Hands on: A MacBook Pro heads to Boot Camp

Computerworld - There’s something a bit disconcerting about the idea of a full-blown installation of Windows XP on a Macintosh. Even installing XP by way of Virtual PC for Mac seemed somehow like cheating on Mac OS X, but since it was emulation software and bug-ugly slow, it was more like an operating system dalliance than a real affair.

And it did nothing for efforts to convince wannabe Mac users who on occasion really need to run a Windows app or two that anything from Apple Computer was a viable alternative to their trusty work-issued Dell or HP laptop.

Those days are over. Done. Finis.

Let me give you a real-world example. My partner is a real estate agent and longtime Mac fan. Two years ago, he had to get rid of his PowerBook G4 because software he needs is specifically coded for Windows XP (and even more horrifying, requires Internet Explorer). He had a choice: Keep doing real estate or keep his laptop. He wound up with a Sony Vaio.

As of now, he can safely return to the fold. Apple’s release this week of Boot Camp, which allows users of its newest Intel-based hardware to install Windows XP natively on their computer, now gives him -- and the rest of us -- the best of both worlds: A stylish Apple computer with a solid operating system that also does Windows. No emulation. No pokey performance.

I know, because I downloaded Boot Camp, snagged a copy of Windows XP at CompUSA, installed it and promptly fired up that real estate program in IE. It worked like a charm. In fact, since my MacBook Pro has a Core Duo 2.16-GHz processor inside, Windows practically flew. It runs faster than it does on his Vaio. It runs faster than it does on my Vaio -- itself no slouch, with a 2-GHz processor and 2GB of RAM.

And installation, in true Apple form, was a snap. The longest part (and most disturbing to the eye) was watching XP install on the MacBook.

Before I get into details about the installation of Boot Camp and XP, I have to say that I don’t really know how Apple’s decision will shake up the world of computing, both at home and at work. There are Mac fans who’ll see this all as some kind of horrible abomination. There are Windows backers who’ll never buy what they see as overpriced hardware from Apple that caters to snobs. (Checked out operating system-focused message boards this week? The flames are already under way.)