By Walaika K. Haskins, SCI-TECH TODAY
"Apple can make massive inroads now and directly compete against the PC world," said Mukul Krishna, a Frost & Sullivan analyst. "On the corporate side, they will really, really like this because they can just integrate the Mac and Windows systems."
Apple's announcement this week that it has developed software to enable its Intel-based Macintosh computers to run Windows XP has been widely hailed as a bold move. However, now that the initial ballyhoo has passed, the question on many minds is what the long-term implications are.
The release of the Boot Camp application has raised Apple's "stock" exponentially, said Mukul Krishna, a Frost & Sullivan analyst. Krishna's remark can be taken both literally and figuratively.
The Boot Camp news immediately raised Apple's profile Wednesday on the Nasdaq nearly 10 percent, from $61.17 to $67.40. "Boot Camp increases our confidence in Apple's ability to grow PC shipments 15 percent to 16 percent per year, beyond the Intel transition," Richard Gardner, a Citigroup analyst who has a "buy" rating on the stock, wrote in a note to the Associated Press.
According to industry experts, the increased confidence in Apple exhibited by the denizens of Wall Street is the financial manifestation of how both Mac and Windows users will respond to the news.
However, said Frost & Sullivan's Krishna, the ability for Intel-based Macs to run both Mac OS X and Windows XP could take years rather than days to have a measurable impact on Apple's hardware sales. But it will happen, he said, and without a backlash from Apple users.
Following Suit
Apple's release of the Boot Camp software follows on the heels of a group of software engineers taking the matter into their own hands. Last month, a hacker known only as "narf" successfully managed to load XP onto an Intel-based Mac to win a contest sponsored by the site formerly called WinXPonMac.com.
That site, now called OnMac.net, offers its own software that performs the same functions as Apple's Boot Camp.
"It was going to happen eventually," said Yankee Group analyst Nitin Gupta. "It just happened sooner rather than later." Gupta speculated that the successful installation of Windows on a Mac will put increased pressure on Microsoft to develop an OS specifically for Mac hardware.
Increased pressure or no, said Gupta, Mac users probably will have to wait a long time before they see any special software coming from the Redmond developer because a version of Windows for Macs would be an insignificant revenue stream for Microsoft.
Charting New Territory
Although Krishna said that some Mac fans might feel a little betrayed by Boot Camp -- in that it amounts to Apple embracing Windows formally -- he did say that most in the Mac community will enjoy the versatility that the Boot Camp software will bring to the new machines.
But he is skeptical that current Mac users will rush to the store to buy the new Macs just so they can run Windows.
According to another Frost & Sullivan analyst, Zippy Aima, the ability to run Windows on a Mac removes the barrier that had prevented some computer enthusiasts from indulging in an Apple machine. "This sort of integration definitely increases options available for PC owners and users," Aima said, "giving an edge to Apple in this area."
Krishna pointed out that other major PC manufacturers, such as HP, Dell, and Gateway, now will have to contend with a competitor that has achieved mythic status and has just eliminated one of the major reasons for businesses not to purchase Mac hardware.
Krisha said Boot Camp will most definitely increase Apple's share of the hardware market, but the process will be gradual, with no massive influx of buyers scooping up Macs. Krishna predicted that the real revolution will begin with businesses rather than with the average consumer.
Macs already have a foothold in the corporate world as the computer of choice for creative departments. Krishna believes that those departments will be the first to purchase the Intel-based Macs, quickly followed by executive road warriors looking for good laptops that can run all their Windows-based business applications.
"Apple can make massive inroads now and directly compete against the PC world," he said. "On the corporate side, they will really, really like this because they can just integrate the Mac and Windows systems."