Boot Camp is About the Sergeants

My friends have already weighed in on Boot Camp, so now it is my turn. Boot Camp is a very crafty move on Apple's part. It's a direct strike at the remaining want-to-switchers. People want to think that you are Mac, or you are Windows, or you are Linux. Fact is, most people are none of those.

They are none of those because most computer users think in terms of sending email, browsing the web, writing papers, and looking at digital photos. Rarely to they think in terms of Outlook, Firefox, Word, and iPhoto. They might associate those names to apps they use, but they don't really care as long as they get to do what they want to do.

The Windows world is at a crossroads. Vista is long overdue, malware infestation is at an all-time high, and resent for Microsoft has been building for years. So, if you agree with me so far, why aren't people running in to the open arms of Apple? I'd say it is because no one is telling them to.

Most computer owners have the computer they do because someone told them that's the one to buy. Maybe their friend did, maybe their children did, maybe the guy at Best Buy did. My point is, they didn't know enough about the alternatives to even consider them. Most readers of this blog won't fit in to this category, but your friends and parents might. Those making the recommendations are the sergeants. They are respected enough when it comes to computers for folks to act on their recommendation.

With Boot Camp, Apple is targeting those sergeants. Apple doesn't expect every IntelMac owner will install XP. In fact, they'd probably prefer you ditch Windows all together, but you and I know that you can't just quit Windows. You need it for work, or you need it for your taxes, or you need it for a game, or you need it for some ancient piece of hardware that you still use. Apple doesn't expect basic users to use Boot Camp, but they sure are hoping that advanced users will know about it. Those advanced users might have been siting on the fence, clinging to that last excuse of not being able to run Windows apps as the reason they haven't tried what Apple is cooking.

Now they can, and Apple is happy to let the entire OS X experience speak for itself. Advanced XP users can slowly explore OS X and still have a safety net of booting in to XP. Over time, I'd expect a few of the advanced users to become true switchers and then have an influence on those around them when it comes to buy new computers.

This is just my opinion. This really-really-really-really smart dude thinks Boot Camp will convince Mac users to swtich to Windows. Uhhh, yeah.