This isn't your father's (or mother's) Windows. (Click here to see larger view)īut how is it to use? One of the first things a longtime Mac user will notice about Windows is the look. Tiger or Windows Vista? Boot Camp let's you choose. A lot of applications I use regularly - the Firefox browser, iTunes, Quicktime - work just fine in Vista. And with the exception of a few such glitches along the way, Vista RC1 (Build 5600) has been generally stable: No blue screens of death, no untoward infections that I'm aware of. (I had to install a small third-party app, Apple Mouse, to enable a right-click function in Vista on the Macbook Pro.) I'm assuming that by the time Vista is out, Apple will be ready.
Vista isn't exactly optimized for Mac use, and the drivers that Apple supplies with its Boot Camp software don't work in Microsoft's upcoming operating system. Yes, it runs hotter than normal on Vista, and battery life is greatly reduced. I've been using Vista off and on for a couple of weeks now, but I'm not chortling as much. What better way to show that when you buy a Mac you get two computers in one? Earlier this month, when I found I could install Windows Vista Release Candidate 1 (RC1) on my MacBook Pro, I quickly took the plunge, practically chortling at the thought that my dual-core laptop could run Microsoft's next operating system.