Mac and Windows?

Question

I have a PowerBook G4 PowerPC processor. I was wondering earlier that can Mac with PowerPC processors boot on Windows?

Mac users, try this:

> Open System Preferences > Startup Disk > Target Disk mode...

when I click that one it says that it will boot on another computer using FireWire, any firewire 6 pin or 9 pin.
Will it boot on Windows?

Answer 1

PowerPC uses a different architecture set than x86 based machines. Windows has only x86 support on its kernel and applications (windows mobile will do some RISC architectures too, but that is another subject). You cannot boot windows in a PPC Apple unless you emulate the processor thru the use of a virtual machine, like vmware.

Answer 2

If your MacBook is based on the Intel chipset, then you could run either MacOS or Windows. If you add some third-party software, you can even run them both at the same time. Why would you want Windows? Well, the only reason I like having it is for some very specialized programs I have to run. Others might have a very big investment in Windows software they can't just throw out. Others may just prefer Windows. Vista has a firewall (as does XP). It has more aggresive security settings than its predecessors. Many people find it quite annoying and turn it down to where it's rather pointless. As far as virus issues, Macs aren't immune, but they've always had a better security model than Windows from the start. Vista is about as bad XP in this regard...you still have to have some third-party virus protection to be reasonably safe. The best machine I've ever had for running Windows is my current iMac. Apple really went above and beyond supplying the necessary drivers to make XP work nicely on Apple hardware.

Answer 3

No. PowerPC Macs cannot boot to Windows. Intel Macs can, but you need to use Boot Camp to do it.

Answer 4

You need an INTEL based mac to do that