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Contest won: WinXP boots on Intel Mac

updated 08:40 am EST, Thu March 16, 2006

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.

 
Previous Comments

good!

03/16, 08:49am reply

If they can get this working easily on a MacBook Pro before my Thinkpad T60 ships, I might get the MacBook instead.

jasonsRX7

Mac Elite

Joined: Jul 2003

0

hang on...

03/16, 09:26am reply

just because they managed this now doesn't mean it will continue to boot with updates to either xp or mac os x. so if you're going to buy a macbook pro on this story alone, you may be signing up for a whole heaping helping of headache.

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.

rok

Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Mar 1999

0

yeah

03/16, 09:34am reply

hacks like these tend to be fragile. if you need windows just get the thinkpad already!

kikkoman

Senior User

Joined: Nov 2002

0

Unqualified comments

03/16, 09:46am reply

With all due respect to the previous posters, the remarks areq unqualified.

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.

Jonathan-Tanya

Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Oct 2004

0

actually...

03/16, 09:50am reply

Hacks like this aren't as fragile as you think. In order to boot Windows (or any other OS) the only software services that you need to track are the boot rom, in this case EFI. Mac OS X has nothing to do with the boot process, it is just another client of that process.

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).

Rincewind

Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: May 2000

0

GRUB

03/16, 09:59am reply

in my post I said look at linux, meaning...look at boot loaders used for linux on x86. GRUB, LILO, et al.

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.

Jonathan-Tanya

Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Oct 2004

0

Schwing!

03/16, 10:27am reply

w00t!

godrifle

Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Jan 2006

0

This is good

03/16, 10:36am reply

But I am interseted in something like Virtual PC or Crossover (based on the Wine Project) I would like to be able to run a windows program from within the mac os like crossover or have virtual pc running minimized to quickly call up a windows app. However for gaming this would be cool, I could dual boot windows to play some BF2.

that one guy

Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: May 2005

0

Why not a hypervisor as w

03/16, 10:57am reply

1st of all congrats. Good Job. Back in the days when I worked on mainframes we had an Amdahl. The R & D group used to run IBM's VM OS. The production system was MVS. The both ran on the Amdahl at the same time.

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 ).

pteson

Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Mar 2006

0

Instructions are up

03/16, 11:12am reply

Dual boot instructions are up: http://www.onmac.net/

godrifle

Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Jan 2006

0

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