[Infowarrior] - Vista on your Mac? Not so fast

[Richard Forno]

Vista on your Mac? Not so fast
Headshot of Mathew Ingram

MATHEW INGRAM

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070412.TQ5MACMAC/TPStory/
/

Now that Apple computers use Intel processors -- a change the company made
last year -- Mac owners can run Windows and Apple's Mac OS X side by side.
That's thanks to a technology called "virtualization," which allows users to
switch from one operating system to the other without having to reboot their
computer.

So does that means Mac users will be able to run Microsoft Vista and have
two state-of-the-art operating systems on one machine? Not so fast.

Using virtualization software such as Parallels or VMWare, Mac users can
theoretically have Vista and OS X running side by side. But they can't use
the cheaper version of Vista designed for home users -- at least, not if
they want to abide by the terms of the End User Licence Agreement, which
software owners effectively agree to when they install a product.

That's because the Microsoft agreement states that anyone running Parallels
can't use the $199 basic or the $239 premium edition of Vista. Instead, they
have to buy the $299 business version or the $399 ultimate version of the
long-anticipated OS. MIcrosoft says the move was necessary because of
security issues with virtualization technology. A security analyst showed
last year that, in theory, the kind of virtualization that Intel and AMD
processors allow could be used to run malicious software programs alongside
another operating system, creating the potential for damage.
The Globe and Mail

AMD and Intel have both questioned whether the research is valid, however,
and said there are no inherent security issues with virtualization. But
Microsoft maintains that there's a chance such a problem could occur, and
has therefore restricted the use of Vista to versions that it assumes are
likely to be run either by corporations or by sophisticated users.

Unfortunately for anyone who plans to use their copy of Vista to play music
or watch videos while running a virtual PC on their Mac, the Vista end user
agreement also prohibits virtualization programs from playing any content
that's encrypted with Microsoft's digital-rights management software --
another security risk, according to Microsoft.

If you're a Mac user, you can get around these restrictions by using Apple's
Boot Camp software, which also allows you to run Windows Vista and OS X on
the same machine. But it's not virtualization software -- which means that
you'll have to reboot your computer in order to switch from one OS to
another.