Apple announced the beta release of Boot Camp – software that will ship with Apple Mac OS X 10.5 (aka. Leopard) that allows new macs to start up in either Mac OS X or Windows XP.
Due to the intel chips used in the machines, this is not emulation like Microsoft Virtual PC – the mac is just as fast a similar PC.
This brings up some serious questions. If macs can run Windows, will large software houses like AutoCad bother to port their software to Mac OS X?
Will speed test show that Windows runs faster on a mac than the included Mac OS X?
The gamble is that PC users will buy a mac with the safety net of knowing they can always run Windows if needed. It might also give Apple more leverage at the corporate level.
From a support perspective, it will mean people who support both mac’s and PC’s can do so from one machine – simply restart as needed into the OS of choice!
A more important piece of news is that VMware are porting their software to mac. This will allow Windows to run alongside Mac OS X.
It will also allow the use of software appliances for specific tasks that cannot be corrupted or affect the rest of the computer.