Google and Microsoft Both Want To Stop Dual-Boot Windows/Android Device 153
An anonymous reader writes "The laptop has undergone many changes over the past decade. At various times, netbooks, ultrabooks, and Chromebooks have been en vogue. Over the past several months, we've seen signs of the next step in the laptop's evolution: Android/Windows dual-boot laptops. Several companies have built these machines already, including Asus and its upcoming Transformer Book Duet TD300. However, neither Google nor Microsoft seem to want such an unholy marriage of operating systems, and they've both pressured Asus to kill off the dual-boot product lines. Asus has now complied. 'Google has little incentive to approve dual-OS models, since that could help Microsoft move into mobile devices where Android is dominant. ... Microsoft has its own reasons for not wanting to share space on computers with Google, particularly on business-oriented desktop and laptop PCs that could give the Internet giant an entry point into a Microsoft stronghold. Computer makers that make dual-OS machines risk jeopardizing a flow of marketing funds from Microsoft that are an important economic force in the low-margin PC business.'"
Eh..... (Score:4, Informative)
* Apple has Boot Camp because they have to allow Dual Booting in order to lure in the majority of computer users—Windows users. They sure as hell aren't helping Linux users out.
* Apple introduced Boot Camp when they were still user-friendly—before they started constructing their walled guarden (located at 1984 Infinite Loop).
* Of course Apple provides the Windows drivers for Apple's own machines; every vendor that supports Windows has always had to do so.
Re:All at your expense (Score:4, Informative)
And having installed Macs using Boot Camp, it's one of the slickest ways to install Windows. The tool basically creates a boot (DVD/USB/etc) with the drivers slipstreamed in and everything, so you install Windows and everything just works.
Previous versions of Boot Camp did require you to install the drivers after Windows, but modern versions slipstream them in, so after installing, everything is loaded. No need to hunt through Windows Update and websites downloading and installing drivers.
And no crapware, either. Only Apple can make installing Windows easy.
Re:Forget the customer (Score:4, Informative)
What kind of job do you do that requires a meatloaf peeler?
Among others, Oracle ASM disk management.