It's not April 1 anymore so I guess this is the real thing:

http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2006/apr/05bootcamp.html

Apple Introduces Boot Camp
Public Beta Software Enables Intel-based Macs to Run Windows XP
CUPERTINO, California—April 5, 2006—Apple® today introduced Boot Camp, public beta software that enables Intel-based Macs to run Windows XP. Available as a download beginning today, 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. 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.

“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,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “We think Boot Camp makes the Mac even more appealing to Windows users considering making the switch.”

Boot Camp simplifies Windows installation on an Intel-based Mac by providing a simple graphical step-by-step assistant application to dynamically create a second partition on the hard drive for Windows, to burn a CD with all the necessary Windows drivers, and to install Windows from a Windows XP installation CD. After installation is complete, users can choose to run either Mac OS X or Windows when they restart their computer.

Pricing & Availability
The public beta of Boot Camp is available immediately as a download at www.apple.com/macosx/bootcamp, and is preview software licensed for use on a trial basis for a limited time. The final version of Boot Camp will be available as a feature in the upcoming Mac OS X version 10.5 “Leopard.” Apple does not provide support for installing or running Boot Camp and does not sell or support Microsoft Windows software. Apple welcomes user feedback on Boot Camp at bootcamp@apple.com.

System Requirements
Boot Camp requires an Intel-based Mac with a USB keyboard and mouse, or a built-in keyboard and TrackPad; Mac OS X version 10.4.6 or later; the latest firmware update; at least 10GB of free space on the startup disk; a blank recordable CD or DVD; and single-disc version of Windows XP Home Edition or Professional with Service Pack 2 or later.

So shouldn't we just wait for Leopard?

Well of course that's up to you, but I know some people who want to run Windows on their Intel Macs now.

This changes everything---since it is sanctioned and supported by Apple.

That new intel mini Mac is looking really interesting to me personally, and for people that recommend computer purchases at work. This is really compelling!

I could surreptitiously, recommend to my bosses to buy only Macs from now on here at work!

Sneaky!

My wife has a need to run *ONE* specific Windows app that up until now has worked fine with a Citrix client running on Mac OS X...but the most recent version now repeatedly crashes Citrix, so it's become completely untrustworthy. She's dinking around with the app in VirtualPC now, but it seriously limits her, PLUS it's dog slow on her old Titanium PowerBook. She really needs a new computer *AND* the ability to run Windows, or at least Windows software in emulation (and VPC won't run on Intel Macs yet).

So this is great news! We were planning on buying a PC this coming weekend; now we can buy another Mac instead.

:)

Yeah, the nice thing is that emulation is no longer needed (which is good since Microsoft now owns Virtual PC and isn't in much of a rush to update it). I wonder if retailers like MacMall, MacWarehouse, etc. will start bundling XP as a package with the Intel Macs? This story is all over the business news today:

http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?guid=%7B8CF707F6%2D88A6%2D44B5%2D930B%2D7E09B6DA22A5%7D
http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/060405/apple.html?.v=6
http://www.forbes.com/2006/04/05/apple-windows-alcatel-cx_ab_0405video2.html
http://biz.yahoo.com/cnnm/060405/040506_apple_windows.html?.v=3

Apple stock is up 10% too!!

Yeah... but it still has a way to go before regaining the 30% fall during the past few months: http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=AAPL&t=6m

If Microsoft came out with the equivalent software product for Windows to allow users to run Mac OS X on PC's ----would Apple be as accommodating?
[There are hacks out there already...but "if"]

Just a funny thought.

You can't really compare since Microsoft is in the software business but Apple also has a big interest in hardware sales. So Microsoft has little to gain by letting MacOS run on someone else's hardware. In fact, that's why they've moved Virtual PC to the back burner. Seems as though they could have easily introduced this same product months ago if they'd wanted to. Anyway, I'll bet everybody who can write a line of code is busy working on Vista ;-)

OTOH, Michael Dell is on record as saying that he'd be interested in offering MacOS as an option on his PC's...

From MacWorld: http://www.macworld.com/news/2006/04/05/bootcamp/index.php

The partitioning process is done in Mac OS X and features a slider to let users determine the amount of space to give to Windows. Partitioning is dynamic, meaning that users don’t need to erase their drives in order to create a new Windows partition. For added safety and flexibility, Boot Camp automatically leaves 5 GB of free space surrounding the Mac and Windows partitions. Changing the size of the partition later, or removing it altogether, is also supported directly within the Boot Camp Assistant.

This little announcement sure didn't hurt the price of Apple stock today either. ;-)

-gb-

Can't wait to see someone confirm that DVRACK will work on a MacBookPro. That'll ROCK!

Can't wait to see someone confirm that DVRACK will work on a MacBookPro.

Here ya go: http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=64442

And here's an article from MacWorld that describes the install process on a Mac Mini and provides some first impressions. They were particularly impressed with the graphics performance: http://www.macworld.com/2006/04/firstlooks/bootcampfl/index.php

The mac-book pro is shaping up to be THE laptop for video users.
You can get Final Cut Studio (Mac), Avid (PC), DVrack(PC), Adobe apps (mac or PC), Vegas (PC) etc..

All on one computer!

It's an uber-editor...

Isn't Apple truning more into a turnkey system builder and OS designer now? These new apple computers are basically PC's that run Mac OS. They are now kind of like a high end HP or Dell that makes it's own operating system and production software.

Isn't Apple truning more into a turnkey system builder and OS designer now? These new apple computers are basically PC's that run Mac OS. They are now kind of like a high end HP or Dell that makes it's own operating system and production software.

Ironically Thomas, that's kind of what Apple's approach has been for quite some time. By building both the hardware and software, the integration is very tight. I didn't own a Mac until a year ago and it's an absolute joy to work with. However, I still needed a Windows based laptop for things such as Canon's DVPC recorder and a few other apps so I bought a nice Compaq last April.

This development will indeed move the Macbook Pro to the top of my list for next portable computer purchase.

-gb-

Well, that's good that it is working at full speed and not emulation speed a'la Virtual PC. This is GREAT news for us video guys and especially for me as I am a videogamer as well ;).

So it looks like Serious Magic won't have to get too serious with a Mac OS version of DVRACK or Ultra 2 and Adobe users won't have to wait too long either, though if Leopard is supposed to come out later this year to earlyt next year, it may come out at the same time the Universal version of After Effects does but oh well!