Apple Officially Releases Beta Dual Boot Loader

Slippy Douglas writes "Apparently, Apple has made good on one of the 30th anniversary product rumours. Apple today announced the Boot Camp Public Beta, which allows Intel Macs to easily and legally multi-boot. Boot Camp will be a standard feature in Mac OS X 10.5."

Honestly, why bother?

[Anonymous Coward]

You get the stability of Windows with the value-of-money of Apple hardware. Sign me up.

April Fools?

[Comics]

A bit late for April Fools isn't it? Hell is freezing over...

Doh!

[toupsie]

Steve Jobs just missed out on winning $12,000 in the boot XP on a Mac contest!!! And you know the dude needs the cash since he is only paid $1 a year as Apple's CEO. I bet he is just kicking himself right now.

Well, There Goes My Business Model

[eldavojohn]

Damn. We were almost lucky enough to lose a CNET columnist [slashdot.org]. Oh well, I guess the life insurance policy I took out on him will never come to fruition ...

Too late for the prize...

[drrck]

If Apple had really been thinking they would have released this sooner to get all that sweet prize money...

Re:Linux?

[ditangquan]

I hate to say it, but OMG PONIES! and I mean that....yowza.

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

weird

[trybywrench]

I'm not sure how i'd feel about having xp boot on my mac. It's like making out with your 2nd cousin, yeah sure you're making out with someone but it just doesn't feel right.

Re:Amazing

[FyRE666]

This will change the face of Apple computers.

Yeah, it's the virtual ugly stick!

They even made the windows logo better.

[sdpurns]

What I find hilarious is that Apple's interpretation of the Windows logo is the first time it's ever looked good. This is the ultimate switch campaign. It is so on.

Re:Legally Multiboot?

[Drizzt Do'Urden]

He's talking about the hacked drivers and bootloader edition ;)

Re:Honestly, why bother?

[twodiabolo]

Hmm. Windows on expensive hardware. Wasn't that Sony's idea?

Too good not to share (from the website)

[Anonymous Meoward]

Excuse me while I burn a little karma. I loved this bit from the web page:

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.

Re:Wow, this is incredible

[Anonymous Coward]

Inside source: this happened on the morning Microsoft announced delays to Vista.

The board meeting

So it's Tuesday morning at Apple. The boardroom is having another meeting about the future of the Macintosh. They're perusing the feedback over the unofficial port of Windows to the Mac, and considering the consequences. There's a whole bunch of things on the agenda. OS development is hard, and it's expensive. Their competitors, Sony and Lenevo, doesn't need to do it, and they're doing pretty well all in all. Plus, there's the whole break up plan. When Apple separates into Apple Macintosh Inc and iTunes Corp, how attractive will Apple Macintosh be as a take-over target? The whole move to Intel will be for naught if it hasn't made Dell and friends just a little more excited and comfortable they could fit the Macintosh into their lines.

Apple has some little development projects on the boil and has for some time. To begin with, it's pretty much completely reimplemented the Carbon APIs under Windows. Indeed, that's how iTunes and Quicktime are implemented. But, interestingly, so are the Cocoa APIs. They're all there, Apple never stopped developing them, even after it nixed WebObjects for that platform. It's also in need of certain features that would help it with the future. Apple has no "managed code" environment - it supported Java to a certain extent, but Cocoa never was a perfect fit for that. Apple's progress with .NET, unofficially, under Windows and OS X, is coming along surprisingly well.

As time has gone on, the notion of switching to Windows as the base platform really has gotten more and more plausable. There are still roadblocks, Apple needs Microsoft to provide them with a little more customizability of the UI. A switch to Windows without providing the essential Macintosh experience just wouldn't do. But, well, .NET, and Aero, are Microsoft's attempts to break with the past. Perhaps an OS built upon these APIs could, with Microsoft's help, look entirely like a Mac environment - with the right code, obviously. You don't want a Dell user flipping a registry switch and getting a Mac.

It's clear that whatever happens, OS X is doomed. Postings by MacRumors alumni arguing that the porting of Windows to the Mac spells disaster are read out, and largely agreed with. But the question then is - does Apple continue to pour money into OS X, or could Gates and Ballmer be ameanable to making the modifications needed to make Windows Vista the next Macintosh OS?

The phone call

Jobs picks up the phone and calls Gates. There's a brief discussion, and then the phone's put down. A few minutes later, the phone rings. It's Ballmer, Gates, and Allchin.

"We think we can do it, Steve" says Bill Gates. "I mean, this is a major thing for us. It's a coup, and I know you know we're thinking it. So we're going to help in any way we can."

Allchin interjects: "Funnily enough, from our end, the code's largely there. We need a bit more time. WinFS needs some work - we'd put it on hold, but if you're going to want Spotlight on this OS, we'll need to finish it. Sticking menus at the top of the screen and reordering them... that's easy stuff. We'd appreciate it if you ported your own Dock and Finder, you can keep that proprietary if you want."

Jobs smiles. "That's perfect for us. Means we keep control over the so-called Macintosh experience. That's really the only reason we've stuck with our own operating systems for so long."

Ballmer speaks next. "Well, I'm looking at the timings, we can probably get things to you in a service pack for Vista, perhaps in April or May of 2007?"

"January", says Jobs. "It's got to be January. I want to go to MacWorld, and announce a new operating system, Mac OS W, that brings the best of the Mac, and the best of Microsoft. And I want to tell people "It's shipping today.", it's important, for our credibility and everything."

There's silence on the other

Re:Wow, this is incredible

[statusbar]

Betcha the 'catch line' for leopard will be something like "This leopard CAN change its spots"... :-)

--jeffk++

How dare they ...

[alexhs]

... to create an alternative ms-windows logo better than the original ! :)

Re:weird

[Anonymous Coward]

Especially when your cousin is about 300lbs., five feet tall, has severe odor and acne problems, and is named "Windows".

Re:Wow, this is incredible

[Anonymous Coward]

Apple is and has been for some time preparing to migrate to Windows.

In other news, bird flu is definitely going to mutate and kill all humans, the 2004 tsunami has been proven to be a punishment by God, aliens are planning to invade earth, and trolls are going to quit posting on slashdot. The first of course implies the last, although there is doubt whether trolls are human.

Great choice of name

[Paulo's News]

When I think of "boot camp", I think of a grueling, authoritarian experience. Naturally, a good fit for something that lets you run Windows XP.

You damn southerners

[SmallFurryCreature]

You can't make out with your sister okay? Just learn to accept that 2nd cousin is the closest you can legally get in the US of A.

Re:Too good not to share (from the website)

[pubjames]

Also this:

Word to the Wise

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.

Re:Apple keeps XP at arms' length

[node 3]

Also eyebrow-raising, Apple's take on the XP logo:

Yeah, it's a black diamond.

Leave it to Apple to re-stylize the Windows logo to look better and be more informative.

Re:Uh, someone explain this please?

[b1t r0t]

If you buy an Intel-based Mac, what is illegal about dual-booting another OS on it in the first place, hmmmm?

When I try to boot it on my G4, it just says "illegal instruction". Maybe that's what they're talking about.

Re:Apple keeps XP at arms' length

[Anonymous Coward]

Just the second step towards Apple abandoning their OS.

First switch to Intel.

Then get an installed Windows base on Apple hardware.

Next year you'll have an option of ordering Windows pre-installed. Within 3 years that will be the only option.

It's all part of the deal. MS bailed Apple out, and has helped keep a barrier to entry on the mp3 player market by continiuously threatening to release their 'ipod killer,' that doesn't exist.

Write it down.

The end of OS X

[buckhead_buddy]

daveschroeder asks:

Will OS X go away someday?

Of course it will. When marketing surveys indicate users don't understand the concept of version 10.10 (or they run out of Large Cats) then we'll see a rev of the major revision number. And a trend of naming releases after famous music groups. The first release will be...

Mac OS XI -- Spinal Tap
This one goes to 11!

A new lawsuit with Apple Records will start in anticipation of version 11.4 being nick named the "Fab Four".

Re:weird

[Anonymous Writer]

... and is full of "viruses".

Narf and Blanka

[Tumbleweed]

Narf is clearly Pinky, therefore Blanka must be the Brain. I'd be very careful about installing anything those two came up with -- it's clearly part of some kind of plot.

Re:They even made the windows logo better.

[Dr. Mojura]

Yeah, it sort of reminds me of the NFPA HAZCOM diamond [rtklabels.com]. Danger! Windows ahead!

Re:Honestly, why bother?

[sootman]

Too bad Apple is shipping network drivers. If they didn't, this would be the most secure Windows box ever. :-)

Re:Wow, this is incredible

[Jerk City Troll]

When did Ballmer and Jobs start throwing chairs at each other? There has to be a chair throwing scene in there somewhere or the realism of your script is out the window.

Suddenly, Steve Ballmer got that twinkle in his eye. For no reason whatsoever, hHe leapt out of his seat and hurled the chair at Jobs. The surprise only shook Jobs for a fraction of a moment as he grabbed a small blue box out of his pocket and clicked a button. In a remarkly strange, but yet visually appealing fashion, he defied the laws of physics and became depthless as he moved to the left—out of thrown chair's path—as if he were positioned on the face of a rotating cube. A moment later, a two-dimensional Jobs repeared and moved back in from the right. Rising slowly, looking rather proud in his bluejeans and black turtleneck, Jobs took a bottle of water from the desk and had a sip before sitting back down again to continue the meeting.

On the other hand...

[TrekkieGod]

The first release will be... Mac OS XI -- Spinal Tap This one goes to 11!

Or they could have Mac OS IX. "No, we're not going back to OS 9, we're just getting more letters off UNIX." :)

Re:Apple keeps XP at arms' length

[CaptainPinko]

Yeah, it's a black diamond.

Also known as a lump of coal.