Apple began hiring engineers to “build the next generation of media apps for Windows” in 2019, which resulted in the Apple TV app for Xbox last year. 9to5Mac has now learned that the company is working to bring Music and Podcasts apps to Microsoft Store, which could be released to the public later this year.
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We already know that the new Macs powered by the M1 chip have impressive performance that beats nearly all current Macs with Intel processors, but what about Windows PCs? PCWorld compared Microsoft’s Surface Pro X with Apple’s new M1 MacBook Air and the results put the Surface tablet far behind the Mac.
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Last week we heard from Apple’s VP of software engineering Craig Federighi that the ARM version of Windows 10 could run natively on Apple Silicon M1 Macs but was “really up to Microsoft.” Now a developer has found a workaround enabling the first virtualization of ARM Windows running successfully on an M1 Mac and claims the performance is “pretty snappy.”
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While the transition to Apple Silicon has been impressively smooth overall for the first M1 Macs, a big lingering question is what Windows support will look like as Boot Camp is not supported on the new generation of Macs. Now in a new in-depth interview, Apple’s VP of software engineering Craig Federighi has said that the ARM version of Windows could run natively on Apple Silicon Macs, but it will be up to Microsoft.
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Traditional Boot Camp installations can take up a lot of storage space on your Mac. Considering that many Macs out there have relatively minuscule amounts of onboard storage, installing Boot Camp to run Windows isn’t always a feasible option. With this in mind, setting up an external Windows drive on your Mac might prove to be handy.
In this video walkthrough, I show you step-by-step how to deploy a Windows installation using Boot Camp drivers on an external drive connected to your Mac. Be sure to subscribe to 9to5Mac on YouTube for more handy tutorials like this.
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Apple software has been available on Windows for years, including the popular iTunes — which has been discontinued on the Mac, but is still the main Apple Music client for Microsoft’s operating system. However, a new Apple app might be coming to Windows 10 this year.
At WWDC this week, Apple detailed its roadmap to transition the Mac lineup from Intel processors to Apple Silicon chips. One of the biggest questions about this transition has been what it means for the future of Boot Camp, and a new statement from Microsoft provides little clarity on what the future holds for Windows virtualization on Mac.
A zero-day vulnerability in iTunes and iCloud apps on Windows PCs enabled attackers to install ransomware without triggering antivirus protections. Ransomware encrypts the entire hard drive or SSD with a key known only to the attacker, enabling them to demand a ransom to decrypt the machine…
Microsoft finally looks set to give Windows 10 PCs and tablets a feature that has been available on Macs since 2011: Internet Recovery …
Parallels is upgrading its Mac app today with three new Toolbox Packs that include various collections of features for specific needs. Each Toolbox Pack is available for Parallels on both macOS and Windows, and Toolbox Packs can be bought individually or as a bundle so customers have more choice.
Two bits of news on Texture, the digital magazine service Apple bought in March: Texture apparently had a Windows app (not just iOS and Android apps), and that app is getting killed next month. The Verge reports that customers were notified over email and within the Windows app. Texture has also shared the news on its website:
A survey of U.S. computer owners found that 21% of Windows laptop users planned a future switch to Mac, while just 2% of Mac owners intended to switch to Windows …
Huawei is in the middle of launching its latest Windows 10 notebook, the new Matebook range – and is making some interesting comparisons with the 12-inch MacBook.
On one slide, the company claims that the Matebook X is ‘thinner but even more powerful’ than Apple’s MacBook – a comparison which may or may not be accurate …
Last week Microsoft revealed a new version of its operating system called Windows 10 S that only runs software from the Windows Store — which means apps like Apple’s iTunes and Google’s Chrome won’t work. Today at Microsoft’s Build conference for developers, however, the company announced that Apple is working on bringing iTunes to the Windows Store after all.
Microsoft held a media event in New York City today focused on a new version of Windows, a new laptop line, and how it all relates to education. Windows 10 S is a streamlined version of Microsoft’s operating system geared for students and educators. The Microsoft Surface Laptop is a new line of MacBook Air-like notebooks with up to 14.5-hour battery life.
Wine is a tool that’s gained popularity for allowing users to run Windows and Linux software on macOS. Today, the tool was updated to version 2.0 with a host of new features, bug fixes, and performance improvements.
Apple last night confirmed it will live stream the opening press event for its Worldwide Developers Conference on Monday, but the stream is limited to certain devices. The company will stream the event to iPhone, iPad, and Mac users via its Safari browser, and to Apple TV users, and it’s also recently added support for Windows 10 via Microsoft Edge.
A new open source project called PieMessage enables cross-platform iMessage support, allowing Android users to communicate using Apple’s iPhone messaging platform.
In the video below, we get a short look at the PieMessage app in action with a still unreleased prototype version of the app.
The United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team has today issued a new note in which it revealed that Apple has no further plans to provide security updates for QuickTime for Windows. The note follows an earlier report from Trend Micro and comes as two new vulnerabilities have been discovered that could affect QuickTime for Windows users.
Update: A source close to Microsoft tells me the software – which is not yet complete – will be used only by public sector agencies. No information was provided as to how the software differs from the standard Chinese version of Windows 10.
While Apple has strongly resisted building a special ‘GovtOS’ to provide the U.S. government with access to iOS devices, it appears that Microsoft has no such qualms. TechInAsia reports that Microsoft has created a special version of Windows 10 for China, called Windows 10 Zhuangongban, which includes “more management and security controls.”
Over the last few days I’ve been finding myself using a keyboard designed for Windows users on my Mac. The reason behind such a change was that my MacBook Pro’s keyboard was causing wrist pain. The shallow key travel of the MacBook’s keyboard is partly to blame.
I just so happened to have an AmazonBasics wired keyboard available thanks to my recent Hackintosh build, so I decided to use it with my Mac. Immediately, I could sense relief in my wrists, but because this was a keyboard designed for Windows and not for Mac, the switch presented a whole new problem.
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Microsoft is currently running a new series of ads featuring ‘The Bug Chicks’, with each ad directly targeting a weakness in Apple’s Mac operating system. Kristie and Jess, curiously labelled as ‘real people paid for real opinions’, walk through several ways that Windows 10 helps them teach kids about bugs and the microscopic world.
The ad series focuses on several different competitive advantages Windows currently holds over OS X, such as touchscreen-equipped laptops for sketching and drawing, Cortana as a personal voice search assistant and face recognition for hands-free account login. Some of the things Microsoft highlights, like the absence of Siri on OS X are expected to be addressed by Apple later in the year, of course. Watch all four videos after the jump:
Microsoft opened up a beta test program for Windows users last November, letting Microsoft Office fanatics get early access to upcoming new features. Microsoft is now rolling out the program to the Mac, so OS X users can (optionally) join the beta program too. For the first round of the beta program, Microsoft will be adding inking and realtime typing / collaboration to PowerPoint. Expect these features in the ‘coming weeks’. More details available here.
