The unthinkable has happened. Apple’s Mac can now run Windows. Shocked aren’t you? Well it took me a good 15 minutes to realize the news is indeed true. Whatver had happened to Steve Jobs? The Apple Cult? I wondered. Have growth and commercial gains suddenly overtaken everything else? Well here is the story, but first the reactions.

The Reactions

Apple romancing Microsoft is big time news. I expected awe, surprise, maybe even violent reactions. Not just the blogs even the main stream news expressed surprise at the move.

“I now fully expect the Earth to start revolving around a different axis,'’ joked Alex Soojung-Kim Pang, a research director for the non-profit Institute for the Future, reported Mercury News.

New York Times wrote “After long imploring computer users to “think different” and defining the Macintosh as a lone bulwark against the Windows onslaught, Apple Computer has decided to open the gate, at least a bit.”

The bloggers reactions were even more intersting. A blogger wrote “So, hell finally froze over.” Another blogger wrote “Apple announces Macs to run Windows. Sky fails to fall out of the sky; reports indicate all pigs are still earthbound.”

What the move means

Growth of Mac

Come to think of it, it’s a master move by Apple. The Mac has been a piece of art and an object of desire by consumers for long. The purchase decision by consumers has however been ruled in favor the PC that runs Windows and has a 95% share leaving Apple with just 5%. The move will entice consumers who have held off buying a Mac because they need Windows.

The move has also been endorsed by in the stock market with Apple shares shooting almost 10% closing at $67.21

Microsoft and Apple

The move is likely to benefit both Microsoft and Apple. Microsoft gets an opportunity to expand its market of Windows users at the same time it also gets an opportunity to create new applications specific for Mac users.

How it works

It works thru a beta software called Boot Camp that enables new Intel-based Macs to run Windows XP. Available as a download beginning today, Boot Camp allows users with a Microsoft Windows XP installation disc to install Windows XP on an Intel-based Mac, and once installation is complete, users can restart their computer to run either Mac OS X or Windows XP. Boot Camp will be a feature in “Leopard,” Apple’s next major release of Mac OS X, that will be previewed at Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference in August.

The installation is rather simple through a graphical step-by-step assistant application to dynamically create a second partition on the hard drive for Window.

The Apple Thinking

The Mac has always been desirable but alas the desire didn’t convert into purchase decision. Mac sales stand at little less than 5%. The Apple resurgence happened with IPod topping the charts in the gadgets of desire. IPod is still a hot selling item.

Mac has its absolute loyalists who see Macintosh almost as a religion. Steve Jobs, the thinking man, however has made friendly gestures towards Microsoft previously also. Noteworthy is the 1997 partnership and in 2003 the ITunes Windows compatibility.

Call it economics or pure business sense, the move is going to benefit both the companies and thousands of Mac users throughout the world.

Puneet Mehrotra is a web strategist at www.cyberzest.com and edits www.thebusinessedition.com
you can email him on puneet@cyberzest.com