Boot Camp allows users with a Windows XP installation disc to install the software on an Intel-Mac without moving their Mac data. Users can still run Mac OS X, and use a Windows application when needed.
The move is a concession for the 30-year-old company that has always pushed its own OS X operating system. But it is not a submission.
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 Apple SVP of worldwide product marketing Philip Schiller, in a statement.
We think Boot Camp makes the Mac even more appealing to Windows users considering making the switch.
Boot Camp is just a public beta, but the software will be a feature of Leopard, Apple’s next major OS release, which may be released later this year or in early 2007, and will be previewed in August at a company developer conference.
Apple chief executive Steve Jobs announced in January that PowerPC processors from IBM would be phased out of Macs by the end of this year in favor of chips from Intel Corp. At the time, there was speculation that Intel-based Macs would open the door for users to run Microsoft Corp’s Windows on the machines, much to the horror of Apple enthusiasts.
When Microsoft said a couple of weeks ago that Vista, its forthcoming Windows OS release, would be once again delayed, it was widely speculated that this would be a business opportunity for Apple as disgruntled Windows users may turn to the latest Mac.
Cupertino, California-based Apple has cultivated a loyal following of Mac OS X users and this has helped it maintain a market share of less than 3% of all the world’s PCs.
But Boot Camp is a push to give Mac users the confidence to run Microsoft Corp on their Intel-based hardware. Clearly, Apple expects Boot Camp will draw fresh Mac customers, but the fallout from Mac purists remains to be seen.
Mac loyalists, however, will likely appreciate the sarcasm on Apple’s Boot Camp web site: 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.
For many, Macs have been a stylish and safer alternative to beige-box Windows PCs, since Macs have a sleek design and there have not been any major viruses written for OS X.
Of course, this is not lost on Apple. The company said on its Boot Camp site: 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.
