View this article at: http://dev.macnn.com/articles/06/03/16/winxp.boots.on.intel.mac
Thursday, Mar 16, 2006 8:40am
Contest won: WinXP boots on...
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.