Why run Windows on a Mac?

As soon as creative hackers made it possible to boot Windows on an Intel-based Mac, and when Apple subsequently launched Boot Camp, no doubt many people asked the same question. Why would you want to buy a Mac and then install what the majority, if not all, Mac users consider to be an inferior operating system? If you wanted to run Windows, why wouldn't you just buy a Windows PC?

From reviewing a variety of forums and blog comments, it seems that many Mac users are not interested in installing Windows. Those that are interested tend to commonly state the following reasons:

Gaming

A common, if not the most common, sentiment expressed by many is that they have no interest in running Windows except to play Windows-only games. These users probably wouldn't find it particularly inconvenient to boot into Windows to play a few hours of Half-Life 2, and then boot back into MacOS X for a few hours of iMovie use.

As noted in the "Macintel" Q&A on June 20, 2005, referring to a MacWorld article written pre-XOM and pre-Boot Camp, game developers were "concerned that it may not make financial sense to port games to the Mac if users can just install Windows on a 'Macintel' system to run Windows games."

This MacWorld article speculates that "it's conceivable that serious Mac gamers could create a dual-boot system that would allow them to run Windows versions of games. That could decimate the Mac game business."

Now that playing Windows-only games on an Intel-based Macintosh is a reality and many users are creating dual-boot systems, it seems likely that it will be harder for developers to profitably "port" games from Windows to the Mac.

If you are a Mac gamer, and you have purchased a Windows version of a game to run on your Intel-based Mac, it seems doubtful that you would purchase the Mac "port" when it is released several months later. Optimists are hopeful that this will lead to more Mac and Windows versions of games being released simultaneously, whereas pessimists fear that it will be the end of the Mac gaming market entirely.

For more information, please refer to the Windows on Mac Gaming Q&As.

Windows-Only Application Use

There are a variety of applications, particularly in business, architecture, and science, that are not available for the MacOS. Many have said that they could get rid of a Windows PC if they could boot or run Windows on an Intel-based Mac. Others have said that they would much rather keep a separate Windows system. However, booting or running Windows on the Mac could be useful for mobile users in particular, where lugging around two notebooks isn't feasible.

Optimists are hopeful that application developers will notice there is a demand for their products from Mac users and release Mac versions of their Windows-only applications. Pessimists, on the other hand, see little reason for application developers to make Mac versions of their software if Mac users already contentedly are using the Windows-only product.

For more information, please refer to the Windows on Mac Compatibility Q&As.

Online Use

There are some online applications -- notably corporate, real estate, and banking -- that are designed only to work with Windows. Being able to use these with a Mac could mean that those tethered to a particular Windows-only online application could still use a Mac. Like those interested in running Windows-only desktop applications, running Windows "virtualized inside" MacOS X using Parallels or VMWare software would be convenient. Some online programs might work with CrossOver Mac as well, which does not even require one to purchase a copy of Windows.

For more information, please refer to the Windows on Mac Parallels Installation, Parallels Usage, VMWare Fusion, and CodeWeavers CrossOver Q&As.

Website & Application Testing

As anyone who has designed a website can tell you, IE on Windows has the frustrating ability to render a webpage differently from more standards-compliant browsers. Webmasters need a way to view their work on a Windows system to tweak the design and code, and running Windows browsers on an Intel-based Mac could make this easier and less expensive.

Booting back and forth between operating systems to make and view changes with Boot Camp would be extremely time-consuming, but running Windows "virtualized inside" MacOS X using Parallels or VMWare software would be convenient, probably even more convenient than using a separate Windows system to test websites.

The ideal solution for website testing in particular may be CrossOver Mac, which makes it possible to create separate "bottles" with different browser versions (IE 6 and IE 7 for Windows, for example). When running Windows natively, an installation of IE 7 would wipe out IE 6, but CrossOver Mac makes it possible to maintain both.

Application developers, notably Java programmers, sometimes develop on the Mac and need a way to test their products in Windows as well.

For more information, please refer to the Windows on Mac Parallels Installation, Parallels Usage, VMWare Fusion, and CodeWeavers CrossOver Q&As.

"Just Because"

There is a certain segment of the computer-using population that will want to install Windows on an Intel-based Mac just because they can. Much like those who are interested in installing Linux on an iPod, it's at least as much about the challenge and the fun of the process than the actual usability for any particular purpose.

Apple Design

This sentiment doesn't seem to be expressed too often, but there are some that have mentioned that they like the "look" of Apple hardware, often the Mac mini in particular, but need, or prefer, to run Windows. These users could conceivably create a "dual-boot" system and run Windows most of the time, or erase MacOS X entirely and just run Windows on their Apple system. This would no doubt be blasphemy to many Mac users.

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