Mac OS X & Windows Together

[Jona]

Hi guys,

I was wondering if it is possible to run the Mac OS X and Windows XP operating systems on the same computer (selective on startup via the F8 key) -- I'd like to purchase a Macintosh OS, but I don't want to have to get rid of Windows. Can I install Macintosh on a partition drive, or something, and then choose which operating system to boot when I turn the computer on?

Regards,

[Poegle]

It does that with linux, gives you an option of what you want to run.

Im not to sure about mac though ill have a look around for you if you like.

[Jona]

Originally posted by Poegle
It does that with linux, gives you an option of what you want to run.

Im not to sure about mac though ill have a look around for you if you like.

Yes, you can probably run multiple versions of Windows as well. If you can check that out for me, I'd really appreciate it, though!

[ray326]

I think you can do that but you have to start with the Mac. 8-)

[Jona]

Originally posted by ray326
I think you can do that but you have to start with the Mac. 8-)

Eww... I'm on XP now, not a Mac. I really want to try out Safari and just be able to say I am a Mac user. I don't really know what people go through as Mac users. I want to feel the experience, but I don't want to have to buy a PowerBook G5 to do so. Incidently, why don't Mac computers have Intel or Athlon processors - or am I wrong about that? They all seem to be built by Apple, and about 1.7GHz. I want something at the very least 2.2GHz...

[Neczy]

Yeah, you cant do it.

You need to own a Mac, then build a PC inside of the Mac.

[MstrBob]

And people say Microsoft is proprietary...

[ray326]

Originally posted by Jona
Eww... I'm on XP now, not a Mac. I really want to try out Safari and just be able to say I am a Mac user. I don't really know what people go through as Mac users. I want to feel the experience, but I don't want to have to buy a PowerBook G5 to do so. Incidently, why don't Mac computers have Intel or Athlon processors - or am I wrong about that? They all seem to be built by Apple, and about 1.7GHz. I want something at the very least 2.2GHz...

The new Macs are built on PowerPC RISC processors so straight clock comparisons aren't valid. Apple has always maintained the Mac processors, starting with the Motorola 68000s in the original, were technically superior to and much faster than their Intel contemporaries. While that's generally true, they also make for more expensive systems which wasn't helped by Apple's refusal to license their software to other system makers. System X is very portable, though, and there are open source Intel versions of the OS but not the GUI and system tools. ... Yet. MS better pray for all they're worth that Apple doesn't go ahead and release an Intel port.

[Jona]

Darn... Maybe I'll just buy a PowerBook somewhere along the line.

One last thing - and I know this is treading deep water - but coming from someone who has used both Windows and Macintosh, can I get an objective comparison?

[ray326]

No.

[Jona]

Originally posted by ray326
No.

Do you use a Mac? I was hoping for an objective comparison so I could decide for myself whether or not I should get a Mac laptop -- a persuasive or one-sided reply isn't going to help my decision.

[Fang]

There are a few Mac emulators that appear to work.

[Jona]

Originally posted by Fang
There are a few Mac emulators that appear to work.

Thanks, Fang, I suppose I could give those a try.

[ray326]

My daughter's iMac (OS9) is in the next room. It's nice, easy to use when it's working right and has it's share of crashes and weirdness which are almost impossible to diagnose because the underlying nuts and bolts are so well hidden. I hear OSX is somewhat more stable and you can actually troubleshoot problems because it's Unix.

[Stephen Philbin]

Just get yourself a Linux OS and be t3h 1337 like the rest of us. lol

I'd rather like to give the Mac OSX a whizz myself actually. Once I realised Windows wasn't the only OS in the world (and certainly not the best for me) I started trying a few out.