According to Apple, Windows Vista delivers a pretty sweet performance when running on top of the Cupertino-based company's proprietary hardware. The fact of the matter is that "Vista blazes when running under Boot Camp on a Mac." The statement came in the hands of Charlie Owen, a product manager on the Media Center team, over at Microsoft via the Apple Hot News RSS feed and subsequently got reproduced. Apple recently made available Boot Camp Beta version 1.4 on the heels of launching its new line of iMac machines.

"If you install Boot Camp on a well-equipped Mac model, it can become a blazing fast Vista computer. That's what Walter Mossberg (Wall Street Journal) concluded after installing Vista and Boot Camp on a new iMac. Mossberg tested the iMac's performance "using Vista's built-in Windows Experience Index, a rating system that goes from 1 to 5.9, with scores above 3.0 generally required for full, quick performance. My iMac scored a 5.0, the best score of any consumer Vista machine I have tested." That score, he remarks, is "very impressive for a computer that wasn't designed with Vista in mind." [Aug 23, 2007]," Owen revealed reproducing Apple's perspective over the integration of Windows Vista with the iMac computers via Boot Camp.

There is plenty of room to grow for Apple as long as it is not going head to head against Windows with Mac OS X. By permitting its operating system to run along with Microsoft rival platform on its Macs the Cupertino-based company can not only increase the market share of Mac OS X but also its footprint on the computer market. "Seriously, if the MacOS is all that why even bother installing another operating system. Oh, what? You want a blazing fast computer? Then install Windows Vista on that MacBook (Pro) and you'll have your wish. Of course, some folks will point out Mossberg limited it to comparisons with 'Vista' computers. Lots of people will miss that distinction as I did when I first read this pull quote," Owen added.

Still, it is a matter of perspective over whether running 32-bit Windows XP and Windows Vista on the Mac platform is a victory for Microsoft or for Apple. Or maybe it's the fact that the two companies are once again coming together like in the late 70s. "Furthermore, what Apple is reinforcing is the concept of the Mac being the best Windows Vista machine out there. If true, that backs up my assertion that the Mac hardware is gaining personal computer market share directly as a result of the fact it is a Windows machine, capable of running the best darn operating system in the world: Windows Vista. Yeah, there is a Halo Effect -- it's called 'we do Windows and do it great," Owen concluded.