Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing

I suspect they will see some gains for a change, but I doubt it will appear to be revolutionary. Apple has proved that it doesn't require selling to a mass market to be profitable, so a failure to sell numbers on the same scale as PCs shouldn't cause them too much distress.

If I am any indication, they will gain market share. I've always been a PC guy, but had my first Mac experience at my last job.

I was impressed by the functionality and reliability, but I never bought one because of all my Windows-based software like Photoshop. Now that the iMac runs windows, I can have all the great things I love about a Mac without buying all new software programs.

On a humorous side not, I remember how impressed I was when I learned to use the F9 key on the Mac. I always have a lot of programs and windows open ... that key is fantastic. :-)

-Brandon

Businesses of any significant size realize that standardization of applications throughout the company eliminates compatibility issues. I have worked in companies that are a mixed shop of macs and pcs, and there are and probably always will be compatibilty issues as each operating system is constantly innovating in an attempt to gain more market share from the other.

Being able to run XP in parallel is a nice feature, but you still have to spend money on an additional license you're only using here-and-there to run a small selection of applications (like office or some custom application).

If you're considering a mac in a business environment, I would suggest checking out crossover from codeweavers.com. It allows you to run windows applications in OSX, without having to run a virtual machine, or run XP, or buy an XP license.

They have a trial version available on their website so you can test the applications you want to run to see how compatible they are.

Crossover is based on Wine, a mature Open Source project that enables Linux systems to run windows applications. Since OSX is Linux based under the covers, this project probably only needed some 'tweaking' to make it compatible with the capabilities of OSX.

just for the record - I am in no way affiliated with Wine, Crossover or CodeWeavers. I'm just a fan of good software that lets you run what you want where you want.

In the long run, I think it will be very beneficial to Apple and the Mac computer.

* The key is, tech-savvy people have known for a long time now that Macs offer better technology.

* They'll finally be willing to switch, knowing that they'll be able to at least run essential programs on the Mac.

* Since we're talking an added expense of a) the Mac (a pricier computer), and b) extra software, we're probably talking about successful tech-savvy people who require specialized software.

* As more geeks, managers and business owners switch the to Mac, they'll provide a market for releases of more software for the Mac, both for themselves and so that the people they work with can more easily switch.

now I'm wondering if I should get one...Ramon

I'm glad to see that you have finally seen the light. congrats, once you go Mac you never go back. Personally i cannot see why anyone would want to run windows after a taste of using a Mac. The only benefit I see of being able to run both is to give web designers the ability to review how the site looks on different op's/browers for optimization.

Sorry to hear about your mistake. You will be back soon....

"Welcome to the light side" - Ditto

I'm int he same boat. I just switched to Mac after about 13 years of devoted PC use and I haven't looked back. I don't even run Windows on my Mac because I don't want the headache (which is why I switched in the first place). I think that it'll help them gain some extra market share, yes. In my opinion - I think the iPod/iTunes product line has groomed consumers to not fear the Apple brand like they used to. It's no longer just for elitists and uber-geeks. They've successfully re branded themselves and now a Mac is for everyone.

People aren't just jumping ship, they're ECSTATIC about the change. I haven't seen this type of hype and enthusiasm for a single brand in years. It's fabulous - I can't wait to watch it unfold.

What if Apple throws in virtualisation software, allowing people to convert their old Windows PC into a virtual machine running on OS X? They would still be able to use their familiar applications while learning about the new stuff, and make the switch decision later. Reduce the (main?) barrier for converting to a new way of doing stuff by providing a simple way for the customers to feel safe with their old habits, and your adoption rate can only accelerate.

I think it will make a difference for people and businesses that would like to use Macs but are stuck with one or two Windows-only applications. And, I believe that Boot Camp (software that, like Parallels, allows the Macintels to run Windows) will be incorporated directly into Leopard (the next Mac OS). Someone recently said to me, "It's like two computers for the price of one."

Congratulations, and "welcome to the light side". :)

"Will Mac software take a hit because Mac users will just run it in Windows instead of clamoring for a Mac version?"

Come back after a month, and answer the question yourself after using OS X for a while...

Nice one John - we figured it wouldn't take too long...

Keep up the great work -

Ken Burgin
http://www.profitablehospitality.com

If you just want to run Windows, Macs are not the easiest or most cost effective solution. You have to buy Windows and possibly Parallels.

Also, most PC's are purchased in bulk my large companies. Apple is not in this business and never will be, so I don't think Apple is going to take a lot of market share just because they run Windows.

Apple does kick tail when it comes to media and home stuff though. Now that you can run your Windows business apps on a Mac, I think Apple is going to see tremendous gains over the long run in the home PC business.