Here’s a 30th anniversary surprise you might not have been expecting: Boot Camp, an official Apple-produced means of installed Windows on an Intel Mac.
From the press announcement:
“Apple has no desire or plan to sell or support Windows, but many customers have expressed their interest to run Windows on Apple’s superior hardware now that we use Intel processors,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “We think Boot Camp makes the Mac even more appealing to Windows users considering making the switch.”
Boot Camp simplifies Windows installation on an Intel-based Mac by providing a simple graphical step-by-step assistant application to dynamically create a second partition on the hard drive for Windows, to burn a CD with all the necessary Windows drivers, and to install Windows from a Windows XP installation CD. After installation is complete, users can choose to run either Mac OS X or Windows when they restart their computer.
Boot Camp is available as a free 83MB download, right now, and will be included in OS X 10.5.
I sent my review MacBook Pro back to Apple just a few days ago. I wish I’d held on to it a little longer now…
Update: There are some amusing comments from Apple in the Boot Camp page sidebar.
On EFI and BIOS:
Macs use an ultra-modern industry standard technology called EFI to handle booting. Sadly, Windows XP, and even the upcoming Vista, are stuck in the 1980s with old-fashioned BIOS. But with Boot Camp, the Mac can operate smoothly in both centuries.
And on Windows security:
Windows running on a Mac is like Windows running on a PC. That means it’ll be subject to the same attacks that plague the Windows world. So be sure to keep it updated with the latest Microsoft Windows security fixes.
Let me say, as a developer that has to develop intel and mac versions of software, woohoo. This, for me, is exciting I can get down to one machine. I just wish that it were in a window ala WMWare of Virtual PC. However. My travels can get lighter, I can buy an intel mac and be down to one machine not two.
Now i just need that 17" MacBookPro.
Nice digs at Windows in the sidebar... maybe they didn't want to look too enthusiastic about being able to run Windows, even if it probably will sell more computers? :-)
Well, I'm no big fan of Windows, but as a Mac user in an all-Windows corporation, I can certainly benefit greatly from being able to run Windows once in a while. This is good news, I think, and it means a Mac is now a more viable option for many users, especially corporate ones.
They soooooo should have announced this on April 1st. It would have been mind-bendingly perfect. No-one would have believed them, yet it would have been true. Woulda been GMail, but times a hundred.
Can a person who installs Windows on MacBook also install Windows applications in the Windows partition and use them normally--for example Access with its Database and QuickBooks (Intuit) with POS. I too would love to be down to one computer when I travel! Your response will help determine whether I feel free to use this as I would with any "normal" pc. thankyou. jk