On April 5, 2006, Apple Computer announced that it will support the installation of Microsoft’s Windows XP operating system on Intel-based Macs through a program called Boot Camp. The program is available as a beta software download from http://www.apple.com/macosx/bootcamp . It will be included as a feature within the Mac OS X “Leopard” release, which will be previewed in August 2006 at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference.

In a statement on its website, Gartner writes of Boot Camp:

By providing a safety net that will allow users to run Windows applications, Apple hopes to attract more buyers for Macs. The Boot Camp program will enable users to install Windows XP on a Mac in a dual boot environment. On boot, the user must decide whether he or she wants to run Mac OS X or Windows for that session. This should meet the needs of users who are occasionally required to run Windows applications. Users who often need to run both Windows and Mac OS X applications would have to reboot repeatedly to switch between the two operating systems. Gartner believes this is not the experience that most users seek, and that they are more likely to want to run the Windows applications natively on the Mac OS X.

In addition, to enable the dual boot environment, users need to acquire a full copy of Windows XP. Reusing a disk from a Windows PC that they already own would violate the terms of their license. Also, most new PCs currently ship with rescue media, rather than Windows disks. No volume licensing is available for a full version of Windows, only upgrades; full packages must be bought at retail, with list prices of $200 for Windows XP Home and $300 for Windows XP Professional. Enterprises and midsize businesses without a particular business need to fulfill are unlikely to pay a premium price for Mac hardware or support an extra operating system. Thus, Gartner does not believe that Boot Camp will make Macs significantly more attractive to enterprises outside of Apple’s traditional strongholds in the graphic arts, video production, scientific research and education.

We believe that the real significance of Boot Camp is that it demonstrates that Apple is serious about allowing Windows to run on Mac hardware. It also paves the way for Apple to support a hypervisor, which would run Mac OS and Windows side by side on a virtual machine.

Companies experimenting with requiring users to purchase their own PCs should expect more Macs to enter their environments. Small businesses, consumers and freelance contractors may find it useful to run their Windows applications on the Mac at work while also running the Mac OS for personal use. All users should ignore any hype about the possibility of exposing the Mac OS to more viruses or worms. The Mac software will be located on another partition within a different file system; thus, running Windows on a Mac will not expose the Mac software to more “malware.” However, if Mac sales and Apple’s market share increase, the Mac OS could potentially become a more attractive target for malware.

Visit: http://www.gartner.com/

MacDailyNews Take: Apple says it’s called Boot Camp, and we quote, “for now.” In other words, Boot Camp’s real name is “Trial Balloon.” Mac OS X Leopard’s ability to deal with Windows applications will most likely not look, operate or feel anything like the primitive Mac OS X Tiger + Boot Camp Public Beta does today. Based upon early anecdotal evidence from a handful of Apple Retail Stores, Boot Camp is driving significant Mac sales already; just one week after it’s release. Gartner does an excellent job by advising all users to ignore any hype about the possibility of exposing Mac OS X to more Windows viruses or worms via the use of Boot Camp.

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