the recent hack that allowed me to install windows xp on my macbook, as amazing as it is, is still a hack. not all the drivers exist to take advantage of the hardware. onmac.net has emerged as the main source of information (forums & wiki) as people experiment with things.
the main things are working to make it usable, like ethernet networking, but i’m still having trouble with the wifi drivers. and most notably, the ati video drivers are still missing - so no games yet.
but otherwise it’s working great (and quite zippy, too). i’ve installed microsoft office, and today set up the VPN config to my work servers. so now i can work remotely just as if i work using my work laptop.
my xbox 360 is locking up a lot with the “3 red lights” problem. crap. mine was made around launch time (Dec ‘05), when there were lots of reporting problems. i requested a replacement, which will take about a week.
it sucks, but i’m really enjoying the machine. the games are great, and it’s working out real well as a media center extender.
so according to “the plan”, we’ve got another year or so here in NYC before possibly heading off to China. NYU’s continuing studies program has some cool stuff that i’ll take advantage of. here’s the plan:
1. Certificate in Mandarin: requires taking Mandarin I-IV. I’m already taking I this Spring, and enrolled for II. hopefully i can complete this this year.
2. Certificate in Web Development: this one requires 4 courses that i think will be a breeze because 1. i already know a lot of it and 2. i love this shit. i’ll take 2 classes in the summer (Web Development With XHTML and CSS and PHP Programming), and the remaining 2 classes later (JavaScript and XML for Web Development). the costs for this certificate will be reimbursed by work.
it was pretty easy following the directions to get xp running on my macbook. now i just need to find the right drivers.
why are people so obssessed with running windows on a mac? i think everyone has different reasons and needs. for me: i *want* to use OS X all the time, but sometimes i *need* to do something in Windows. like work stuff.
well that didn’t take long…about a month? hackers have enabled windows xp to dual-boot on the new intel macs. the folks who did it win the $13k worth of donations.
WinXP on a Mac Contest is Over; Dual-Booting Success - The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)
