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Since Windows can't natively read or write to the Mac's default disk format (HFS+), you have no access to the data held on the Mac partition when running Windows off Boot Camp, without installing applications such as MacDrive (www.mediafour.com). This might not be such a bad thing; you're not opening up the data held on your Mac's hard disk to attack through sloppily configured Windows installations. Mac data is held on a different (and differently formatted) partition in the case of Boot Camp, and in an entirely different way - a virtual C drive rather than an actual volume - in the case of virtualised solutions.

You should also be aware that the EULA for Windows Vista prohibits its use with virtualisation software except with the Business and Ultimate editions.

Finally, remember that if you install Windows using Boot Camp you'll get no technical support from Apple, and may find it trickier to get support from software and hardware developers on the Windows side.

Is it worth buying a cheap wine?

There's a third option if you want to run Windows applications within Mac OS X, and it's very cheap; you don't even have to pay for a copy of Windows.

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That's because the applications designed to run under Windows are run natively under Mac OS X. This is achieved with Wine, a project that allows Unix-like operating systems such as Mac OS X to execute Windows applications via the X Window System. Install discs for Mac OS X contain X11 to provide this X Window System, so all you need to get started is a version of Wine.

The Wine system, originally designed to allow Windows applications to run under Linux, should be regarded as a beta software experience; it isn't for the faint-hearted. There are many concurrent Wine projects for the Mac - among them Darwine, porting the Wine libraries to the Darwin layer that underpins Mac OS X, and Cider, a developer-only tool from TransGaming Technologies to begin to enable Windows games to run under Mac OS X - but the most end-user-friendly of these is CrossOver Mac ($59.95 from www.codeweavers.com). CrossOver will run many Windows applications within Mac OS X on Intel hardware, and while our testing suggests that it's a feasible alternative for low-power and office applications, it isn't without its flaws, such as its moderate instability and sluggish performance.

The company is commendably upfront about this, however; a statement from the CEO giving feedback on its real-world experiences of using CrossOver Mac says that, "If you decide to purchase CrossOver Mac [even without reading about these experiences], and feel that you did not receive a fair value, we will refund your money, no questions asked."

You can check how well certain Windows applications fare at www.codeweavers.com/compatibility, but remember that if an application doesn't appear on the list, it just means that the company hasn't tested it.