First , Intel - build processors wrap up in the Mac . What ’s next — Windows XP die hard on an Apple - built machine ? Exactly , thanks to theWindows XP on Intel Mac challenge . That contest , to get the Microsoft operating system running on an Intel - base Mac , has been pull ahead , meaning it ’s now at least theoretically possible to run Windows natively on your Intel - free-base Mac ( while still keep back a freestanding OS ex installation ) . After draw the brusque straw volunteering to help out , I gear up out to see what it would take to set up the taxi , get XP up and run on my Intel - power Mac miniskirt , and then see what kind of Windows XP machine I had on my hand .
What follow is a description of my experience , both dependable and bad , with the entire cognitive operation from jump to ending . This is n’t meant to be an facility guide , but I will talk about installing the patch , discourse what it takes to get XP working , the risks involve in a project such as this , and finally , how well the finished mathematical product work .
The monition
If you ’re think about judge this on your own Intel - base Mac , you should know that Really Bad Things are possible . I ’m not sure if lasting harm is possible — I do n’t think that it is — but you’re able to well get in a posture where you might need to boot into single - user fashion to recover . It ’s also potential to wind up up in a situation where you have an unserviceable OSX , an unuseable Windows XP , and the OS X installer turn away to see your driving force as an usable address — in fact , this happen to me twice . gratefully , recovery is comparatively straightforward , though you will lose all data point on the machine . at long last , something as simple as installing a newfangled driver in Windows XP may render XP unbootable , and regain from that may require lead off over again — including formatting the drive and installing both OS X and Windows XP .
In short , this is very newfangled technology , and matter can still go very unseasonable with the process . If you have but one Mac , and you trust on it to make a bread and butter , I wouldnotrecommend installing Windows XP on it just yet . Over time , the unconscious process should get easy and safer , but as of today , it ’s still extremely observational .
Part One: Installing the hack
All of the entropy and code needed to install Windows XP on an Intel - powered Mac is usable on the Windows XP on Intel Macsdownload Thomas Nelson Page . To some degree , though , that ’s a bit like enounce , “ Here , take Jeff Gordon ’s NASCAR race gondola , and you too can gain the Daytona 500 . ” While it ’s probably technically truthful , there are alotof small contingent to be filled in .
Before you begin : If you ’re considering trying this patch , here ’s my own list of requirement that you should have , above and beyond the download files :
I should mention at this point that , if you ’ve had to buy Windows XP Pro , a burner , and Nero , you ’re up to $ 419 … which , and I ’m not make this up , happens to be on the dot today ’s price for anentireDell Dimension B110 with 1 GB of RAM , a CD / videodisk burner , and an 80 GB hard drive . But more than likely if you ’re trying this , you ’ve already got a personal computer lying around your dwelling house , and you ’re just desire to replace it with the small , silent , and elegant - looking miniskirt .
Once I ’d gathered all the prerequisite — except for time , I clear did n’t foregather enough of that — it was almost time to plunk into the alteration . The last thing I did prior to starting was to attach a FireWire campaign and make a dead ringer of my perfectly - functional mini setup usingSuperDuper . That agency , if everything went horrendously , abysmally wrong , recovery would be a simple-minded process . Istronglyrecommend a like program if you undertake this project . Keep in psyche that the very first matter you ’re go to do is to wipe off the mini ’s hard drive , so you ’ll have to have a backup of some sort . Might as well make it a full knockoff , and then — and this is very important — verify that the knockoff is working before you start .
The actual installing
Here ’s a unforesightful sum-up of the steps involve to install Windows XP on an Intel - based Mac . This papers is n’t meant to be an installation walk - through , but rather a very summarized variant of the step - by - whole tone process :
In each and every one of these step , thing can find that deplete the “ clip ” and “ patience ” you brought to the labor . Here are just a few examples of such things :
With that out of the way , how is the literal facility of Windows XP ? It ’s not overly difficult , but it is quite detailed and time consuming . The first step , after installing a refreshed copy of OS X , is to deploy the boot dockworker on your mini . Since you just formatted the mini ’s hard private road , you ’ll have to imitate the boot loader onto it from elsewhere — the original spot filing cabinet on the cyberspace , or like me , off another machine on your connection . After copy the thrill loader ( it ’s just one file ) to the mini , you use two Terminal commands to move it into the right folder , and then hallow that leaflet so that OS X sees it as bootable . The boot lumper is a tiny platform that lets you take whether to boot Windows or OS X at inauguration , simply by tapping on the arrow key .
Press Return when the appropriate logo is show , and that ’s what OS you ’ll boot into . Choose the Windows logo with your tailor-make XP installer candela in the crusade , and the install process set out . Well , it eventually starts . The instructions monish you that fully three moment will pass before anything at all happens . finally , though , you ’re presented with the Windows XP installer . After choosing the division to use ( it ’s partition No . 2 , not No . 1 or No . 3 ! ) , the Windows XP installer starts . At some point , the installer will reboot the machine , , and you then have to press F2 ( repeatedly , to be trusted ) to make Windows flush from the hard drive , not the CD . The second part of the install then black market , and seems to campaign fine . When it ’s done , though , your machine will doss . Really . This is normal . Just turn it off manually .
When it reboot again , assuming you select window , you ’ll be in Windows XP . When my machine finally reached this percentage point , many many hours after starting ( item on why it take so tenacious follow ) , I was simply astonied — this is Windows on an Apple organisation . NoVirtualPC , noOpenOSX WinTel , nothing except pure Windows XP . “ fantabulous , ” you think , “ I ’m done ! XP ’s up and running play , OS X boots , I ’m set ! ” Oh if it were only that bare .
Part Two: Make XP usable
The big difference between what you ’ve just installed and what you ’d get on any retail Windows political machine is this : drivers . The version of XP you just installed knows about your CD - ROM drive , your admonisher , and your USB ports , but that ’s about it . ( It may also know about the FireWire embrasure , but I did n’t try that prior to finish my apparatus . ) Bluetooth , Ethernet , AirPort , and audio are all missing in action after the initial installation .
So what you have on that first boot of Windows XP on your Intel Mac is a very functional , but not very utile , operating system . The next step of the summons involve visiting theDrivers pageat the Windows XP on Intel Mac web site . Here you ’ll retrieve nexus to drivers and/or teaching for all the interesting share of your Mac , the parts that in reality make it a usable system — thing like Bluetooth , AirPort , and Ethernet . bet on which Mac you ’re installing XP on , which driver may be available will vary — such are the risk of exposure of using a very early release of a very bleeding edge technology .
The most important number one wood to get work , of row , is Ethernet . Without it , getting anything into the mini way using USB or some other storage mass medium you could transfer between machine . I downloaded the Ethernet drivers on my G5 , and then burned a candela - RW , which I then used to deploy the driver on XP . They worked great on the first attempt , once I withdraw the convolute steps I had to follow to enter my IP speech information . Once that was ply , I was able-bodied to then download and instal the stay drivers . While that sound mundane , it really wasn’t — there are caution , exclusion , and “ maybes ” with many of the drivers .
The Bluetooth drivers , for example , have note that indicate you have to re - run a diminished program on every reboot , and that they still may not work with Apple keyboard or shiner . In fact , to even get them working at all , you have to redact a single file in the Windows directory and add two lines to assign some Apple - related info for the Bluetooth chipset . ( And this info differs between the iMac and the miniskirt ! ) . After doing that , and running the small program , you then foil your finger’s breadth , stop up in your Bluetooth stuff and nonsense , and see what occur .
In my display case , I get a very pleasant surprise — my Macally mouse and Apple keyboard work just finely , though I do need to re - move one feasible file each restart . What really storm me is that the Bluetooth keyboard works straight off after power - up ; early enough that it can be used to take which OS to boot . I believe we have Apple to thank for that one .
By reading all the consociate banknote with each driver , and establish only one at a metre and then rebooting to test each one , I eventually got almost everything up and lead . I had XP on the mini run with Bluetooth , USB , FireWire , AirPort , and Ethernet .
catastrophe strikes
While I was doing all of this work , I was also on theIRC channela lot , inquire questions , and just listen to the chatter . Someone refer that there were nownativevideo equipment driver for the mini available , anda pagehad been added to the wiki explain how to get them run .
aboriginal video support is presently the big mess in running XP on Intel Macs . Without it , you ’ve got no accelerated video , no games , and no DirectX ( though it ’s not open if that will wreak even with aboriginal drivers on all cards ) . arouse by this expectation , and having caught the intelligence just after completing the canonical XP install , I decide to give it a shot . If you read the above - linked page , you ’ll see the subroutine is far from clear cut ; it requires drivers from two different manufacturers , a few reboots , and lots of install / point steps . I took my time , and carefully followed every footstep .
When it was time to reboot for the last time , nothing encounter . disastrous silver screen . Nothing helped ; there was no acquiring into dependable boot mode , no way to deactivate the thing I ’d added that had broken XP . So … I had to pass over the disk and bulge out over , include the OS X installation . Ugh .
That ’s when I run into problem number two . When I went to reinstall OS X , neitherpartition was listed as usable . After much futzing about , I eventually managed to sterilize that job . ( This pagein the wiki now describe the problem and two solutions ; I used the method in solution two to fix the problem . ) All of this took time , of course of study , but I was finally back on cartroad , and managed to put in XP completely for the second time .
I then decided that I would bequeath the aboriginal artwork driver alone until a more practical and elaborated installation process was usable . Another several hours passed while I set up the drivers , as talk over above , finally winding up with a completely operable Windows XP installation . Well , functional but still not complete , as seen in the paradigm at right . All those chicken - iconed target should n’t be there , if everything were ideal . But , nothing in that inclination seemed to be affecting the functionality of the OS , so I prefer to just leave well enough alone !
Disaster strikes again
After my first rebuild , I was running some benchmarks for this clause . One of the test cortege screen my knockout crusade , and give-up the ghost halfway through . Upon reboot , XP … didn’t . It just locked up . I boot into OS X , and it kernel panic within about a minute . Uh oh . You got it . Erase , format , reinstall , and do it all over again .
Being somewhat experienced at it by now , it only took about an hr or so to get back up and running . Still , if this had been my production political machine , I would have lost all my data , as well as an hour of my metre .
Overall , from start to culture , it belike took me about 12 hours ’ Charles Frederick Worth of initial body of work to get the miniskirt set up with a functional XP installation . That includes 30 second to establish the burner , which my PC lacked , maybe four hour on recover from my two tragedy , and another two or three were spent in research , IRC discussions , and just reading . Hopefully , I wo n’t have to do this again , but if I do , the process has go simpler with return . Most of the install metre is now just hold off on the OS X ( six minute , lower limit install ) and XP ( 20ish minutes ) installers .
Part Three: The risks involved
Beyond the two specific disasters described above , there are general risks whenever you install an strange piece of software system . As seen in my benchmarking test , a simple software app get down the whole auto , OS X and Windows XP .
Even when working well , there are oddities . One version of my XP install would start up strangely on my miniskirt — it booted into something that looks like single - user modal value ( black CRT screen , snowy text ) , and then present a serial of hexadecimal routine and a prompt . I had to typegand closet Return , then more phone number show up . When I pressedgand Return again , XP booted ordinarily . On my most recent install , however , XP simply boots , with none of that food waste . I have no estimate what ’s different . Also , you may not re-start an XP’d Mac ; it will shut up up when you attempt to do so . It will , however , shut down perfectly , so that ’s what I ’ve been doing instead .
As noted in the introduction , if you only have one Mac , and you trust on it to make a living , now isnotthe time to ferment it into a three-fold - boot automobile . There are merely too many endangerment involved , given everything that can go wrong .
So does that entail I opine this whole cognitive process was a waste of clock time ? Far from it — if nothing else , I feel like I learned a circumstances , and as you ’ll see in the next section , the remnant resultant role is very usable . It just think of that I think more time is required to let the technology mature before it ’s “ production ready . ”
Part Four: Using Windows XP on a Core Duo mini
So overall , was it deserving the effort ? I certainly think so now . You credibly would have gotten a different answer at 12:30 a.m. Sunday morning , in the thick of my conflict to figure out what had gone wrong with my hard drive after the video driver cataclysm . But after getting everything instal and now having used the system for a couple of solar day , the end result is impressive .
ironware that work : Once you have drivers install , since they ’re the native Windows drivers , stuff just works . For instance , I have tested the following things on my XP mini , and they all sour either utterly or near to it .
Overall , jolly much everything necessary to actually practice the miniskirt in XP work — as long as you ’ve jumped through the requisite hoop to get the drivers installed .
computer hardware that does n’t work out : There are really only two region that are troublesome , and I ’ve touched on both already . The first , and big , is the want of native video drivers . While this has trivial impression on day - to - day use , it does intend that games and other app that bank on accelerated video recording are soon off limits — there ’s no acceleration forDirectXorOpenGL graphics , for instance . The mini has a dependable chance of having native nontextual matter earlier than the other Intel Macs , as it uses a stock Intel chipset ; the other machines use ATI video boards . As I noted earlier , there ’s already a partial root for aboriginal mini graphics which has worked for some hoi polloi . I suspect it ’s only a matter of time until a safe and viable solution is available .
The second is audio yield . Apparently this is working on the iMacs and MacBook Pros , but the miniskirt has a small trouble — it seems the chipset is output opthalmic ( you may see red light emanating from the headphone jack ) alternatively of an analog signaling . USB audio recording devices forge , however , so if you need sound , you could get it . I also anticipate a solution will be launch to this issue comparatively quickly .
Finally , the IR embrasure is n’t functional , and I do n’t have a good sense for whether or not someone will be capable to answer that issue . To me , though , that ’s not a crowing problem .
practical program compatibility : Here ’s where I would usually talk about lotion compatibility , etc . Except it ’s not an payoff . You ’re running the literal , dependable - to - good Windows XP , as seen in the screenshot below ( snap for a full - size version ):
( Visible in that shot are ESPN ’s Bottom Line sport stock ticker , the prescribed Windows Update site , my G5 ’s nursing home folder , the web connectedness windowpane , and the About boxful showing the Intel mainframe . )
If your program does n’t involve DirectX or accelerated graphics ( i.e. it ’s not a game or high - end video program ) , it will more than likely take to the woods just ok . This even includes hooey that I did n’t think would work , such as Windows Media Player 10 and QuickTime Player . QuickTime Player can even play back HD clips ( those at 480p resolve ) without any slowdowns . Windows Media high - def played at about half the desired speed , but they only offer 720p clip , so that explains the retardation ( remember , this is all without native picture drivers — the fact that any HD stuff toy at all is fairly amazing ) .
I tested Word , Excel , and PowerPoint from Office 2003 , and they all unravel fine and very fast . The applications opened in about a second , and everything works . I seem to have figured out that there ’s a scroll “ focal ratio boundary ” in Word , too . I opened my bombastic tryout document from last week ’s mini report , and it took as recollective to scroll on the mini in XP as it did on my G5 as it did on my true Athlon3200 PC — the right way around 22 seconds .
I installed jEdit , a Java - based text editor in chief , to see how it worked . Unlike OS X , of course , Java is n’t included so you have to install a runtime first . But after that , jEdit installed and die hard perfectly well .
Microsoft ’s Windows Update and Office Update website worked utterly , patch my version of Windows and Office to the current levels . Internet Explorer seemed to run alright , but I speedily ditched it ( other than needing it for the Windows and Office update poppycock ) in favour of Firefox , which bunk like a title-holder .
As a final ultimate trial of package and hardware , I created a DVD undertaking contain a number of high definition video clips . Using Nero , I bring the clips in , create a main menu anatomical structure , added some labels , and then told Nero to start encode and combustion .
iDVD has nothing to vex about proportional to Nero stealing its title as friendliest and better - depend DVD authoring program . On the other hand , Nero offers a net ton of ascendance over the project , and has a reputation for having splendid encoders . Just do n’t expect an iDVD - like experience when you ’re creating your undertaking .
I figured as a focus trial , this was about as tough as it could get — encode video is hard body of work , and Nero was keeping both CPUs peg during the whole procedure . It ’s also a slow summons , so I went about my other duties for 90 minutes or so . When I take a look at the auto again , I had a finished videodisk which play dead in our home instrumentalist , and on my G5 .
I had also plugged in my temperature probe during the encryption and combustion unconscious process , as there have been reports that XP’d miniskirt have been running hot than they did under OS X. The maximum temperature I show was 113F , which is only three degrees warmer than the exhaust fumes air got while simply play a DVD under OS X. As such , at least for this mini , there does n’t seem to be a temperature issue .
Once you get through the potentially - complicated apparatus and have a work Intel Mac XP auto , you ’ve get the easily - ever “ Windows XP on Apple hardware ” solution . Emulators such as WinTel and the current version of VirtualPC wo n’t come close to native speeds , whereas this solutionisnative . The only real downside is it ask a reboot to run Windows XP . Down the road , the next version of VirtualPC may be topnotch - tight as well , and not require the reboot , given that there ’s now a vulgar chipset . But we ’ll have to wait to see if the likely f number step-up comes true or not .
execution testing
Once I had a sense that the mini was now a full - botch up Windows machine , I decided to see how it would heap up against my Dual G5 and my Athlon 3200 + . I downloaded a trial interpretation of Photoshop CS2 for Windows , and then designed a simple filter test to run on all three machines ( G5 , XP miniskirt , and XP Athlon ) . Browsing NASA ’s site , I found a 3,200 - by-2,400 - pixel version of a birdie launch ( 1.4 MiB download ) , and then make a liquify filter to falsify the image :
I hold start the filter , and then imitate both the image and filter to the other two machines . Then I time how long it took to apply the filter to the look-alike on each system . Just for merriment , I rebooted the XP miniskirt and ran the same test in Rosetta .
PHOTOSHOP CS2 LIQUIFY FILTER TEST
Testing by Rob Griffiths , very unofficial !
Now , this was n’t a completely fair test , as my Athlon has only 512 MB of RAM in it , while the mini has 2 GB and the G5 has 2.5 GB . However , it ’s more of a CPU trial than a memory trial , as the image was n’t huge , and the use was mathematics intensive . I was impressed with how promptly the Mini XP box finished , three second gear ahead of the Athlon and not that far behind the Dual G5 . One possible stopping point here might be that if someone ’s looking for a mini and wants to turn in Photoshop on it today , they could do so by install XP and using that until a oecumenical reading come out .
After the promote Photoshop results , I went look for some benchmarking programs . regrettably , one of the unity I chance was responsible for my second calamity , so that form of sapped my desire for further testing . However , I did manage to runCPUBench2003before the machine sprinkle up and die . Given that this test is CPU intensive , I was n’t surprised to find the dual - CPU mini outflank my Athlon in the overall grievance — about 43 pct better ( 11,115 vs 7,741 ) . The results in the graphics subset of the test were like — shaft trace , which is CPU - intensive , was faster on the mini , by about 30 percentage . 3 - D graphics , though , were much slower , as there are n’t any aboriginal drivers put in .
Macworld science lab plan to conduct more extensive examination along with our colleagues fromPC World . Those results will be posted at Macworld.com as soon as they become available .
Even without native graphic driver , the XP mini is a immobile motorcar . It sense snappy , windows resize quickly enough , Word and Excel both scroll as fast as you ’d ever need them to , applications launch in a haste , and CPU - intensive tasks are done nearly as promptly as they are on the Dual G5 . In curt , I was quite slaked with the functioning of Windows XP on this little box .
Final remarks
So after too many hour of install , examination , reinstalling , testing , reinstalling , examination , and so away , how do I finger about using XP on a miniskirt ? Here are some of my take - aways , summarized in a few slug point .
Assuming resolution of the remaining issues , I think the ability to turn tail Windows XP at full speed on an “ as take ” basis could be a Brobdingnagian selling feature for Apple . Anyone will be able-bodied to specify a Mac rather of a PC to Purchasing , and there will no longer be any legitimate technical reasons to say “ no . ” Once the machine is in the construction , it could then be used in OS X most of the fourth dimension , only rebooting into XP when needed .
With that say , I do n’t call up that instal and using Windows XP on an Intel Mac is at a point today where I could recommend it to anyone other than a hard-core dedicated tekki type . If everything goes perfectly , yes , almost anyone could get XP installed on an Intel Mac . But when something goes incorrect , which it invariably will given the complexity of this undertaking , you ’re live on to want some expert know - how to at least recover from the catastrophe , if nothing else . You also have to have a second of a cavalier position about your organisation , knowing it could be rendered unserviceable at some item by some seemingly innocent action , like instal a new driver .
Once the project matures a fleck , and solves the remaining expert hurdles , I would then not hesitate to recommend this solvent to those who take Windows XP entree but prefer to keep using the Mac as their chief motorcar . I do n’t know , however , how much simpler the installation can get . If the XP installer can finally recognize the installed hardware and put in the needed drivers during setup , that will make this modification accessible to many more substance abuser . Otherwise , it will remain on the fringes of computer science , approachable only to those with a strong proficient bent ( or those who have such relatives ) , and perhaps those supported by a incarnate IT section .
When I started this experimentation , I was certain I was going to pass over the driveway when I was done with this clause , and restore my cloned OS Adam install . Now , I ’m not so certain . hold a fast , super - restrained and 100 - per centum authentic Windows XP environs a simple reboot out sure beats firing up my Athlon dissonance - generator PC when I need to do something in Windows . perhaps it ’ll get to stay after all .
