Is there a new OS called Leopard?

[BulldogTom]

I am moving this topic from another one to start a new conversation.

I thought I heard that Apple had a new OS that ran any program, even the Microsoft Office suite of products? If any of you techie types have heard this, please post. If it runs my tax software and my MS office suite, I am willing to look when I replace my computers next time.

Tom

Lodi, CA

[JRS]

I am definitely NOT a techie, but I do follow Apple, though I have a PC. Check out the link on Leopard, it says it will run your Windows applications at "native speed", whatever that means.

http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/bootcamp.html

[Don in Upstate NY]

Check out the link on Leopard, it says it will run your Windows applications at "native speed", whatever that means.

http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/bootcamp.html

Read it carefully. It does NOT say that Leopard will run Windows applications. It says that Leopard will run Windows itself, which will then run your Windows applications. You still must buy and install Microsoft XP or Vista. If there are things that you don't like about the Windows operating system, they are still there. You just don't need two different computers to run both Windows and MAC programs.

As far as Microsoft Office goes, there has been a MAC version of that for some time (at least since 2004). Open Office also exists in a MAC version.

[Mel in Hawaii]

My personal oppinion of their "Run Windows at native speed." is so what? Basically they are saying that they have made their 'apple' equipment so 'compatible' with normal PC's that they just developed Windows drivers for their hardware (or did they? I bet they just went back to the chip designers and got them) so you can dual boot your computer. I have been dual booting my PC for ages so I can have multiple operating systems on it... I wonder if this is why that Mac 'Clone' company was able to make a go of it so easily.

So, if you want to run a Mac and live with shutting your computer down and restarting every time you want to use your tax program, it's available. But I am quite sure you wouldn't like doing it beyond the fascination of the first few tries.

I remember the day that they had the emulators that actually ran inside the Apple OS, they were slow but they did work until you got to printing (sometimes would, sometimes wouldn't, and just 1 page at a time), I have this nagging feeling that printing to OLD apple printers will still be a problem, but do these even work under the new OS? Might not, so that might not be a problem.

Hmm... Seems Don beat me to answering while I was composing my response.

[Eric]

For the most part, I don't think Apple had to develop Windows drivers for much at all. Since moving to Intel processors, most of their hardware is no different from what you find in your average PC, aside from the pretty case they pack it all into.

As for rebooting, that depends on whether you're using Boot Camp to dual-boot Windows / OS X or if you're using Parallels to run Windows as a virtual machine on top of OS X. The latest version of Parallels for OS X has a pretty slick feature called Coherence Mode.. check out the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKsW0v90zRg

I can't comment on printing since I haven't tried myself, but as PC and Mac hardware become more similar, I imagine those quirks are working themselves out.

[joelgilb]

There is the ability to run Windows under the MAC OS using "CrossoverMac" from Codeweavers or "Wine". According to their site:

"In a nutshell, you have three main choices:

* Dual-booting: running two separate operating systems on one PC, and switching between them as needed by rebooting. Applications such as Apple's Bootcamp allow this to occur on a Mac OS X machine, for example.

* Running a virtual machine: Emulation products such as VMware and Parallels allow you to run a full version of the Windows OS inside a program running on your native operating system. The Windows applications essentially run in a separate "box within a box."

* Running Wine or CrossOver: Unlike emulation, Wine is a re-implementation of the Win32 API, allowing applications to run as if natively on the target OS. CrossOver is a commercialized version of Wine."

I have never used any of the choices, nor have I ever run a Mac. This does provide another option though and one that run inside the Mac O/S without rebooting or using quirky emulators. My guess would be that this option is full of its own set of problems.

This link from Codeweavers, gives you their take on the pluses and minuses of each option.

http://www.codeweavers.com/products/differences/