The ability of Macs to run Windows has no doubt been a good thing for Apple so far. But now, that what was once thought as being impossible has actually happened, people are asking what comes next. Virtualization in Leopard has been much talked about, but will it actually happen?

One of the strangest things surrounding the Windows capabilities of Macs is how Apple is now advertising its own Boot Camp solution less, preferring to push forward Parallels' solution. This is primarily because of the inherent disadvantages of a dual boot solution. All the programs must be closed, the computer must be rebooted and then every program that is needed for the next task needs top be fired up. This is a lot more time consuming than might be initially though, especially if it happens often. As such, the virtualization offered by Parallels has many advantages, including the ability to copy paste information across the two operating systems.

While Apple's own solution is good or the home user or those who want to play games, it is not likely to find a home in the corporate space. The need to keep rebooting the machine is considered a big impact in productivity, and as such, many are applauding Apple's decision to push Parallels forward. However, may have speculated that virtualization is the next natural step in OS X, and that we will be seeing it in Leopard. However, speculation does not fact make.

"I am so pleased to see [Apple promoting Parallels]," said Needham and Company analyst Charles Wolf. "I had a talk with Phil Schiller at the opening of the 5th Avenue Apple Store, and I asked him the question, 'will Apple include a virtualization solution in Leopard.' He said 'absolutely not, the R&D would be prohibitive and we're not going to do it. Our solution is dual boot.' When I saw Parallels come out, I thought Apple would dish it, but this page suggests that Apple will actively support it."

While Apple has been known to say they are not doing something and then to actually go ahead and do it, this does not mean that they are secretly adding virtualization in Leopard. Conversely, even if Apple does not add virtualization to the OS, there are already more products and companies making products and progress in this field.