All of the PC emulators, however, by virtue of the fact that they had to do so much low-level work to emulate an entirely different CPU architecture, were very, very slow, compared to a real PC.
But when Apple converted its entire product line from PowerPC CPUs to the very same Intel chips used in Windows PCs, the world changed. Now that you don't need a complex software layer to emulate and translate every low-level instruction from one kind of CPU to the other, you can have a Mac that runs Windows at near-native speeds -- at least in theory.
In very short order after the first Intel-based Macs hit the streets, developers proved that Windows on Macs was more than just a theory -- it worked, and it was fast. It was a bit of a chore to set up, though -- certainly beyond the capabilities of your average user -- and was also unsupported by Apple. In other words, it was an interesting experiment, but not ready for prime time.
The arrival of Boot Camp
Almost immediately, however, the world turned upside down once again. Apple itself released the public beta of a dual-boot enabler, called Boot Camp. With very little fuss or trouble, Boot Camp allowed anyone to load and run Windows on an Intel Mac. The next version of Apple's operating system, Leopard (Mac OS 10.5), will include the ability to run Windows built in.