Windows 8 on a Mac: why Microsoft should write its own Boot Camp
Summary: Apple designs some of the best PC hardware you can buy, and its designs use the same parts as a Windows PC. Yes, you can run Windows on a Mac, but the experience is substandard. For Windows 8, Microsoft needs to replace Apple's Boot Camp software with its own.
My ZDNet colleagues have gone gaga over the 2011 MacBook Air. Christopher Dawson calls it “a pretty incredible computer.” James Kendrick says it “epitomizes what mobile computers should be” and will become his primary computer. After only a week, Zack Whittaker admits he has “fallen head over heels” with his.
Among Silicon Valley journalists, MacBooks are ubiquitous. Even in Redmond, I’m told, some senior Microsoft executives consider Macs the perfect hardware on which to run Windows.
And indeed, they’re right. Intel-based Macs—and the new MacBook Air in particular—are built from the same parts that make up a standard Windows PC. The trouble is, they don’t run Windows 7 all that well. For that, you can blame Apple’s Boot Camp software, which runs the machine’s disk subsystem in legacy IDE mode and installs a messy glop of generic drivers that leave much of the hardware’s performance untapped on Windows.
Later this year, when Microsoft gets around to releasing a beta of Windows 8, a lot of tech reviewers are going to want to try the new OS on Apple-branded hardware. If Microsoft is smart, they’ll make that easy. How? By writing their own version of Boot Camp to optimize the Windows 8 experience for the underlying hardware.
What would a Microsoft Boot Camp include?
- It would boot natively from the Mac’s UEFI firmware. Windows 7 will not boot natively using UEFI on a current Macintosh, as dedicated Mac hackers have discovered. That can easily be fixed in Windows 8.
- It would offer a versatile disk management utility and its own boot loader so you can choose whether to install Windows 8 alongside OS X (a la Boot Camp) or to wipe OS X and use Windows as the exclusive operating system.
- It would install up-to-date drivers and utility software for the Apple hardware, including full Windows 8 gesture support for trackpads and other input devices.
- It would include the full collection of Windows Live apps that connect to complementary Windows Live services (SkyDrive, in particular) when you sign in with a Windows Live ID.
A clean installation of Windows 8 on modern Apple hardware would be an ideal showcase for Windows 8 and an ideal test bed to compare Windows 8 performance with that of OS X Lion—something that no one has been able to do until now. And with no crapw… sorry, I mean, with no third-party software, Windows users would finally have a standard against which to compare the performance of designs from other OEMs.
I know Microsoft is capable of delivering its own Boot Camp. Hell, some of their best engineers would probably kill for the opportunity to work on this project.
If this option were available, I’d probably buy a MacBook Air and run Windows 8 on it. How about you?
See related:
- The hidden costs of running Windows on a Mac
- I’m switching to a Mac. Here’s how (and why)
- Switching from PC to Mac and back: three lessons learned so far
- Windows 7 on a Mac: my Boot Camp survival guide
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Talkback
RE: Windows 8 on a Mac: why Microsoft should write its own Boot Camp
RE: Windows 8 on a Mac: why Microsoft should write its own Boot Camp
They're not going to do either ...
Making Windows run better on Apple hardware is probably not very high on MS' list of priorities. Anything that makes someone hesitate from buying a Mac is probably a good thing in their eyes.
RE: Windows 8 on a Mac: why Microsoft should write its own Boot Camp
If MS on the other hand would resolve this they could show equivalent or better performance and maybe gain a future costumer (or at least become more of a contender to in an Apple-only environment).
RE: Windows 8 on a Mac: why Microsoft should write its own Boot Camp
Hahaha, Google just did it to their 'partners'. MSFT would kill it's own just to gain a little marketshare. (Which they are losing month by month to Apple.)
RE: Windows 8 on a Mac: why Microsoft should write its own Boot Camp
RE: Windows 8 on a Mac: why Microsoft should write its own Boot Camp
RE: Windows 8 on a Mac: why Microsoft should write its own Boot Camp
RE: Windows 8 on a Mac: why Microsoft should write its own Boot Camp
Because we all know Microsoft has no good ideas... heh, I get it. But somehow they still seem to make Billions year over year. Where does that leave you, Einstein? Apparently 'making money' is one good idea.
RE: Windows 8 on a Mac: why Microsoft should write its own Boot Camp
RE: Windows 8 on a Mac: why Microsoft should write its own Boot Camp
Let's say, they somehow lock the hardware down on their computers like Apple does. They can identify that you are running a genuine "Microsoft PC" and you would get something like "Office" and other software suites for free -- Free upgrading, stuff like that or something. Or at least come out with a robust flavor specifically designed for the Microsoft PC systems -- Yeah, I for one will be all for that.
RE: Windows 8 on a Mac: why Microsoft should write its own Boot Camp
yeah that's about the worst idea ever. Do you know nothing of MS's past transgressions with Apple / Netscape? the IE anti trust stuff?
I don't get why people who know nothing about the history comment on it.
RE: Windows 8 on a Mac: why Microsoft should write its own Boot Camp
Not Microsoft's job
Not that it's a big deal. Apple will update boot camp with Windows 8 support in due course. Also there's a good chance that the existing Windows 7 drivers will be all you need to get a Windows 8 system working.
You're wrong about the drivers
Virtually all of the class drivers for Windows peripherals today ARE written by Microsoft. That's why you can do a clean install of Windows 7 and get full hardware support on many devices without ever touching a third-party driver.
RE: Windows 8 on a Mac: why Microsoft should write its own Boot Camp
Not really true
Correct in most cases
Have found that for some OEM's, they have "altered" drivers that are specific to their machines.
For most a clean install of Win7 (not the OEM version) works very well with little if any issues.
Done this on an ASUS, Dell, AW, Toshiba, Lenovo, Hp and Sony.
Sony and Hp had "custom" drivers.
AW had alternate drivers that took advantage of specific hardware configurations.
:)
RE: Windows 8 on a Mac: why Microsoft should write its own Boot Camp
RE: Windows 8 on a Mac: why Microsoft should write its own Boot Camp
If the consumer wants to spend money on a pretty Apple notebook and not run OS X, but run Windows to it's fullest capability (and not held hostage to generic drivers that provide minimal capability) then it *is* in Microsoft's best interest to provide that ability
Remember, to install Windows on a Mac computer, the customer needs to spend the bucks for a full install of Windows (less if it's the OEM version but still they have to purchase), so regardless if the consumer buys Mac hardware or not, for the customer there's a Windows license purchase, which means Microsoft gets money.
And if Microsoft can tout that Windows will run to it's fullest capability on Mac hardware, then Apple gets money for the hardware but it continues to be a Windows-centric world, which is good for all the application writers that create great software for the Windows environment.