Apple Pulls Boot Camp Beta, Prepares For Leopard Launch
The software will be incorporated into Apple's Leopard OS 10.5, and beta users looking to continue using the software will have to download an update from the Leopard OS installation disk to continue using the program.
The move, in effect, forces beta users who want to continue to run Boot Camp to upgrade to the Leopard system even though the beta ran on the Tiger OS 10.4. Apple had announced earlier that the licenses to the Boot Camp beta program would expire when Leopard shipped.
Boot Camp allows users to start up their Intel-based Mac machines with Microsoft Windows XP or Vista if they load the rival operating system on their computers by partitioning the drive.
Unlike third-party software from companies like Parallels, which allows users to simultaneously run Windows and the Mac OS, Boot Camp is used to control which operating system is booted when the system starts and can only run one at a time. To return to the Mac OS from Windows, a Boot Camp user must restart the computer.
Chris Gear, marketing director for Portland, Ore.-based Macforce said that Boot Camp and Parallels are both helping Apple get a stronger foothold in the business market by eliminating or reducing security risks that threaten PCs.
"[The applications] negate the need to never even have a PC in the workplace anymore. You can stop worrying about all of the viruses and malware, and all of the costs with running a computer in the PC world go away. Everybody can go back to work and get on with their day," Gear said.
"What both products give is the experience of having both platforms on one box or one laptop, and the security and the ease of use. That and the fact that all the software that you'll ever need comes loaded on the Mac already are really going to sway a lot of people to make the transition to the Mac and leave the PC behind," he said.
Macforce is promoting both Parallels and Boot Camp as it prepares for what Gear anticipates to be a strong launch on Friday when the Leopard OS hits the streets.
"There have already been more than double the amount of pre-orders than any other operating system at this point in the game. Having not been released yet it's still the number one item [in technology stores," he said. "You're looking at a huge launch this week."