"Oh, and did I mention that Patrick really doesn’t like the name?"
Why would you ask if you had mentioned it? Does your blogging tool use white on white for the colors in the posting area? Can't you just look back and SEE if you mentioned it. It's like typing. "Hang on, phone. Ok I'm back.". ;)
I shudder to think what they'll call the Ibooktels.
phillip
· 3 years ago
robert, if he gets a new macbook and wants to laser etch a new name on it, we'll do it for him at MAKE...
If he has to put $2k towards a laptop, I'm sure he will take real good care of it. You value what you put time in for.
Wrenkin
· 3 years ago
It would be harder to etch than those examples since it probably only says "MacBook" on the inside, near the hinge (at least going by my iBook.)
John
· 3 years ago
There is always eBay. My son had a bunch of gadgets and old video games lying around that he never used. We just sold it on eBay and he was able to use that money to buy a Sony PSP....
Mini Scobleizer
· 3 years ago
that would be awesome I'd write like mini scobleizer or something
Stefan Constantinescu
· 3 years ago
Wait for the Lenovo X60 Tablet which is due by the end of this year.
If you got a chance to play with the X60 at CES then you know how solid of a machine it is. 12 freaking inches, dual core, 7200 RPM hard drives...
The tablet version is due by the end of the year according to the verious reps i questioned.
Little upset I missed ya at CES, oh well, the show was huge and I had A LOT fo fun.
Something you haven't been blogging about that's quite upsetting is the Sony Reader. That thing is revolutionary!
Microsoft, Sony, and all the worlds major publishers should get together in a room and figure out how to best make this mainstream technology.
Mini Scobleizer
· 3 years ago
your scared? you got to be kidding me :-) I'd love it like a brother, with a bult in camera
R Muffet
· 3 years ago
Patrick, if you can wait, then an Intel-based iBook isn't going to be too far away. Almost certainly by the time of this year's back to school buying season.
Apple have clearly positioned their first Intel Core Duo laptop as an expensive pro device. Once this audience is satisfied, the affordable consumer level laptop will appear.
As for not liking the name "MacBook Pro" - maybe there's some good news. They kept the name "iMac" so it's possible they'll keep the name "iBook." (There's no "Power" to get rid of!)
Other reasons to wait:
- it'll take a while to hack Windows drivers for it, for that ultimate dual-boot thing us geeks want - many apps will not be native for a while (esp. Photoshop), so even though the new machines are theoretically faster, they'll often be slower - iLife 06, OS X Tiger, etc will run almost as good on any existing Mac
But the biggest reason I want you to wait...
- I don't want your order to get in ahead of mine! (Just joking.)
It's a nice start from Apple, but there are more things to come.
Mini Scobleizer
· 3 years ago
but will it have an iSight bult in or front row I think not. All the cheapest ibook has is a 40Gb hd and iLife 05
Mini Scobleizer
· 3 years ago
sorry but the Macbook makes all the other aple products look pretty bad
podtech
· 3 years ago
It's called inflation ... $700 clams nice job Patrick
Christopher Coulter
· 3 years ago
Yeah, Reader is great...finally a decent eBook system. I am gonna become a biggie Evangelist for this thing, it's great. With a big pox on Microsoft for abandoning things eBooking. And it does RSS, so the blog kiddies can dance the waltz. Books, literature and such stuff doesn't provide any hook. Heh.
And oh, unless you have high-up friends pulling strings (which I'd be you do), the logisitical wait for things Lenovo is measured in months and months. But, like Stefan, I'd wait for the x60, but just be prepared to wait upon waiting. The supply chain management at Lenovo is about at the Xbox 360 competence (and lame excuse) level. And if you have any technical problems and need support, that's another forever wait. Lots of corporates finding that IBM was a Jedi Master at things logistical, compared to Lenovo. Word to wise.
Key words that factor in with anything Lenovo, "just two more weeks", heard that so many times, that it is a theme, if not a company slogan. ;)
But dang, such lustable Mac hardware. I hope this kicks them up and onward more...
14M iPods sold. The iPod business vs. the Xbox business is no contest....
Segenthaler Warefielf
· 3 years ago
Five Apple reps at the booth stated that it will be impossible to install Windows on the new Intel Macs. Sigh. I had such high hopes. Maybe a new version of Virtual PC for the Mac will talk directly to the Intel processor...
Scott
· 3 years ago
"Does it run windows?"
LOL, that takes the wind right out of the sails of one of Roberts first questions whenever someone mentions a platform other than Windows. "Does it run application X?"
Well, yes. If you dual-boot. ;) I guess he'll have to modify his question to be, "Does it have a digitizer pen?" hehehe ;)
Anona
· 3 years ago
So Roberto, all last week you were hawking all manner of Windows stuff from the CES. I asked you what will happen to MSFT on Monday and thereafter? Let's see:
You smell the coffee yet? You think all this PR and blogging is for naught?
Kevin Burton
· 3 years ago
Dude. I'm going to hook you up with a TailRank sticker as soon as I have them printed :)
Kevin
met
· 3 years ago
Anona, wait till Longhorn ships ;)
Robert Scoble
· 3 years ago
Anona: higher stock prices come from growth. Growth comes from better products. Apple has better products right now. But I've seen this before. Remember 1989? Apple had better products back then too. So, what happened? Were you even born in 1989?
Kevin: would love one!
Anona
· 3 years ago
"Remember 1989?"
Remember Standard Oil Trust, AT&T, Enron, Lucent, heck, GM? They were some of the largest, best known companies around. Some even monopolies like MSFT. The bigger you are, the harder you fall. So you have to do some remembering too.
"Apple has better products right now"
Markets look into the future too. They don't see anything exciting coming out of Redmond. You can't blog that away.
"Were you even born in 1989?"
I'm over 49. Are you?
Mark Lambourne
· 3 years ago
Does anybody else see the irony in the son of the most well-known Microsoft Evangelist being so pro-Apple?
Robert, if you can't even convince your own son of the merits of the Windows platform, how can you possibly convince the rest of the world?
I'm not trying to be argumentative - this is a genuine question. I am continually bemused at how Apple manage to brainwash so many people into being so pro-Apple.
Mark
Noirin
· 3 years ago
Of course, if etching is too tricky, or he wants to really rebrand it, he could go for one of the Aspoke laptop skins. Mine's been on my iBook for a few days now, and looks great. And when he changes his mind, he can just peel it off and get a new one :)
Chrono Cr@cker
· 3 years ago
The "i" tag in Apple sounds cool. iBook, iPod, etc. Macbook definitely sucks but it looks gorgeous. And how much does a Lenovo tablet cost anyway?
And sorry if this offends you dude but your blog design is kinda too simple & lame, would be nice if you had a layout or something other than the banner. Also, font size="2" would be great.
Hope you get to read this
~ CC
J. Random Poster
· 3 years ago
Dude,
Don't try to foist a tablet PC off on the kid. He knows what he wants, and you can either help him buy it or not. Handing him a windoze tablet would be like getting a "Kenmore" guitar from Sears when he wanted a Fender Strat.
J. Random Poster
· 3 years ago
Scoble,
Do you actually fail to see what's different between now and 1989 at Apple, or are you being a spinmeister?
Hint: in 1989, SJ was busy creating a machine with a development evironment that MS will never equal. (Yes, I've seen .NOT, and it's a joke.)
Simon Brocklehurst
· 3 years ago
RE: Comment 18, indicating that Apple reps said XP won't install on Intel-based Macs.
Tablets are cool and all, but I honestly don't see why you guys are trying to market them as the end-all, be-all of laptops. You know, if I were a graphic artist, I MIGHT consider a Tablet over a laptop with digitizer tablet. Aside from that, where the big sell?
The MacBook and the i(ntel)Mac are fast and they run OSX. More likely than not, Linux and Windows will be tearing ass on 'em with or without hacks. Sorry, folks, but that value is worth any premium on the machine. Not to mention you get a full blog/podcasting/vidcasting/photocasting suite and a myriad of awesome software by default.
Finally, I just want to say ... THIS IS HOW KEYNOTES ARE DONE. Really, Apple got more hype and ignited every tech blog and site on the Internet in one day than the entirety of CES did. Talk about mindshare...
armbrat
· 3 years ago
Robert - you ARE going to match his $700, dollar for dollar, right? When I was young, I saved up $500 for a bike and that's what my dad did! Pullin' for ya kid :p
Michael Reinhart
· 3 years ago
I could use a couple Channel 9 stickers to cover up Tetra's comments ;)
I'm not a graphic artist, and I doubt that I'd ever go back to a non-tablet machine. Until you've used OneNote (especially some of the features in version 12) with a tablet, you just don't get it. Finding that special little scribble from a meeting 3 months ago that's now burried deep in your OneNote notebook is nothing short of miraculous. I've eliminated the stacks of coil notebooks beside my desk and can actually REFER to my notes.
danja
· 3 years ago
I was rather hoping the same as Patrick, or at least that a new super-iBook would push down the price of current models. I'm in need of something considerably more mobile than what I've got. (*cough*) I haven't quite saved up the $700 yet though...
Now I've the dilemma over whether to fork out €1000 for the current iBook 12" (which I really fancy because I've never had a Mac or played with OS X) or just bite the bullet and get a cheapo Dell or somesuch and slap on Ubuntu.
Patrick, if you're reading, if you see a good alternative please ping me.
Christopher Coulter
· 3 years ago
I just realized we need a Channel 9 sticker!
What good ia a tech fad is without lots and lots of swag? And well, if so, you need to send one to Pluto, home of Esther Dyson, she collects start-uppy stickers for her laptoppies; traveling museums of the irrational exuberant.
Tetra
· 3 years ago
"Until you’ve used OneNote (especially some of the features in version 12) with a tablet, you just don’t get it. Finding that special little scribble from a meeting 3 months ago that’s now burried deep in your OneNote notebook is nothing short of miraculous."
I have used OneNote, and it's a fantastic piece of software. Don't get me wrong - every Tablet PC I've played with has been very good. Still, I guarantee you my type speed (and that of just about everyone else in the business world) renders that point moot. You can find a special scribble from a meeting 3 months ago just as quickly as I can find the entirety of minutes I typed up 3 months ago in Microsoft Word Notebook.
Like I said, good machines and all, but the fanaticism around Tablets here is kind of ... I don't know ... overblown? It's a neat feature and that's about it. If I were recommending a business laptop to someone, the ability to run MacOS, Windows and Linux on one machine would instantly trump tablet features.
paul
· 3 years ago
Apple is a cult and a member of the Blu-Ray Meanies!
Michael Reinhart
· 3 years ago
Tetra--- I agree with you. I type WAY faster than I "pen" too, but in some of the circles I work in, typing in a meeting is considered bad manners (some people just don't get it). And I agree... some of the tablet folks are a LITTLE over the top. In my opinion, for the ACTUAL cost of the components and software to drive them, and without too much of a premium, more laptops could have the funtionality just so it's there when you need it. I too would LOVE to have a Mac that could run multiple OSs, including the XP Tablet OS. I'd sign a Purchase Order today.
Scott
· 3 years ago
"Does anybody else see the irony in the son of the most well-known Microsoft Evangelist being so pro-Apple?"
Well what else can the kid rebel against?
Brad
· 3 years ago
the link to the comparison is broken - only shows an unrendered xml page.
Deg
· 3 years ago
I really wish Apple would just come out and say if the new Macs will be able to run Windows. As soon as I can play Half-Life 2 and Splinter Cell on a Mac, I'll switch.
Velocity
· 3 years ago
Scob, get the poor kid the MacBook if he agrees to run Windows on it for at least 5 minutes each day ;)
Velocity
· 3 years ago
Deg,
See my blog for the answer to that. It will run Windows and Apple won't stop you.
Brian
Simon Brocklehurst
· 3 years ago
I can relate to Patrick. I'm sad at the price of the new Bugatti Veyron:
It costs over $1M dollars to buy. That doesn't make it bad value for money though. It's actually good value for money, in the sense that it actually costs them about $5M to make each one (Robert, you need to tell Bill G to get one of these - he'd love it, it's a truly amazing car).
The thing is though: if Patrick just waits a few months for the new MacBook to come out (not the MacBook Pro which came out yesterday), he'll be able to afford one. I'm not convinced I'll *ever* have enough spare cash to *afford* a Veyron. And even if I do, it won't be in a few months...
Teresa Valdez Klein
· 3 years ago
Has anyone else noticed that the MacBook is just plain fugly? It looks like a PC.
And I too think it's hilarious that Scoble's son loves Macintosh :-). Teenage rebellion does take interesting forms in the digital world.
scobleizer
· 3 years ago
>Robert, if you can’t even convince your own son of the merits of the Windows platform, how can you possibly convince the rest of the world?
My son wants the expensive MacBook cause it'll run both Windows and OSX. Enough said. Problem is he'll probably get a iBook now, and a Tablet PC for high school. He already has a Windows machine.
He's an iPod fan, which got him sold on Apple stuff.
Loren
· 3 years ago
Tetra says: "If I were recommending a business laptop to someone, the ability to run MacOS, Windows and Linux on one machine would instantly trump tablet features."
As a developer, I'd seriously consider a single machine that could run all three OSes. However, I'm not so sure about the typical business user. The maintenance, training costs, duplication of apps needed across the OSes for a base set of functionality, and so on would probably cost too much.
I'd agree though, if you have two or three machines running different OSes today (which you don't need to use at the same time), that a single machine running all of the OSes could be a cost savings that outstrips the benefits of a Tablet PC. I don't know how common this is. I'm guessing that there are more people that could benefit from the mobility of a Tablet than the ability to have access to multiple OSes.
anon
· 3 years ago
Patrick is upset a computer costs more than $700 while you have nothing to say about Microsoft charging $299 for a CD with Windows XP on it.
Your evangelist job is too easy.
Scott
· 3 years ago
It can't run Windows, at least not until Vista comes out. It uses Intels EFI.
scobleizer
· 3 years ago
anon: I bought Patrick a computer for less than $500 that had XP on it already. So?
Tetra
· 3 years ago
"I bought Patrick a computer for less than $500 that had XP on it already."
Dude, you're getting a Dell.
Tetra
· 3 years ago
Um, seems like a Tablet iBook isn't that hard to get ...
I was alive in '89 and I remember the release of the first Powerbook, the best laptop at the time. I remember a couple (but only a couple) of people dickering around with a shitty system called Windows OS 2.0. I remember that Jobs hadn't been at the company for 4 years but had started a cool company that had great machines.
As for the last five years, I don't remember, I know, that your company's stock price has been going sideways.
Goebbels
· 3 years ago
Oh, I should also add: Apple is likely to surpass Dell in market capital tomorrow. Did anyone ever expect that to happen? Does anyone remember where Dell was in 1989?
anon
· 3 years ago
Robert, you can buy a Mac for your son for well under $500 today if you wanted to. Try ebay.
Brett Nordquist
· 3 years ago
Putting Windows on the new MacBook is like putting wood trim on your 911 Turbo.
Jason McIntosh
· 3 years ago
Keep in mind a few notes: 1) The macbook won't currently run most of the software available - especially those available from the MacBU. Office will run in Rossetta, but Virtual PC won't run at all. I'd suspect this is strongly due to endian issues as well as the libraries referenced (and using codeworks instead of Apple's developer tools) 2) Windows XP will NOT currently boot on these laptops - it's possible if the EFI system has BIOS compatibility but that's not guaranteed at all. 3) Windows Vista WILL boot on these laptops - Vista supports the new EFI standard which replaces the BIOS standard. 4) As this is a new system, keep in mind there will be other bugs and issues yet to be discovered. It's quite possible that some things will change as people play around with these - look to geek sites the next month before purchasing.
Last, until more is known, no assumptions should be made. This looks like a VERY nice laptop based on hardware specs and included features (i.e. the camera & remote for example), the basic software included (which stand-alone in the PC world costs quite a bit, and is often not as functional). I've got more than a few friends right now considering such a beast because of GarageBand and the other iLife features. Most of the musicians I know love these things, as it's an easy way to do music right out of the box. You don't have to buy any additional software. Windows, you have to find/buy tons of software immediately after purchasing such a system.
Anyways, I'd give it a month or so before purchasing, let people produce the updates, patches, etc. to get things working on these new laptops, especially office/Virtual PC
Diego Barros
· 3 years ago
There'll probably be a MacBook outsoon (i.e. not a "Pro") to replace the iBook range. Tell him to wait and get one of those.
Tempt someone with a Tablet PC? Hmmm, here son, would you like chocolate cake or a raw onion?
Come on Robert, get a MacBook Pro and try one out and let us know what you experience. :)
Jørgen Veisdal
· 3 years ago
Did you hear when they mentioned you at TWiT 38?
scobleizer
· 3 years ago
Jorgen, yeah, that's in my list of things to blog.
All Comments
Why would you ask if you had mentioned it? Does your blogging tool use white on white for the colors in the posting area? Can't you just look back and SEE if you mentioned it. It's like typing. "Hang on, phone. Ok I'm back.". ;)
I shudder to think what they'll call the Ibooktels.
http://www.makezine.com/blog/archive/2005/12/ho...
If you got a chance to play with the X60 at CES then you know how solid of a machine it is. 12 freaking inches, dual core, 7200 RPM hard drives...
The tablet version is due by the end of the year according to the verious reps i questioned.
Little upset I missed ya at CES, oh well, the show was huge and I had A LOT fo fun.
Something you haven't been blogging about that's quite upsetting is the Sony Reader. That thing is revolutionary!
Microsoft, Sony, and all the worlds major publishers should get together in a room and figure out how to best make this mainstream technology.
Apple have clearly positioned their first Intel Core Duo laptop as an expensive pro device. Once this audience is satisfied, the affordable consumer level laptop will appear.
As for not liking the name "MacBook Pro" - maybe there's some good news. They kept the name "iMac" so it's possible they'll keep the name "iBook." (There's no "Power" to get rid of!)
Other reasons to wait:
- it'll take a while to hack Windows drivers for it, for that ultimate dual-boot thing us geeks want
- many apps will not be native for a while (esp. Photoshop), so even though the new machines are theoretically faster, they'll often be slower
- iLife 06, OS X Tiger, etc will run almost as good on any existing Mac
But the biggest reason I want you to wait...
- I don't want your order to get in ahead of mine! (Just joking.)
It's a nice start from Apple, but there are more things to come.
And oh, unless you have high-up friends pulling strings (which I'd be you do), the logisitical wait for things Lenovo is measured in months and months. But, like Stefan, I'd wait for the x60, but just be prepared to wait upon waiting. The supply chain management at Lenovo is about at the Xbox 360 competence (and lame excuse) level. And if you have any technical problems and need support, that's another forever wait. Lots of corporates finding that IBM was a Jedi Master at things logistical, compared to Lenovo. Word to wise.
Key words that factor in with anything Lenovo, "just two more weeks", heard that so many times, that it is a theme, if not a company slogan. ;)
But dang, such lustable Mac hardware. I hope this kicks them up and onward more...
http://blog.ziffdavis.com/devlife/archive/2005/...
14M iPods sold. The iPod business vs. the Xbox business is no contest....
LOL, that takes the wind right out of the sails of one of Roberts first questions whenever someone mentions a platform other than Windows. "Does it run application X?"
Well, yes. If you dual-boot. ;)
I guess he'll have to modify his question to be, "Does it have a digitizer pen?" hehehe ;)
Let's see:
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?t=5d&s=MSFT&a...
And look what AAPL did after MWSF!
You smell the coffee yet?
You think all this PR and blogging is for naught?
Kevin
Kevin: would love one!
Remember Standard Oil Trust, AT&T, Enron, Lucent, heck, GM? They were some of the largest, best known companies around. Some even monopolies like MSFT. The bigger you are, the harder you fall. So you have to do some remembering too.
"Apple has better products right now"
Markets look into the future too. They don't see anything exciting coming out of Redmond. You can't blog that away.
"Were you even born in 1989?"
I'm over 49. Are you?
Robert, if you can't even convince your own son of the merits of the Windows platform, how can you possibly convince the rest of the world?
I'm not trying to be argumentative - this is a genuine question. I am continually bemused at how Apple manage to brainwash so many people into being so pro-Apple.
Mark
And sorry if this offends you dude but your blog design is kinda too simple & lame, would be nice if you had a layout or something other than the banner. Also, font size="2" would be great.
Hope you get to read this
~ CC
Don't try to foist a tablet PC off on the kid. He knows what he wants, and you can either help him buy it or not. Handing him a windoze tablet would be like getting a "Kenmore" guitar from Sears when he wanted a Fender Strat.
Do you actually fail to see what's different between now and 1989 at Apple, or are you being a spinmeister?
Hint: in 1989, SJ was busy creating a machine with a development evironment that MS will never equal. (Yes, I've seen .NOT, and it's a joke.)
An Apple SVP is quoted as saying the opposite:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10794396/from/RS.3/
The MacBook and the i(ntel)Mac are fast and they run OSX. More likely than not, Linux and Windows will be tearing ass on 'em with or without hacks. Sorry, folks, but that value is worth any premium on the machine. Not to mention you get a full blog/podcasting/vidcasting/photocasting suite and a myriad of awesome software by default.
Finally, I just want to say ... THIS IS HOW KEYNOTES ARE DONE. Really, Apple got more hype and ignited every tech blog and site on the Internet in one day than the entirety of CES did. Talk about mindshare...
I'm not a graphic artist, and I doubt that I'd ever go back to a non-tablet machine. Until you've used OneNote (especially some of the features in version 12) with a tablet, you just don't get it. Finding that special little scribble from a meeting 3 months ago that's now burried deep in your OneNote notebook is nothing short of miraculous. I've eliminated the stacks of coil notebooks beside my desk and can actually REFER to my notes.
Now I've the dilemma over whether to fork out €1000 for the current iBook 12" (which I really fancy because I've never had a Mac or played with OS X) or just bite the bullet and get a cheapo Dell or somesuch and slap on Ubuntu.
Patrick, if you're reading, if you see a good alternative please ping me.
What good ia a tech fad is without lots and lots of swag? And well, if so, you need to send one to Pluto, home of Esther Dyson, she collects start-uppy stickers for her laptoppies; traveling museums of the irrational exuberant.
I have used OneNote, and it's a fantastic piece of software. Don't get me wrong - every Tablet PC I've played with has been very good. Still, I guarantee you my type speed (and that of just about everyone else in the business world) renders that point moot. You can find a special scribble from a meeting 3 months ago just as quickly as I can find the entirety of minutes I typed up 3 months ago in Microsoft Word Notebook.
Like I said, good machines and all, but the fanaticism around Tablets here is kind of ... I don't know ... overblown? It's a neat feature and that's about it. If I were recommending a business laptop to someone, the ability to run MacOS, Windows and Linux on one machine would instantly trump tablet features.
Well what else can the kid rebel against?
See my blog for the answer to that. It will run Windows and Apple won't stop you.
Brian
http://auto.sohu.com/piclib/vw/bugatti/veyron/b...
It costs over $1M dollars to buy. That doesn't make it bad value for money though. It's actually good value for money, in the sense that it actually costs them about $5M to make each one (Robert, you need to tell Bill G to get one of these - he'd love it, it's a truly amazing car).
The thing is though: if Patrick just waits a few months for the new MacBook to come out (not the MacBook Pro which came out yesterday), he'll be able to afford one. I'm not convinced I'll *ever* have enough spare cash to *afford* a Veyron. And even if I do, it won't be in a few months...
And I too think it's hilarious that Scoble's son loves Macintosh :-). Teenage rebellion does take interesting forms in the digital world.
My son wants the expensive MacBook cause it'll run both Windows and OSX. Enough said. Problem is he'll probably get a iBook now, and a Tablet PC for high school. He already has a Windows machine.
He's an iPod fan, which got him sold on Apple stuff.
As a developer, I'd seriously consider a single machine that could run all three OSes. However, I'm not so sure about the typical business user. The maintenance, training costs, duplication of apps needed across the OSes for a base set of functionality, and so on would probably cost too much.
I'd agree though, if you have two or three machines running different OSes today (which you don't need to use at the same time), that a single machine running all of the OSes could be a cost savings that outstrips the benefits of a Tablet PC. I don't know how common this is. I'm guessing that there are more people that could benefit from the mobility of a Tablet than the ability to have access to multiple OSes.
Your evangelist job is too easy.
Dude, you're getting a Dell.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/01/11/itablet...
I was alive in '89 and I remember the release of the first Powerbook, the best laptop at the time. I remember a couple (but only a couple) of people dickering around with a shitty system called Windows OS 2.0. I remember that Jobs hadn't been at the company for 4 years but had started a cool company that had great machines.
As for the last five years, I don't remember, I know, that your company's stock price has been going sideways.
1) The macbook won't currently run most of the software available - especially those available from the MacBU. Office will run in Rossetta, but Virtual PC won't run at all. I'd suspect this is strongly due to endian issues as well as the libraries referenced (and using codeworks instead of Apple's developer tools)
2) Windows XP will NOT currently boot on these laptops - it's possible if the EFI system has BIOS compatibility but that's not guaranteed at all.
3) Windows Vista WILL boot on these laptops - Vista supports the new EFI standard which replaces the BIOS standard.
4) As this is a new system, keep in mind there will be other bugs and issues yet to be discovered. It's quite possible that some things will change as people play around with these - look to geek sites the next month before purchasing.
Last, until more is known, no assumptions should be made. This looks like a VERY nice laptop based on hardware specs and included features (i.e. the camera & remote for example), the basic software included (which stand-alone in the PC world costs quite a bit, and is often not as functional). I've got more than a few friends right now considering such a beast because of GarageBand and the other iLife features. Most of the musicians I know love these things, as it's an easy way to do music right out of the box. You don't have to buy any additional software. Windows, you have to find/buy tons of software immediately after purchasing such a system.
Anyways, I'd give it a month or so before purchasing, let people produce the updates, patches, etc. to get things working on these new laptops, especially office/Virtual PC
Tempt someone with a Tablet PC? Hmmm, here son, would you like chocolate cake or a raw onion?
Come on Robert, get a MacBook Pro and try one out and let us know what you experience. :)
P.S.-Hello Jon,your wierd