Charles Wolf, an analyst for Needham & Co, believes Apple is in position to achieve a massive growth in its marketshare. Apple currently only has about 5-6% marketshare of personal computers. But thanks to the popularity of the iPod, consumers are very ready to make the switch.

Wolf's research suggests that consumers and others may be on the edge of a mass Mac migration: "The magnitude of possible Windows defectors suggests that Apple should go all out to remove the few remaining hurdles to running Windows apps on a Mac," Wolf writes.

"Our online survey of college students reveals the possibility of a dramatic increase in switching," he adds.

The analyst also pointed out that the move means Intel Macs "should" be able to run Windows applications as fast as they run on PCs, "after a few technical problems are solved".

Wolf's survey showed that if Apple was to make it easy for Macs to run Windows applications the number of students who would buy an Apple computer would double.

[Source: MacWorld]