Although Apple had insisted it would never happen, the company introduced Boot Camp on Wednesday, free limited-time, public beta software that actually enables Intel-based Macs to run Windows XP. Not surprisingly, Apple’s stock rose $3.79 or 6.2% in morning trading on NASDAQ after the announcement. 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 Apple’s next major release of Mac OS X, code named “Leopard,” which will be previewed at Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference in August. Apple clearly states that it is not providing support for installing or running Boot Camp and does not sell or even support Microsoft Windows software. Bottom line? If you want to use Boot Camp, don’t call Apple if your shiny new Intel-Mac crashes. Still, this is an intriguing development that’s going to rock more than a few boats!
