Upcoming
Expiration of Boot Camp Does Not Mean Windows Will Stop Running on OS X
10.4 Macs
by Alan Zisman (c) 2007 First
published in
Low
End Mac October 15 2007 Mac2Windows column
Low End Mac and others have reported on
Apple's recent reminder
that the Boot Camp Beta is set to expire when OS X 10.5 "Leopard" ships
later in October. The company noted that version 1.2 or earlier of Boot
Camp expired on September 30, 2007, so anyone using Boot Camp to dual
boot between Windows (XP or Vista) and Mac OS X on an Intel Mac should
update to the current beta 1.4.
At the same time, that version -
as had been previously announced - expires when Leopard "is available
to the public". At that point, according to Apple's support note, "to
continue using Boot Camp . . . upgrade to Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard".
The
Software License Agreement displayed when installing Boot Camp states:
"The term of this License . . . will terminate automatically without
notice from Apple upon the next commercial release of the Apple
Software, or December 31, 2007, whichever occurs first. (It also notes
[in all caps] that "THE APPLE SOFTWARE IS NOT INTENDED FOR USE IN THE
OPERATION OF NUCLEAR FACILITIES, AIRCRAFT NAVIGATION OR COMMUNICATION
SYSTEMS, AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL SYSTEMS, LIFE SUPPORT MACHINES OR OTHER
EQUIPMENT IN WHICH THE FAILURE OF THE APPLE SOFTWARE COULD LEAD TO
DEATH, PERSONAL INJURY, OR SEVERE PHYSICAL OR ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE.")
While
many owners of Intel-based Macs who have used the Boot Camp beta to
install Windows are probably planning to upgrade to Leopard as soon as
possible, Apple's announcement is not clear on what will actually
happen to current Boot Camp users who are still running OS X 10.4 after
the Leopard release date (or December 31).
If you have used Boot
Camp (any version) to create a Windows partition on your Mac's hard
drive and installed Windows onto it, that dual-boot setup should
continue to work after Leopard's release, just as installations created
with Boot Camp Beta 1.2 or earlier continue to work even though those
versions have officially expired.
What may stop working is the Boot Camp Assistant Beta program, which
runs under Mac OS X.
The Boot Camp Assistant utility has three functions:
- It
can be used to burn a Windows drivers disc, used after installing
Windows to provide better support for the video display, network, and
sound adapters, and for functions on your Mac keyboard and iSight
camera that are not standard in Windows.
- It can be used to
nondestructively partition your Mac hard drive to make space for a
Windows installation and to reboot to allow you to install Windows.
(The image above doesn't include the partition option, since my
computer already has a Boot Camp Windows partition.)
- It can be used to remove the Windows partition,
restoring the space to the Mac partition.
So
if the Beta Boot Camp Assistant is no longer operational, you won't be
able to use it to install Windows if you haven't already done so or to
remove an existing Boot Camp installation. Moreover, the various
versions of Boot Camp have offered increasing functionality in their
Windows drivers; the 1.4 version, for example, gave Windows users the
ability to make use of the Eject key on their Mac keyboard, among other
improvements.
Free tools to fix common problems and have some fun
while you’re at itFree tools to fix common problems and have some fun
while you’re at itFree tools to fix common problems and have some fun
while you’re at itFree tools to fix common problems and have some fun
while you’re at itFree tools to fix common problems and have some fun
while you’re at it
As a result, if you're using an earlier version
of Boot Camp, it's well worth the time and effort of downloading the
347 MB final
Beta 1.4 Boot Camp version.
Install it , and use it to create a new Windows driver CD, boot to
Windows, and install the current drivers - before Apple's deadline.
There
has been some speculation that following the Leopard release, Apple
might release a for pay standalone Boot Camp version for use by OS X
10.4 users. There's no word on that, and Apple's note does tell Boot
Camp users that they will have to upgrade to Leopard.
But until you make the move to Leopard (if ever), your current Windows
installation should continue to run.