Category Image Apple's Newest Switch Campaign


I think most people would agree that Apple's switch campaign to entice Windows users to "switch" to the Mac platform has been largely unsuccessful. I don't have the latest figures for market share of Mac systems, but it's probably still around 3-4%. Apple recently switched to Intel processors for its Macintosh computers. But when you boot up an Intel-based Mac into Mac OS X, you have no doubt that you're using a Mac. My guess is that the Intel switch is probably not substantially increasing market share. So what's next? Entice Windows users with the ability to run Windows on the Mac (Intel) hardware. I like the idea of being able to run more than one OS on a computer. But Mac OS X is my favorite OS. Oddly enough, Apple's announcement that Intel-based Macs have the ability to run Windows came on the heels of the announcement that key Mac OS X developer Avie Tevania is leaving Apple. In fact, his last day at Apple was less than a week ago. At any rate, this latest move by Apple adds capability to the Mac, and that makes it a more attractive computing platform. My question is where is this going?

I would guess that if having the ability to run Windows on Macs increases market share of Macs, most new "Mac" users will run Windows on Macs. Suppose that at some point, the Mac market share increases to 20%. But if this happens, only a relatively small percentage of the total Mac user community will be running Mac OS X. If at some point in the future, most Mac users run Windows, why would Apple continue to develop Mac OS X? Are we witnessing Apple's switch to Windows?

You can download a free copy of the first public beta release of bootcamp, which enables Intel-based Macs to run Windows.


Posted: Thursday - April 06, 2006 at 06:11 AM        

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