Apple said on Wednesday it has released a public beta version of Boot Camp, software that lets Microsoft Windows XP run natively on Intel-based Macs.
The software, which will be included in Mac OS X 10.5, called Leopard, is available for download now on Apple's Web site. Apple will also preview Boot Camp in August at its Worldwide Developer Conference, the company said.
"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. We think Boot Camp makes the Mac even more appealing to Windows users considering making the switch," Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice-president of worldwide product marketing, said in a statement.
Microsoft officials were not immediately available for comment.
With Boot Camp, Intel-based Mac users can choose between running Mac OS or Windows XP each time they boot their system.
The move in this direction began last June when Apple chief executive Steve Jobs announced that Apple was shifting to Intel-based computers. Apple also said it had been developing Mac OS X with the intention that it would be able to run on Intel chips and PowerPC chips, which was previously the sole processor used in Macs.
In January, Apple released the first Intel-based Macs with Intel's Duo dual-core chip, making the machines two to three times faster than similar Macs with PowerPC chips. Since then, speculation has grown about whether Apple would enable Microsoft's ubiquitous operating system to run natively on its computers.
While Apple has prohibited people from running Mac OS X on anything other than an Apple, it has never tried to prevent Mac owners from trying to run Windows on their machines. Still, the company has not been a large supporter of the idea. That's something Apple senior software architect Cameron Esfahani made clear at the Intel Developer Forum in March.
Customers, however, have been clamouring to see it happen. There have even been XP-on-Mac contests in recent weeks.
This latest capability, coupled with the tremendous popularity that the iPod has brought to Apple, could bring more people over to the Apple side, analysts said.
"In short, we believe this news, more than any news in recent memory, provides a critical boost to Apple's ability to gain share in the PC market," JPMorgan said in a report issued on Wednesday.
Talkback
Is this the beggining of Applintel-era? There is no Mac with AMD-inside for now.
Tomahawk dual boot makes more sense
If somebody wants Windows, can buy a computer with Windows preinstalled almost half the price of Apple and as a bonus can enjoy all kind of viruses, worms, adware, spyware, etc.
If you invest in an Apple machine, why buy Windows? Is the printer not compatible with MacOSX? Is the digital camera cannot be used with MacOSX? Or simply wants play games?
I personally use Tomahawk Desktop (http://www.tomahawkcomputers.com/), a multimedia Linux, on an inexpensive yet powerful laptop with Windows XP dual boot. Its pretty easy set up dual boot with Tomahawk Desktop, you don't have to meddle with firmware!
I don't need drivers to connect my camera to the Tomahawk Desktop, Instead of Photoshop, I use Gimp to touch up my photos, Instead of Illustrator, I use Inkscape to create my artworks, Instead of PageMaker, I use Scibus to create my PDF brochures. When I need to print my photos or brochures, boot to Windows and just print on those professional printers. If I was on either Apple or Windows, I would have to buy and buy and buy all software I need. Now for the savings I made, I can buy another computer. Once printer drivers available to Tomahawk Desktop, I don't have to boot to Windows.
Now days I'm learning how to use Blender, a 3D modeling and rendering tool similar to Maya included in the Tomahawk Desktop. You know how much I can save if I get this to work.
how about running window-based applications on the previous mac version such as ibookG4 or older???