Hackers get Windows XP working on Intel Mac

Macworld - A contest to see who could get Windows XP working on an Intel Mac first has been won, according to the contest’s coordinator, Colin Nederkoorn. The "Windows XP on an Intel Mac" Web page provides a link to a download that includes software and instructions for use.

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

“I told my boss 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 suggested that others with an interest in seeing a dual-boot Macintosh do the same.

To date, the contest has raised over $13,854 in donations, including significant additions from Digital Express, Delicious Monster and Uneasy Silence. Nederkoorn said that any further donations will go to support an open-source project created to maintain the work that’s already been done.

News that Windows XP was working natively on an Intel-based iMac first came to light several days ago, when two enterprising users who go by the monikers “narf2006” and “blanka” posted pictures to an account on the Flickr photoblogging service purportedly showing Windows being installed on the system. A video followed, and the solution has since been verified by Nederkoorn and his testers.

Getting Windows XP to work on the Mac is not a plug-and-play process. According to the documentation included with the file download provided on Nederkoorn’s Web site, users must create an install CD themselves using a PC equipped with a CD-R drive, Microsoft’s Windows XP Service Pack 2 CD-ROM and Nero CD-burning software. Step-by-step instructions for creating the disc are included.

Users must also reformat and repartition their Intel Mac’s hard disk drive to include a separate partition where Windows XP can be installed, then go through a multistep process to make sure the software is installed properly and the Mac can recognize it.

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

Nederkoorn notes that with this process in place, all three current Intel-based Mac models can run Windows with the exception of the 20-in. iMac. But he offers a variety of caveats -- native graphics drivers aren’t in place yet, for example, so there is limited video performance, which is a blow to Mac gamers who had hoped for a solution that would let them play Windows games on their new Mac hardware.