A competition to see who could get Windows XP make for first on an Intel Mac has been won , according to the contest ’s coordinator , Colin Nederkoorn . TheWindows XP on an Intel Macpage provides a link to a download that includes software and instructions for exercise .

Nederkoorn first put the competition together after he ordered an Intel - based MacBook Pro for work .

“ I told my foreman that this would replace my IBM desktop and I could boot Windows XP on it , ” he said , and to put his money where his mouth was , he put up $ 100 . He advise that others with an interest in get wind a dual - boot Macintosh do the same .

To escort , the contest has raised over $ 13,854 in donations , including important add-on from Digital Express , Delicious Monster and Uneasy Silence . Nederkoorn says that any further donations will go to support an open source projection created to maintain the work that ’s already been done .

News that Windows XP was work natively on an Intel - based iMac first come to igniter several days ago , when two enterprising users who go by the soubriquet “ narf2006 ” and “ blanka ” stake pictures to an account on the Flickr photoblogging service purportedly present Windows being installed on the system . A TV follow , and the solution has since been verified by Nederkoorn and his testers .

get Windows XP to act upon on the Mac is not a plug and play process . According to the support included with the file download provided on Nederkoorn ’s Web site , users must make an install CD themselves using a personal computer equipped with a CD - R private road , Microsoft ’s Windows XP SP 2 candela - ROM and Nero CD combustion software package . Step by stride command for create the disc are include .

Users must also reformat and repartition their Intel Mac ’s hard disk movement to include a separate partition where Windows XP can be instal , then go through a multi - step process to verify the software is install properly and the Mac can discern it .

Once that ’s done , user will be capable to switch between Mac OS X and Windows after rebooting the Mac .

Nederkoorn notes that with this process in place , all three current Intel - base Mac models can go Windows with the exclusion of the 20 - inch iMac . He also offer a variety of caveats — native graphics drivers are n’t in place yet , for example , so there is circumscribed video carrying into action — a blow to Mac gamers who had hoped for a solution that would let them make for Windows games on their new Mac ironware .

“ There is no chance you could play a game using this solution , aside from minesweeper , ” said Nederkoorn . “ It looks like a fix for this may be a agency off yet . ”

The Apple Remote and the iSight webcam do n’t seem to work yet , either .

Windows XP is already capable to process on Intel Macs , but only through the use of machine emulators , which influence more slowly than many user would like . The most democratic imitator , Microsoft ’s Virtual PC , does not yet support Intel - based Mac hardware , and Microsoft has not yet indicated if or when an Intel version might be release .

trust that Macs might support Windows out of the box dwindled last calendar week during the Intel Developers Forum , when a Microsoft rep secernate attender that Windows Vista will not support EFI , the iron heel technology used by Macs , at least until a host version is ready in 2007 . And even then , Microsoft said the bread and butter will be limit to motorcar that employ 64 - bit mainframe . Apple ’s current crop of Intel Macs habituate 32 - bit processors .

for claim the prize , the victor had to avoid using emulation . They also had to fend off using virtualization software such as VMWare , which allow multiple operating organization to work on a undivided estimator at the same time .

Updated 12:22PM March 16 , 2006 : Information added regarding filing cabinet download .

Updated 12:50 March 16 , 2006 : Provided details on installation cognitive process .