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The Mac: Cheap Vistas Need Not Apply

I am more than a mite dumbfounded over the news that only high-end versions of Vista will be authorized to run on Intel-based Macintosh computers. Through Boot Camp, Parallels and other forms of virtualization, there is nothing technical stopping you from running XP, Vista, heck, even Windows ME on a new Mac.

But Microsoft is putting its foot down on Vista, only allowing the $300 Business edition or the $400 Ultimate to run. That's a huge hunk of change for an OS you'll only run half the time.

Microsoft argues that the lower-end versions are a security risk in these virtualized environments. I wonder what Redmond has to say about running Vista Basic under its own virtual PC?

Posted by Doug Barney on February 27, 2007


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