14 DAY TRIAL // While dual booting Windows on any Intel Mac has become a reality, it is so far only a first step. Because all efforts in this direction are coming from the community, the going is slow, to say the least.
"One of the problems with open-source development is that people have a tough time getting momentum. You need very dedicated individuals to lay the groundwork. I think [the prize] was a good way to motivate people," Colin Nederkoorn said.
Indeed, it took some time to get here, and at one point the deadline for the contest was prolonged because it seemed that no one would be able to meet the challenge. Still the future is looking good, with the dualboot solution being far more attractive to many than the virtualization solutions currently available. It seems that Windows runs at near native speeds, and accesses the processor directly, which opens up a can of worms? Why didn't Microsoft offer this capability? How fast will the official Microsoft Virtual PC run? And how will this affect sales of Virtual PC? IS it even legal?
One thing is clear, there is still a long way to go? "There are driver issues right now. There's not a good video driver for Windows XP," he said. "And the Mac crashes when you shut down Windows. People are going to need to talk to each other and share," Nederkoorn said.
The project might very well move to SourceForge, where the community can keep working on it. One thing is clear though, if you thought you would now be able to run all those PC games you will have to wait some more, for without the drivers and additional work needed Solitaire is about as much as will run.