Could Happen Sooner Than You Think.

It's a bit odd writing a thread when you know that most folks will encounter the pieces of the thread back to front. Definitely a different headset. At the moment my only concession to this oddity is to periodically drop a hint on what the hell the topic is referring to. Such as "recall that this thread started as a result of hard drive turning into burnt toast."

Even though I'm working on my brand new (alright, it's a year old but it really is hardly used) computer with its new hard drive I can't escape the feeling that I might need to go through all of this again very soon.

These feelings of dis-ease come from two sources 1) the sting of recent events, 2) every time I turn around on the apple support forums for bootcamp and winxp they are advising re-install windows.

What the bleep is up with "re-install windows" as the first "go to" answer when encountering a problem. Don't these guys have more than one or two programs they run? Don't these guys have a life? I'm running on into the third day of this installing my way back into a working environment. The flippant manner in which it is advised to *try* reinstalling windows knocks my breath away. It's not like they are saying: "yo, I know it's a pain, but I can assure you that if you install windows it will solve your problem."

Well, I'm on the phone as we speak (or I type in the present and you read in the unknown future) with AppleCare. Lord have mercy, if you are thinking about buying an iMac and using bootcamp as a way to transition from the Windows world to the Mac world give it some hard thought.

Basically, if you don't actually need to use any windows applications then by all means consider the switch. But, if you truly need any of your windows applications then look out. After calling Apply Care with an issue the first thing they determine is "are you having the problem in Leopard or in WinXP?" If the answer is WinXP then they instantly stop listening.

The way it goes is this. The computer is Apple. Boot Camp was written specifically to allow the installation of Windows on the computer. But Windows is most definitely a distant (and not looked upon fondly) third cousin. The official line from Apple Care is "If the problem is occurring in the Windows side it is Window's problem not Apples." Actually it is not Windows problem it is mine. It is my problem running Windows on a piece of hardware that I was led to believe would run it.

Frustrating? You bet.