Which means, of course, that the Mac may very well be the only computer you’ll ever need. In fact, the Mac’s flexibility — its ability to run both Mac OS X and Windows1 — has both customers and columnists very excited.
As Computerworld’s Scot Finnie points out, now you can forget about having “to choose either the Mac for its superior design or Windows for its wealth of available software.” That’s because “you can have both operating systems on the same computer — the best of both worlds.” Mac OS X and Windows XP or Windows Vista side by side. One great computer. Two operating systems. Many, many programs to run.
Talk about a win-win situation. Now you can take advantage of all the benefits of owning a Mac but still enjoy the convenience of starting up your Mac in Windows XP or Windows Vista and running a Windows-only game or productivity application when needed. Third-party software solutions such as VMware Fusion or Parallels Desktop for Mac help make it possible.
That’s a prospect that has the Wall Street Journal’s Walt Mossberg very excited. “You can run any combination of Mac and Windows programs at the same time, on the same screen.” For example, you could “simultaneously download your corporate email in Outlook using Windows while editing a home video in iMovie using the Mac OS.” Or how about this multitasking example from Mossberg: “I was able to do email in Apple’s Mail program while simultaneously watching a baseball game in Internet Explorer.”
And the latitude Parallels Desktop for Mac lends New York Times tech columnist David Pogue has him raving: “I just can’t tell you how handy it is to be able to live in Mac OS X but have the flexibility to duck into the occasional Windows program without having to restart the Mac.” How’s that for opening up a whole new world of possibilities?
If you’ve ever wished you could enjoy the best of both worlds, now you can. With a Mac.
- Purchase of Windows required. VMware Fusion and Parallels Desktop software optional.
