column archives
May 29, 2006

Oregon MacPioneers User Group
O M U G: . O R E G O N ' S . S T A T E W I D E . U S E R . G R O U P



Welcome to the Digital Bark
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Pull up your boot straps, Private, this is Boot Camp, not your Mamma's Mac!

© B Y ..S T E V E ..W E L S H
Oregon MacPioneers User Group (Omug)

Because there has been so much buzz about Apple's decision to allow -- even assist you with -- Windows OS booting on Intel-based Macs with the release of its beta Boot Camp software, I decided to dedicate this column to as many quality references and pointers to various Boot Camp or Windows on Macs resources as I could find for those interested in this brave new dual-boot world.

Some of these references are free sample chapters of books on Boot Camp, or good online reads. Or pointers to dedicated books or ebooks worth your pennies if you are serious about Windows on a Mac.

As others have voiced, Boot Camp is not something to stomach for many Mac users right now, especially those who have absolutely no use for Windows on their Macs. But there are many who are excited about having the option of installing Windows if they need it, perhaps eliminating the need for a dedicated PC machine, or at least having a solution to work-related or vertical-market software not found on the Mac platform.

There are other curious if not exciting implications of what Apple may do with this -- excuse the pun -- Windows of opportunity down the road. Boot Camp, in a more polished state, will be a feature of the next major Mac OS, 10.5 "Leopard" (rumored to be shown to World Wide Developers Conference attendees in August and released for consumers weeks if not months later; at the very latest at MacWorld Expo in January). It may eliminate the need for a middle man (such as Microsoft's Virtual PC software emulator). It may attract, in an indirect way, more game development for Mac users. It will invite a face-to-face comparison of both OSes (Apple truly looks forward to this -- remember the quote Steve Jobs flashed on stage when Tiger was introduced: "Redmond, start your copiers."). It may entice PC users to get a Mac, making them if not full Switchers, then at least Twitchers.

I'd like to emphasize one key factor for anyone considering using Boot Camp, a point many are forgetting to emphasize lately -- Boot Camp is BETA software, folks.

Beta as in "unfinished" or "not complete or not fully tested." I'm not trying to scare you off, I just want you fully understand what installing Boot Camp brings with it. Although most reports from Boot Camp users to date are "thumbs up" and primarily positive, there have been other experiences of users having some problems and needing to re-format their hard drives. Maybe even more than once. So consider or ponder, if you will:

Do you really want to install a beta program on your only Mac, the same Mac that you depend upon for all your daily digital hub needs? Do you have enough hardware space to partition your hard drive and make room for the Windows OS installation and all the drivers needed? Do you have enough cash to BUY Windows OS (no, it does not come free, period, and certainly not with Boot Camp)? Do you have enough RAM to dedicate to (or worse, share between) 2 operating systems?

I would certainly recommend dedicating a (please laugh with me) "spare" Intel-based Mac for your dual-boot exploration. Read Apple's Boot Camp FAQ and related Knowledge Base documents (some listed below) first. Don't be your MUG's Neil Armstrong -- if someone else has marched first in Boot Camp, ask them about their experience to date. Go to your nearest Apple Store or Apple retailer and test drive Boot Camp on THEIR Mac, not yours. And, above all else, back up your hard drive or critical data before using Boot Camp on your Mac.

Parallels Workstation is the other hot topic for dual-OS wanna be's (see link below). Keep your eye on this inexpensive software solution.

"Now, shave your head, strap up your boot laces and report for duty, private! This is Boot Camp, soldier, not your Mamma's Mac."

"SIR, YES, SIR!"

"And we don't recruit any more Gomer Pyle's into our Boot Camp, ladies. No, we want Intel-igent users, so you'd better do your homework first and check out the references below. Do you hear me?! GOOD! Now turn off that iPod and drop and give me 20 ..."


REFERENCES

Please remember that these links may change or become inactive with age, but should be accurate at the time this column was posted.
FREE resources (online info, sample PDFs, podcasts)

Apple's Boot Camp page:
http://www.apple.com/bootcamp/

Apple's Boot Camp FAQ:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303572

Boot Camp: First Look
(FREE sample 12-page chapter PDF of the Peachpit Press 54-page, $7 ebook; link above will begin immediate download or loading of the PDF):
http://www.peachpit.com/content/downloads/peachpit/samplechapters/Bootcamp_Sample.pdf

MacNotables #636 podcast
30 min., 13.8 mb download (or you can stream it)
Chris Breen reveals dangers of firmware update required to run Boot Camp and why you might consider running Windows and even managing your iPod using Boot Camp (4-12-06):
http://www.macnotables.com/archives/mn636.mp3/

Boot Camp install video by UnEasySilence
8 min., 26.6 mb MPEG-4 download (or stream)
Gives you a screen view of what the actual install process sequence:
http://streaming.uneasysilence.com/media/ues/
Ebooks (electronic books, usually PDF format)

Take Control of Running Windows on a Mac
ebook, PDF, 104 pages, $10 (from the Take Control ebook series):
http://www.takecontrolbooks.com/catalog.html

Running Boot Camp, The First Step-by-Step Install Guide
by O'Reilly Media, PDF ebook, 37 pages, $7.99:
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/bootcamp/

Boot Camp Public Beta First Look
by Peachpit Press; 54 pages, $7:
http://www.peachpit.com/title/0321473779
Printed books
(the following are also listed in Take Control of Running Windows on a Mac ebook, which I recommend; that ebook also has references to running Windows on older generation PowerPC Macs)

Windows XP Home Edition: The Missing Manual by David Pogue
(O’Reilly):
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0596002602/

Windows XP Pro: The Missing Manual by David Pogue, Craig
Zacker, and L.J. Zacker (O’Reilly):
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0596008988/

Windows XP for Starters: The Missing Manual by David Pogue
(O’Reilly):
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0596101554/

Windows XP for Dummies, 2nd Edition by Andy Rathbone (For
Dummies):
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0764573268/
Other software

Parallels Workstation/Desktop RC2 enables Intel-based Macs to use any version of Windows (3.1, 3.11, 95, 98, Me, 2000, NT, XP, 2003), any Linux distribution, FreeBSD, Solaris, OS/2, eComStation, or MS-DOS in secure virtual machines running alongside Mac OS X:
http://www.parallels.com/en/products/workstation/mac/


END
Please remember that the above non-Omug links may or may not be active soon or long after this column was originally published; they are provided for your exploration and are not an endorsement by Omug or this author.

Coming next column:

TBA
We're working on it. Bark on!
Digital Bark archives:

12-7-05 - The digital sound revolution comes full circle
22nd century publishing to archives of 100-year-old Edison cylinder recordings.

1-5-06 - Ten commandments for iPod owners
Thou shalt enjoy thy iPod; serious thought for just about any iPod user.

1-22-06 - Do tell, it's Apple and Intel at MacWorld Expo
A look at the big news from S.F. and the impacts the new products will bring to many of us.

2-12-06 - Apple's unfamiliar territory: dominance
Like a child who went barefoot all his life and then puts on a new pair of running shoes, there is a bit of discomfort in some ways -- in the beginning at least -- to Apple's new dominance in the digital music world. But these new pair of shoes are well-earned, and they fit.

3-3-06 - "Come together, right now, over me" - The story of 2 Apples
A legal tussle that has lasted for years, it's time Apple Records and Apple Computer put their fists down and make up, for the sake of fans of both and all music lovers.

4-28-06 - Take a load off finding downloaded files, use Folder Actions
Never used Folder Actions in OSX? No problem. Here's a simple one to try: giving a folder an automatic alert capability anytime something is added to that folder.

5-29-06 - To run or not to run Boot Camp, that is the question
Mac users need to give serious thought about why, when and if they need to run Apple's beta Boot Camp software. We give you a few points to ponder, and then point you to several free resources and important reads.

Other info

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