Apple move will help lift sales

By REUBEN SCHWARZ (来源：老牌的英语学习网站 http://www.EnglishCN.com)

Sales of Apple computers should rise in New Zealand now models with Intel chips can boot Windows XP, but there won't be any dramatic spike in market share, reckons analyst firm IDC.

"They are trying to open themselves up to a wider audience," says IDC analyst Liam Gunson. "I don't see it having a big effect. A lot more people know about Apple now because of the iPod phenomenon, but they're a long way off being in the top three spots of the PC market."

Apple announced a beta version of its "Boot Camp" software last week, which allows an Intel-based Mac to boot Windows XP as well as the Mac OS X operating system.

The final version will come standard with Apple's next operating system, codenamed "Leopard", due out at the end of the year.

Boot Camp users have a choice of booting either to the Mac OS or Windows. It is not a virtual PC that runs Windows XP applications through a window in the Mac OS.

It isn't clear whether Boot Camp will run Windows Vista, Microsoft's next operating system due out in early 2007.

Mr Gunson says Boot Camp may lure customers who wouldn't normally consider a Mac because they couldn't run Windows applications such as their favourite games. These people might then switch over to the Mac OS after using it.

AdvertisementAdvertisementHowever, he says New Zealand is a very price-sensitive market and Apple's products will probably remain high-end niche computers.

There is a slight danger Apple could be seen as just another high-end maker of PCs that run Windows, similar to Sony's position today, but Mr Gunson says this is only likely to happen if Apple promotes Windows over its own operating system, which is unlikely.

Die-hard Mac fans are scathing in their criticism of Windows, which they view as slower, less secure and less user-friendly than Apple's operating system.

Intel-based Macs start up using a technology called EFI, which isn't supported by Windows. Boot Camp allows EFI to communicate with the Bios-based Windows technology.

"Sadly, Windows XP, and even the upcoming Vista, are stuck in the 1980s with old-fashioned Bios," says Apple's website.

"But with Boot Camp, the Mac can operate smoothly in both centuries."