14 DAY TRIAL // Homeward of Macward is synonymous with Windows Vista, as the Macintosh computers have become the operating system's home away from the PC. Apple has poured a generous amount of efforts into transitioning Windows XP and Windows Vista onto Intel-based Macs. And because of Boot Camp, Mac users will be able to experience Windows XP Home or Professional Service Pack 2, Windows Vista Home Basic, Home Premium, Business, or Ultimate. The only downside at this point is that the Cupertino-based company is only offering support for the 32-bit editions of Windows.
The Worldwide Developers Conference 2007 in San Francisco was the stage where Apple made it clear that it is still hammering away at Windows support. After adding Windows Vista compatibility back in March 2007, the Cupertino-based company has jumped from version 1.2 of Boot Camp to 1.3 and made available a free download of Boot Camp Public Beta. However, Apple has managed to stay away as much as possible from any possible reference to Microsoft's latest operating system.
"Changes in Boot Camp 1.3 beta - Boot Camp 1.3 beta contains several updates and is intended for all new and previous Boot Camp beta users. Boot Camp 1.3 beta includes: support for keyboard backlighting (MacBook Pro only), Apple Remote pairing, updated graphics drivers, improved Boot Camp driver installer, improved international keyboard support, localization fixes and Updated Windows Help for Boot Camp."
But one thing that Apple has not updated is the Software License Agreement for Boot Camp Public Beta. According to the license agreement Boot Camp Public Beta is scheduled to expire before Apple launches Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, which will include the technology. "The term of this License shall commence upon your installation or use of the Apple Software and will terminate automatically without notice from Apple upon the next commercial release of the Apple Software, or September 30, 2007, whichever occurs first. Your rights under this License will also terminate automatically without notice from Apple if you fail to comply with any term(s) of this License. Upon the termination of this License, you shall cease all use of the Apple Software and destroy all copies, full or partial, of the Apple Software," reads the fragment under Terms of License.
The best thing about Boot Camp is that unlike alternative virtualization technologies, it allows users to install and run all 32-bit editions of Windows Vista. At WWDC 2007 Apple is scheduled to release a beta version of the feature compete Leopard operating system planned for availability in October.