James Kendrick links to the latest speculation on whether the new Intel-based MacBook can dual boot with Windows XP.
The issue? The MacBook supports the BIOS-replacement called Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI). Windows XP, however, doesn’t support EFI. No matter. Vista does. And that’s the direction I’m looking.
However, I do agree with James and many others that Apple could grab a significant chunk of the market if it did support existing versions of Windows now. Could it double Apple’s computer sales? Probably not. However, I’d predict that in less than a year’s time, a dual bootable MacBook alone could add another 2-3% market share to Apple’s computer line–in about 12 months. I think it would be that big.
If MacBook can only co-exist with Vista, then obviously the numbers wouldn’t be that great. However, I can imagine a large group of online influentials migrating both to MacBook and Vista if it were possible. Seems to me Apple and Microsoft both have a wonderful opportunity here to showcase the value of their next generation products.
In the meantime, let’s keep our fingers crossed though that someone out there will take on the challenge and find a way to dual boot OS X and Windows. It would be a huge story.