intel Transition: OS X/intel & Windows/Mac Two things of interest with the arrival of the first intel Macs. Will the release version of Mac OS X 10.4.4 (intel) run on any PC? Will intel Mac users be able to install and boot Windows XP? There's been talk about both ever since WWDC 2005 in June last year, and we're going to keep you updated from time to time.
Currently, there's no way of installing an intel iMac's OS X on the "any PC". Apparently, older hacks that enabled PC users to use illegal copies of the developer kit hardware on their PCs don't work. Yet. However: One can be sure that efforts are underway, and from a hardware point of view, the intel Macs don't look very different from a PC now.
One difference is that intel Macs use EFI instead of BIOS to boot. And this is what's keeping intel Mac users currently from installing Windows XP. However: Similarly to the other 'problem', people are looking into finding a way of "preparing" an intel Mac to "take" a Windows XP installation. Windows Vista will offer EFI support according to Microsoft, Windows XP won't. (Only the Itanium version does, but that's incompatible with the intel Macs, anyway.) Apple says they didn't actively hinder users to use Windows on intel Macs, but that doesn't mean they would help them, either. Apple is helping Microsoft to bring VirtualPC to intel Macs as soon as possible, according to Microsoft, and there will be other ways of running Windows software while booted into Mac OS X (WINE project, Crossover Office, VMware etc.).
Currently, neither can "any PC" users install OS X 10.4.4 on their machines, nor can intel Mac users run Windows applications on theirs. - posted by Patrick Armbruster @ 13:52 [article link]