April 14, 2006 11:18 AM PDT

Boot Camp Special Report: Release Notes

by CNET staff

On April 5th, Apple has made a stunning announcement, introducing a public beta of "Boot Camp" -- new software that enables Intel-based Macs to run Windows XP.

Available as a download, Boot Camp allows users with a Microsoft Windows XP installation disc to install Windows XP on an Intel-based Mac, and once installation is complete, users can restart their computer to run either Mac OS X or Windows XP.

Apple says Boot Camp will be a feature in 'Leopard,' Apple?s next major release of Mac OS X, that will be previewed at Apple?s Worldwide Developer Conference in August.

In a statement, Apple said "Apple has no desire or plan to sell or support Windows, but many customers have expressed their interest to run Windows on Apple?s superior hardware now that we use Intel processors. We think Boot Camp makes the Mac even more appealing to Windows users considering making the switch."

The public beta of Boot Camp is available immediately as a download at http://www.apple.com/macosx/bootcamp, and is preview software licensed for use on a trial basis for a limited time.

The Boot Camp installer makes use of a dynamic drive partitioner, so there is no need to format a drive before installing Windows XP.

Installation of Boot Camp requires application of a new firmware update for Intel-based Macs. Download links are as follows;

There is also a package that reverts firmware to an original state if you decide to remove the new firmware update.