Imaging for Intel Macs Part 2: How to Efficiently Deploy Windows with Mac OS X on Intel Macs

• By Ryan Faas
• Aug 4, 2006

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Part 1 of this series on using disk image deployment techniques for Intel Macs looked at the issues created by the fact that separate releases of Mac OS X exist for Intel and Power PC Mac models. This article discusses the opportunity that Intel Macs offer because of their capability to run both Mac OS X and Windows XP. There are a separate set of challenges that this poses to systems administrators who want to develop an easy method for deploying both platforms on Intel Macs and to ensure that both platforms have access to needed resources.

Advantages of Dual Boot Macs (and Labs)

When Apple announced Boot Camp earlier this year, it took the entire computing world by storm. It was suddenly possible to run Windows and Mac OS X on the same computer. The implications for individual Mac users and those considering switching to the Mac were huge. But the implications for businesses that relied on Macs for certain tasks (such as video editing or graphic design) and PCs for other tasks (such as specialized accounting or help desk tracking packages) were even bigger because there might be a single hardware platform throughout the company. Workers who previously needed a Mac for some tasks and a PC for others could now make do with a single computer (and without the need for software emulation through Virtual PC).

The implications are even bigger for education. For years, schools and colleges have been struggling with the question of whether to purchase Macs or PCs. Although Apple has always had a large stake in the education market, over the past decade the argument that kids should be learning on Windows computers because that is what most of the business world uses has forced school districts and colleges to try to strike a balance in their purchasing decisions between outfitting classrooms and computer labs with Macs or PCs. In the era of Macs that can run Windows, there is no longer a need to make a classroom one or the other.

The question now is how to efficiently take advantage of that potential. There are established methods for making Mac OS X deployments relatively easy and quick and there are also techniques for doing that when deploying Windows. However, combining the two into a single approach is completely new ground.