Digital Darkroom: Windows On Your Mac?

Apple recently made a rather mind-blowing announcement: Intel-based Macs now permit loading and running Windows XP natively via Boot Camp software. Apple released a public beta version of the Boot Camp software and announced that its upcoming update to OS X, 10.5, or “Leopard” in its feline naming convention, will fully support a “dual boot” system. Leopard is due out in early 2007.

This isn’t the first time Mac users have been able to run Windows. Emulation software has made this possible for years. However, in addition to being rather expensive, emulation software has the cumbersome and slow task of translating Windows code into something that Mac OS understands. And you’re still essentially bound to one operating system or the other.

What’s different is that in a dual boot configuration, you’re not translating anything. You’re actually running Windows on a Mac, as if it was designed for it. On startup, you select whether you want to run Windows or Mac OS. From there, it’s just like running Windows on your PC.

This is a significant shift in the power struggle between Windows and Mac OS. Apple hopes to capitalize on the iPod user base, many of whom have been looking enviously at Apple computer hardware, but who have found it more practical to work with Windows for a variety of good reasons.