Apple Is Embracing 64-bit Windows Vista, with Leopard and the New 8-Core Mac Pro

Apple is embracing 64-bit Windows Vista. And moreover, the Cupertino-based hardware company is doing it with the new 8-core Mac Pro and Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard. However, Apple doesn't seem to be too proud about the new found intimate connection with the x86 versions of Vista. Illustrative of this is the fact that support for 64-bit Vista was introduced as quietly as possible, with Apple managing not to breathe a single word on the matter. Support for 64-bit Vista was made possible with Boot Camp 2.0, Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard and the 8-core Mac Pro.

Boot Camp debuted into public Beta back in April 2006. At that time, the software only supported the 32-bit editions of Windows XP. Apple subsequently added support for the 32-bit SKUs of Windows Vista. However, even with the introduction of Leopard, Apple stated that "Boot Camp Beta lets you install Microsoft Windows Vista (32-bit), XP Home Edition or Professional with Service Pack 2, or later, on an Intel-based Macintosh computer, in addition to an existing Mac OS X installation."

Essentially, after deploying XP or Vista via Boot Camp, all that you will need to do is insert the Leopard DVD in order to install the necessary drivers. This is now valid not only for 32-bit XP and Vista, but also for the 64-bit edition of the latest Windows client.

"Important: You must use a single full-install Windows installation disc (Service Pack 2 is required for Windows XP installations). Do not use an upgrade version of Windows and do not install an earlier version of Windows XP and attempt to update it later to SP2 or later. Use only 32-bit versions of Windows. If you have a Mac Pro introduced in late 2007 or later, you can use a 64-bit version of Windows Vista," Apple revealed via the installation instructions associated with Mac Pro as quoted by MacRumors. Apple has not offered any official comment on the matter as of yet.

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