linux/unix
03/16/2006, 8:40am, EST
Thursday, March 16th
Contest won: WinXP boots on Intel Mac
The contest for the first solution to boot Windows XP on an Intel-Mac has been won, according to a post on the official website. The contest had offered a cash reward of nearly $14,000 for the first successful solution, which was subject to three restrictions offered by the creators: (1) Instructions must boot Windows XP (at least), not Vista or any other version of Windows; (2) Windows must be able to coexist with Mac OS X and each system may not interfere with the operation of the other (a traditional dual boot system where one OS is running at a time); and (3) the method must offer the user the option to boot either Mac OS X or Windows XP. The submitted solution was reportedly peer-reviewed for legitimacy and the post said that the final solution will run on all Intel-based iMacs, the MacBook Pro, and the Intel-based Mac mini. While not available now, a post on the user forums says that the solution will be posted shortly along with a downloadable bootloader. The site says that future donations will be used to help support an open-source project that will be launched with the initial solution. Update: The WinXP instructions and bootloader have been posted.
The solution is a bit complicated: it requires the use of Windows PC, creation of a NTFS volume on the Intel-Mac, and the creation of a custom XP bootdisk with some patched files. The instructions include step-by-step instructions and an abbreviated set for advanced users; users note that it would take 20-30 minutes (as well as access to a PC) to complete the process.
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but congratulations to the contest winner and sponsor. people get annoyed sometimes by stuff like this, but really, "proof of concept" can drive forward new lines of thought, and from that, hopefully, innovation.
Dual bootloaders are a permanent part of the computing landscape. Look at linux. And every new version of windows is supported.
Without so much as a hiccup, in most cases.
So, while it may sound prudent to be cautious, if the posters had actually been familiar with these types of projects, they would know the reality regarding bootloaders which is they are ultra-stable, updated frequently, and around for the long haul.
As such, the only thing that could break the process is a firmware update, and even then only if the process used is truly delicate (such as patching the existing boot loader)
Once XP is installed you could delete Mac OS X and have a Windows only box if you really wanted to. If you couldn't that would indicate some dependency on Mac OS X, but that would also violate the spirit of the rules (#2 - that neither system may interfere with the other, even positively).
These are not hacks, and they are legitimate programs, developed over years, very stable, very important, etc.
this is a new project, but I wouldn't hesitate to feel secure that on a major platform, such as mac x86, that dual bootloaders won't be a permanent part of the landscape.
This was because there was a piece of SW called a Hypervisor which managed things. I guess this was by saving state of the running OS and switching in the saved stote of the alternate OS.
In those days the Amdahl was very powerful and neither production nor R&D noticed any slowdown in what they were doing.
FWIW production was an APL timesharing system and the R&D was where development went on forthe next release.
Wouldn't it be nice if someone came up with the same thing for the iMac. (Not me though - I'm too old forthe required focussed mental effort ).