Boot Camp passes muster in speed tests

Apple hardware is just as good at running Windows as any other x86 system, tests confirm

Despite Apple’s historic disdain for Microsoft’s Windows operating system, Apple’s Boot Camp software lets Windows applications run just as well on a Mac as they do on a PC, performance tests confirm.

According to tests carried out by CNET product reviewers, a MacBook Pro and iMac running Intel’s Core Duo processor and Windows XP delivers equal performance to similarly configured PCs designed to run Windows. On Wednesday, Apple released a beta version of Boot Camp, an application that lets Mac users run the Windows XP operating system on their Macs.

While the results may seem obvious given that the systems had similar configurations, they help answer some of the questions raised by consumers or businesses thinking about running Windows on a Mac when Apple releases a new operating system with Boot Camp integrated later this year.

Apple wants Windows users to fall in love with the Mac OS, and the best way to do that is to remove any objections to a dual-boot Mac, said Sam Bhavnani, an analyst at Current Analysis. If an Apple system running Windows wasn’t as good as a comparable Windows system from another PC vendor, some people wouldn’t want to take the plunge, he said.

Read more: ZDNet Uk