In our district we already have two iMac computers that are set up to dual boot into Mac OS 10.4 or Windows XP. You make the choice during startup.
There have been reports on the web about others who had been able to install Windows on an iMac. However the installation sounds very technical, time consuming, and not all the needed drivers are available. We were going to give this a try, but hadn’t gotten around to it yet.
The installation using Boot Camp, which was done by several members of our tech department (Brian Rossow, Chris Webb, Wes Halseth), was very easy and Windows XP installed faster than on any of the traditional Intel boxes we have in our district. Once booted into Windows XP they have run flawlessly (except the built in video camera doesn’t seem to work) and are as fast or faster than our newest Windows computers.
We are already talking about purchasing Intel based iMacs to put into all our computer labs, no matter if they are Mac or Windows labs. This will give us the flexibility to use either platform and any software in every lab, rather than having Mac labs and Windows labs across the hall from each other. The only downside is that we will have to purchase Windows XP for each computer.
Now I am waiting for the day when Windows applications can run seamlessly in Mac OS X so that you don’t need to restart to switch into Windows XP. Or maybe, just maybe, being able to purchase a Dell or Gateway computer and run Mac OS X on it…
