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Review: Apple Boot Camp Public Beta

by Bob Crabtree on 13 April 2006, 11:57

Quick Link: HEXUS.net/qafgc

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Intro


HEXUS.community stalwart Gordon Handley (Gordy) gets down and dirty with Apple Boot Camp Public Beta - the utility that let's Intel-based Macs dual-boot between Mac OS X and Windows XP.

Choosing which OS to boot



[advert]It's been all go in the big-news department from Apple in the last year or so. Last summer, Steve Jobs unveiled Apple's intended switch to Intel processors, taking most of us by surprise. Then came the earlier than expected release of some Intel-based Macs. Now, Apple is officially giving users of these Intel-based Apple Macs an easy way to install Microsoft Windows XP alongside Mac OS X by using the Boot Camp Public Beta utility.

I was caught out totally by the announcement of the Boot Camp utility, despite keeping bang up to date with all the rumours and regularly reading sites such as http://www.tuaw.com and http://www.macrumours.com. There was no hint of this latest development on any site that I visit and that's most unusual, even given Apple's ability to keep big news out of the media until very close to launch time.

I'd been following the progress of the unofficial competition to get Windows XP to dual boot Intel Macs but have held off installing it on my machine as I use it daily and don't want to mess it up. Normally I'd be first in the line for voiding my warrantee but it's my work machine not a toy. With the release of Apple's Boot Camp, though, I couldn't resist trying it out.