Why has Windows 7 Boot Camp not arrived?
Apple has missed a self-imposed deadline to add formal support for Windows 7 in its Boot Camp feature. That’s prompted speculation about why this is the case and whether the feature itself has a future.
Boot Camp is a utility built in to Apple’s operating systems which allows Windows to be installed on a Mac computer. It’s designed to run Windows on a separate partition of the Mac’s drive, meaning Windows applications can be run straight “out of the box”. The idea is to remove disincentives for PC users to switch to a Mac, for example in the case of somebody replacing a PC but still wanting an easy way to using existing software such as Office without needing to buy a replacement.
Apple had said it would update Boot Camp to support Windows 7 by the end of 2009, but has not yet done so. There are numerous reports of users installing Windows 7 using the feature, so it clearly works in principle and the hold-up is with getting to a stage where Apple is confident that there will be few bugs or problems to deal with. Those who’ve used Windows 7 through Boot Camp have reported some performance issues.
There’s been some speculation the delay is a deliberate move to make Windows 7 less attractive following its generally good reaction. That’s not an explanation I can really buy: rather than deterring people thinking about getting a Mac one day from getting Windows 7 now, it’s more likely to make people abandon any idea of ever getting a Mac.
It’s also possible Windows 7 has proven trickier to get running on a Mac than expected. While Microsoft certainly won’t have gone out of its way to remove any technical barriers to Boot Camp, the fact that the fundamentals of Windows 7 are so close to Vista means that there shouldn’t have been any major hold-ups.
The most likely explanation would seem to be that Apple hasn’t treated the project as a priority. With the system already working to some extent in Boot Camp, it’s not as if achieving official support is going to bring in much money. And those who need to run Windows applications on a Mac may well be much more likely to use virtualization tools which allow them to run Apple and Windows programs at the same time rather than having to switch systems repeatedly.
Related Posts:
