or photography professional and they'll tell you the Windows versions of tools suck.

Want a good, corporate desktop? Use Windows. Want a machine that won't "blue-screen", have driver conflicts and basically just work when you need it - buy a Mac. As someone who despised Macs for years and works daily developing for and supporting our corporate Linux, Unix, Windows, AS/400, etc., going home to my MacBook Pro is a joy.

Paying for Boot Camp is kind of shitty, but we're talking about $30. I spent more than that on my gaming mouse. Oh, yeah - you can do that too on OS X. Quake 4 runs better on my Mac than it does on my PC with XP Pro.


RE: Nickle and Dime me to Death
By nurbsenvi on 1/22/2007 12:44:48 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Ask any graphic arts or photography professional and they'll tell you the Windows versions of tools suck.


I am graphic artist and I do a lot of graphic works and can tell you this: Mac sucks.

There are A LOT more programs readily available on PCs including games

quote:
Want a machine that won't "blue-screen"


Since XP I haven't seen blue-screen for the last 3 years it's virtually gone... if said things are happening to you: you are either using 98 or you should stop visiting those illegal porn sites to avoid viruses.

quote:
Quake 4 runs better on my Mac than it does on my PC with XP Pro.


Whoa!!



RE: Nickle and Dime me to Death
By rultin on 1/22/2007 1:32:38 PM , Rating: 2
Actually...I purchased a Mac Mini (intel version) and whithin 20 minutes was able to get it to lock up and crash repeatedly. Never thought I would see it happen. But installing software should never lock up and crash your machine. I had to run a recovery to get it working again. Pretty sad.


RE: Nickle and Dime me to Death
By glennpratt on 1/22/2007 2:54:02 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Ask any graphic arts or photography professional and they'll tell you the Windows versions of tools suck.


Bullcrap.

quote:
Want a machine that won't "blue-screen", have driver conflicts and basically just work when you need it - buy a Mac


You mean use a machine that supports far less hardware then any other major OS available? Seriously, XP doesn't crash often on tested retail machines. It crashes on the piece of junk you put together from Fry's with that pirated copy of XP Corp.


RE: Nickle and Dime me to Death
By mydogfarted on 1/22/2007 4:43:22 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
You mean use a machine that supports far less hardware then any other major OS available? Seriously, XP doesn't crash often on tested retail machines. It crashes on the piece of junk you put together from Fry's with that pirated copy of XP Corp.


Whatever makes you feel warm and fuzzy about yourself. All three PCs I own have legit copies that I've bought or came installed on the machine. Plus, with my MSDN subscription I get EVERY available MS operating system.

How can you even say Macs support less hardware than every other major OS available? The only other MAJOR OS is Windows! Linux isn't a major OS and most certainly has slight differences between distributions and spotty drivers at best.

What people fail to remember and accept is Apple is a hardware vendor that writes an OS to work on their machines. Has it occurred to any of you that the switch to Intel was also to allow people to run Windows on their hardware if they choose?


RE: Nickle and Dime me to Death
By glennpratt on 1/22/2007 7:15:40 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Linux isn't a major OS


I suggest you just sit down and think about what you just said. If you're arguing semantics, fine. Distributions based on GNU/Linux combine to form a major OS.

quote:
spotty drivers at best.


Let's rephrase that. Linux has less then ideal driver support for new hardware, which the manufacturers will not document. In comparison to the Mac however, Linux has a truckload of drivers. Ever notice where most of the bundled OS X printer drivers came from? The gimp-print project, originally a plugin for The GIMP.

quote:
What people fail to remember and accept is Apple is a hardware vendor that writes an OS to work on their machines. Has it occurred to any of you that the switch to Intel was also to allow people to run Windows on their hardware if they choose?


What? I'm sorry what is your point?


RE: Nickle and Dime me to Death
By TomZ on 1/22/2007 4:03:17 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Ask any graphic arts or photography professional and they'll tell you the Windows versions of tools suck.

That's a pretty ironic statement, since for the most part, the worst graphics apps are those that tried to bring their mac-like GUI into Windows, e.g., Photoshop, Illustrator, etc. These apps are a nightmare for Windows users because their GUIs are so quirky and don't make sense for Windows users at all.


RE: Nickle and Dime me to Death
By Rayz on 1/23/2007 6:42:51 AM , Rating: 2
Want a machine that won't "blue-screen",

Yep, got to this point; realised you didn't know what you're talking about.


RE: Nickle and Dime me to Death
By Zirconium on 1/22/07, Rating: 0
RE: Nickle and Dime me to Death
By FITCamaro on 1/22/2007 12:57:43 PM , Rating: 2
The user base for Linux isn't big enough to justify the cost could be one reason. Yes my statement was over simplified but it doesn't require as big a rewrite of the code due to competing architectures anymore. Porting from Mac to PC is much easier than it used to be. And I'd say the financial benefits outweigh the cons considering the userbase of Mac vs. Windows.

As far as the tools are better on the Mac. How? I've used Photoshop on a Mac and Photoshop on a PC. They work the same. I've used Premiere on a PC and a Mac. Works the same. Yes there's probably some better tools that are on Macs instead of PCs still, but now if you upgrade to the Intel based Macs, your programs are gonna run half as fast since it has to emulate the PowerPC architecture. The PowerPC Macs were better and faster at content creation than x86 processors, but now that advantage is gone.

And you might find OS X intuitive. But I don't. Yes I was raised on Windows so that could be a factor but thats not going to change so I still do and always will consider Windows to be more intuitive for me. Plus, as stupid an arguement it might be, its valid, I can't play games on Mac other than a handful. WoW sucks, Doom 3 is old and wasn't that good, and I don't play Myst.

XP does everything I need it to which is equal and above what a Mac can do. And if you're not an idiot its secure.


RE: Nickle and Dime me to Death
By Zirconium on 1/22/2007 5:52:34 PM , Rating: 1
quote:
Yes my statement was over simplified but it doesn't require as big a rewrite of the code due to competing architectures anymore.

Hardware architecture is not the dominant factor in cross-platform coding. Maybe it is if your code uses a lot of assembly instructions or does fancy stuff with pointers, but the majority of modern programs are written in high-level programming languages that can be compiled on a number of platforms. The issue, however, is with the APIs. Windows/OSX/Linux have different APIs. For instance, there are a number of GTK apps that have been ported to Windows only after GTK was written for Windows. On the flip side, you have Wine which seeks to write APIs for Linux (which is why Wine is not an emulator like some people think, and why it runs faster than emulation).
quote:
As far as the tools are better on the Mac.

I never said that. Learn to reply to the correct person.
quote:
And you might find OS X intuitive.

I said I didn't like it. Learn to read my post.


RE: Nickle and Dime me to Death
By Fenixgoon on 1/22/2007 2:44:48 PM , Rating: 2
if i'm not mistaken, EFI offers little/no advantage over BIOS. it's just apple marketing BS. PCI is legacy? technically, yes, but guess what, there are tons of add on cards that use the PCI slots/bus. so you can kiss add on soundcards, TVtuners, controllers, and other PCI niceties goodbye until PCI-E x1/x4 lanes take hold. But with a ~5% marketshare, you can't exactly muscle PCI-E to success.

and macs crash plenty. take my dad's G3 350, for example.. he's running OSX. it was in sleep mode, and just by waking the thing up, my brother managed to cause it to crash (and kernel panic, i think). wtf??


RE: Nickle and Dime me to Death
By Rayz on 1/23/2007 6:52:50 AM , Rating: 2
Sounds similar to my Mac. Sometimes refuses to wake up from sleep.


RE: Nickle and Dime me to Death
By Topweasel on 1/22/2007 2:02:23 PM , Rating: 2
No its not just that but the also the earlier NIC 802.11n update. Things that any other Large company can and have given away, either because they feel its their duty or as good faith release to make sure their customers think they are the greatest, Apple has chosen to charge for.

Its not that they don't have a right to charge, because they do. Its that most smart bussiness that are trying to increase their market share or keep the market share they have given these programs away for free and Apple is not.


RE: Nickle and Dime me to Death
By Tyler 86 on 1/23/2007 12:40:39 AM , Rating: 2
Look, just to straighten this out, masher2...

I don't care how much they spent on it.

They didn't have to do it, but it was demanded.

I understand they want profit.

However, when I rent a luxury sweet, I don't want to move in and find out I can't use the phone unless I pay $5 dollars, or $100 more...

I believe that is a fairly accurate depiction of Nickle and Diming someone to death.

It's not unreasonable, per say, it's just wrong.
That's all I'm saying.


RE: Nickle and Dime me to Death
By Tyler 86 on 1/23/2007 5:39:35 PM , Rating: 2
... luxury suite ... damn... I know I know... dammit..


RE: Nickle and Dime me to Death
By rippleyaliens on 1/22/07, Rating: -1
RE: Nickle and Dime me to Death
By NuroMancer on 1/22/2007 10:23:24 AM , Rating: 2
I'm sorry, but you seriously need to look at how you place your commas and your periods.


By rippleyaliens on 1/26/2007 11:04:11 AM , Rating: 2
Punctuation, lol.. Well When i was in the Marines, putting FTA, while you were in gradeschool or highschool, I didnt have to worry about typing my words / sentences correctly. Now taht i am an old nerd, well old habbits die hard. But you get the point. AND again, instead of nickle and dimeing people to death on small issues, how about focus on the big picture.
Some people like to gain small, some like to gain big. Big gainers always make subtle mistakes. if i were building Nukes, or writing code, that is one thing. Considering we are talking about $29 software, on top of a $2000+ Mac machine, i think my spelling / typing ability can be overlooked, and focus on Cheap folks.
BTW FTA= Foot To A


RE: Nickle and Dime me to Death
By AlexWade on 1/22/2007 11:38:38 AM , Rating: 2
$29 to play games. No thank you. I really want to make a commercial with Mac/PC guys and have the PC guy playing a game while the Mac guy is bored. Then the PC guy says "Hey, don't you want to play games?" To which the Mac guy says "No, I can't."

Macs are great, but overpriced. You are paying for the name. They are better for anything except games. But games is the biggest reason for me to have a computer. I do want a Mac, I just can't afford it.


RE: Nickle and Dime me to Death
By zunipus on 1/22/07, Rating: -1
RE: Nickle and Dime me to Death
By whalenapp81 on 1/22/2007 1:40:40 PM , Rating: 2
speaking of letting myths die, winxp is a fine os, and macs r more expensive and for the price of a mac, i could upgrade my machine with the latest stuff, so why dont u go back down to ur mac whole where u came from


RE: Nickle and Dime me to Death
By ss284 on 1/22/2007 1:50:30 PM , Rating: 2
I think apple switching to Intel and stabbing IBM/Motorola in the back, is a good testament to how slow and overpriced their g4 and g5 machines were.


RE: Nickle and Dime me to Death
By Oregonian2 on 1/22/2007 2:22:14 PM , Rating: 2
Must be why businesses both small and large who are those most sensitive to keeping total system ownership costs down to a minimum are almost completely Windows based on their user's desktops. Yes, there will be some Mac shops, but for each one there's probably 100 Windows based shops. Must be that companies like to spend more than they need to?


RE: Nickle and Dime me to Death
By rklaver on 1/22/2007 12:08:27 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
I really want to make a commercial with Mac/PC guys and have the PC guy playing a game while the Mac guy is bored. Then the PC guy says "Hey, don't you want to play games?" To which the Mac guy says "No, I can't."


You know you could make that commercial right out of the box if you bought a Mac LOL


RE: Nickle and Dime me to Death
By Oregonian2 on 1/22/2007 2:25:03 PM , Rating: 2
Comes with a decent videocam? Either HD format or a triple CCD one?


RE: Nickle and Dime me to Death
By glennpratt on 1/22/2007 3:02:07 PM , Rating: 2
And you couldn't in Windows Movie Maker 6?


RE: Nickle and Dime me to Death
By walk2k on 1/22/2007 12:15:08 PM , Rating: 2
By ObscureCaucasian on 1/22/2007 4:30:49 PM , Rating: 2
I guess those massive profit margins Apple just don't cut it


RE: Nickle and Dime me to Death
By Wightout on 1/22/2007 7:39:21 PM , Rating: 2
How much does Parallels go for?


RE: Nickle and Dime me to Death
By patentman on 1/22/2007 11:17:50 PM , Rating: 2
Just remember, they didn't have to develop the software in the first place. $29 is more than reasonable.


RE: Nickle and Dime me to Death
By Tyler 86 on 1/23/2007 12:56:38 AM , Rating: 2
It's not about reason, it's about nickling and diming.

First, going in, they basicly say to you, "You pay for the brand name."
Now, they're telling you straight up, "We're milking it for all it's worth."

People knew that Apple made a mistake by going full-production on an Intel setup without dual-booting, and now, essentially, Intel Mac customers are paying for that mistake - a mistake that shouldn't have been, that should not be.

It's an implication that I'm doing something wrong, that I'm being used, that they're raping me.

Ok, ok, it's not that bad, but does piss me off.

This should be part of the operating system, I don't care if the machine and upgrades cost $29 extra - just factor this into the books!

Oh, but you say, Joe Mac-Hardcore doesn't want to pay an 'included' $29 extra for his next Upgrade and machine, because because he doesn't want to use Boot-Camp?
Well, Joe Mac-Hardcore, are you paying for the whole package, or aren't you?

Why should any customer have to put up with this sort of thing? Nickle and FRICKIN' dime.


Speaking of nickle and dime-ing
By mydogfarted on 1/22/2007 11:48:13 AM , Rating: 2
Tell me how much it costs to buy 5 licenses for XP or Vista - even 5 upgrades.
5 license "family pack" of OS X = $160




RE: Speaking of nickle and dime-ing
By Spivonious on 1/22/2007 12:54:13 PM , Rating: 2
$200 for Vista Ultimate + $50x4 for extra licenses = $400. You get so much more with Vista Ultimate than you do with OS X it's crazy to think anyone would spend money on a Mac. Macheads are losers. gO WinDoze!

(troll post in reply to a troll post)


RE: Speaking of nickle and dime-ing
By jak3676 on 1/22/2007 2:00:58 PM , Rating: 2
actually, that's for the Vista Ultimate upgrade ($199). Vista Ultimate by itself should be $399. You can also only get 2 aditional licenses of Premium for $49. If you want 2 more, you'll have to buy them seperatly ($239 each).

That's $400 + 2x$50 + 2x$240 = $980

http://www.dailytech.com/Consumer+Versions+of+Wind...


RE: Speaking of nickle and dime-ing
By glennpratt on 1/22/2007 7:24:20 PM , Rating: 3
This is NOT an apples to apples comparison. The OS X License allows you to install and use one copy of the Apple Software on a single Apple-labeled computer at a time.

If you have an Apple labeled computer, you've already bought Apple OS. All retail boxed OS Xs are effectively upgrades unless you breach the license agreement.


RE: Speaking of nickle and dime-ing
By Tyler 86 on 1/23/2007 1:30:42 AM , Rating: 2
It's not a problem of apples to apples, it's a problem of stupid...

See, as a consumer, I purchase what fits my needs, for what I have in my pocket, and anything extra.

I don't want to have to stick my hand in my pocket more than once to accomplish my objective of having what I thought I was getting.

I posted a few rants to explain.
Do some people just not understand the whole 'Nickle and dime' phrase?


By glennpratt on 1/23/2007 10:39:41 AM , Rating: 2
I think most people understand what nickel and dime means, but I'm not sure everyone understands what your point is.

:)


First 802.11n....
By protosv on 1/22/2007 11:57:47 AM , Rating: 2
and now this. While I understand Apple has invested money in developing boot camp, I think it's bad business to give the public a free beta for as long as Apple did, and then take it away unless you pay for it. You have to pay for something you've been able to do up until now for free. Unfortunately, this is a trend for Apple, as it already included 802.11n support in their newer Macbooks, and is now making you pay (albeit only $2) to activate that capability too.
As for the argument that Apple needs to recoup their additional expeses from driver support, I don't understand this argument, as the hardware is all native X86 by now, and many stable drivers are currently available. Apple shouldn't (do they?) have to port these drivers over any longer, especially if they're being used in a native WinXP environment.
Let's keep in mind that, technically speaking, Gmail is still a "public beta" from Google, as is Google maps. Imagine the outrage if Google decided to start charging for that! They'd make a lot of people seriously angry.
Apple's installed user base is large enough (from their perspective) at this point that they actually need to worry about how future policies and decisions will affect current users. Let's say I want to buy a new Mac with Leopard on it, but I don't need to dual boot. Does this mean I'll get a $29 discount? It doesn't make sense to charge $29 for this feature if you want to continue having it, and at the same time not charge for it if you're buying a new OS.




RE: First 802.11n....
By rklaver on 1/22/2007 12:12:37 PM , Rating: 2
So I guess since Adobe is giving away a free public beta of Photoshop CS3 then I should expect to get that for free too? Cool.


RE: First 802.11n....
By Oregonian2 on 1/22/2007 2:27:35 PM , Rating: 2
Adobe going to have the production version of Adobe Lightroom free too (like their beta is)? Double cool!


RE: First 802.11n....
By Tyler 86 on 1/23/2007 1:34:14 AM , Rating: 2
Alright, it's obvious you and the guy above are Boot-Camp dropouts...

Adobe Photoshop & Lightroom are both commercial products, from introduction, throughout testing, to completion.

Boot-Camp was a feature, not a product... untill now.


RE: First 802.11n....
By Oregonian2 on 1/23/2007 6:15:41 PM , Rating: 2
Don't think so. To be a "feature" means that it was already a supported piece of software that Apple provided as part of their product. It wasn't that at all. It was at best something "below" beta in the rating of things. A "beta" is something unsupported that has expectations of becoming something supported. Boot-Camp only wasn't a beta because there wasn't that expectation of becoming something supported. Had it been known to become something supported, it'd have been called a "beta", that's the only difference.


By zunipus on 1/22/2007 11:40:51 AM , Rating: 2
http://wsidecar.apple.com/cgi-bin/bc/nph-bc

"Thank you for your interest in Boot Camp and for downloading the Boot Camp Beta software. We hope you enjoy evaluating this software and appreciate your comments and suggestions. Boot Camp is just one of many new features in Mac OS X Leopard, the next major release of Mac OS X, due out by Spring of 2007. You can learn more about the additional features of Leopard by visiting the Mac OS X Leopard web site."

IOW: Tempest in a teapot. Get 10.5. Duh.

:-D




By ninjit on 1/22/2007 12:45:55 PM , Rating: 2
This is the probably the only reason they are doing this. To get people to switch to Leopard when it comes out.

I doubt they honestly expect to make much money from the $29 charge, and instead hope people will compare that to the $79 cost of getting Leopard and jump to that instead.


stuff mac PCs!!
By nurbsenvi on 1/22/2007 12:22:49 PM , Rating: 2
DIE DIE DIE Macjahadeen purists!!!

Back in My Uni days I had to deal with both Mac and IBM PCs
and it sucked!!

I admit that I've been a PC user for a long time and before WinXP came out Mac was better.

but after XP came out I really do not see any advantage of owning a Mac over IBM PCs.

Mac laptops based on power processors were lousy slow even running Macromedia Flash MX was real pain! (one button mouse drives me nuts!)

I mean please stop making overpriced Mac PCS and just release the OSs for IBM PCs for the love of god!













RE: stuff mac PCs!!
By Lazlo Panaflex on 1/22/2007 4:19:24 PM , Rating: 2
LOL..Macjahadeen purists. Nice :)

<Apple Boot Camp DI to PC Guy>
"Looks like the best part of you ran down the crack of your momma's a** and ended up as a brown stain on the mattress! I think you've been cheated!"

<PC Guy To Apple Boot Camp DI> "Sir, Yes Sir!"

;-D


Who cares?
By kelmon on 1/22/2007 5:21:30 PM , Rating: 2
I don't get why this is news. The software was a beta release of a feature of the next OS upgrade, Apple even offers this as a standalone application without needing to upgrade and suddenly this is a bad thing. What part of this did I miss?

To be honest, Boot Camp isn't really very useful anyway. Parallels is much more valuable to me and I haven't used Boot Camp in months now since restarting just isn't worth the hassle.




RE: Who cares?
By Tyler 86 on 1/23/2007 1:44:13 AM , Rating: 2
Kind of makes you wonder, what other little trinkets are in OS X that you personally don't use...

If you don't use a feature, why are you paying for them?

That sort of logic leads to buying PC for the average Joe, but it won't lead you there, because you're a special Joe.

You're so right. Who the f ---  cares?


Software development costs money
By regularsteven on 1/22/2007 11:11:06 PM , Rating: 2
Its always nice when things are free, but just think. It costs money to make it, and its only useful for, what, 5% of mac users? So, what to do:
*bump up the price of os x for everyone (95% wont use it)
*include it for free with OS X the same price, but compromise on other features of the os
*charge a small amount for those who want it..

Right now, its free with no support. When you pay, there will be support. Big deal- its only 30 bucks. And OS X isn't really that pricey anyway - especially considering what you get.




By Tyler 86 on 1/23/2007 1:39:17 AM , Rating: 2
So bump up the price for everyone buying the upgrade, add it as a 'free' upgrade to current Mac OS X, and stop nickling and diming everyone to death...

It's the reasonable and profitable thing to do.

Also, 95% won't use it? Hm.

Do you use it? No?
Are you Joe Mac-Hardcore?
(search for Joe Mac-Hardcore post above)


Included
By BdeRWest on 1/22/2007 9:43:17 AM , Rating: 3
If I remember correctly, Steve Jobs specifically said Boot Camp would ship with Leopard in his speech in October (November? September?). How is that "Apple made comments it would..."?




oh
By sprockkets on 1/22/2007 10:09:17 AM , Rating: 1
Funny, if I want to dual boot Linux, it makes the necessary change for me, oh wait, it has to do with that bios crap, so since we just HAD to have that new bios, it will cost you $29 to do a otherwise normal operation.

Oh well, progress.




RE: oh
By cochy on 1/22/2007 2:08:02 PM , Rating: 2
Ya it's quite easy to add the necessary steps to the bootstrap process to allow a dual or triple or whatever boot option. Try installing Windows on a machine with a current Linux installation. Windows will overwrite the master boot record and pretend no other OS is installed, meaning you won't be able to boot into Linux anymore. Windows doesn't play nice with other OS's :P


Arent' you people overreacting?
By aos007 on 1/23/2007 12:28:53 PM , Rating: 2
Don't miss the crucial part of the article - that Apple will officialy support boot camp and running Vista on their machines. Which means they will have a new, ongoing cost in providing that support - someone needs to answer those phones, you know. They *can* make the software itself free - but support still costs money. Besides, if you don't want to pay, just download the beta version now. By the time its driver support becomes a showstopper, you'll likely want to upgrade to Leopard anyway. I don't see what's the fuss about.




vista creep on Mac
By tim c on 1/22/2007 11:36:21 AM , Rating: 1
The whole point about Apple OS is that it works soo much better than ween dose. What alarms me is the next stage, when some one combines vista and linux: viSTALINux. There is a lot to be said for inventing a brand name, rather than mugging a word from everday usage (in Spain).




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