An Unfortunate Side Effect of Boot Camp

Until this afternoon I was practically wetting myself over the fact that Intel-based Macs can now easily dual boot both Windows XP and Mac OS X. This is obviously a cool development with many potential upsides for all involved. My problem with it began when I read Greg Storey's account of his Mac-hating buddy lining up at the Apple Store to buy a shiny new MacBook Pro on which to run Windows XP. How is this a problem? Until now the Apple store had been a sort of refuge from your typical computer geek (not used affectionately here). You know the type; poorly dressed, coffee-breath-breathing, wannabe I.T. workers stalking confused-looking consumers in the aisles of your local Best Buy, waiting for someone to ask a question about the benefits of Windows vs. Mac OS X or firewire vs. USB 2.0. These guys (this is an almost exclusively male pursuit) live to spew incomprehensible streams of tech jargon (mostly incorrect) towards unaware and visibly impressed neophtyes for hours on end. Usually the Best Buy help makes some vain attempt at rectifying the situation, but ultimately succumb to the superior punditry of the formidable, slightly chubby geek that has wooed the potential customer into his lair of lies and half-truths. This is my fear - an army of these guys descending on the local Apple Store, braying about how "it's about time Apple realized that OS X sucks - good hardware - but they had to admit they needed a new OS - so they're moving towards Windows XP." Look out Genius Bar resident gurus, you may be in for some "heavy" competition.

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