Apple Boot Camp adds Core 2 Duo support

A new beta of Apple's dual-boot software allows Windows to run on the latest Mac hardware

Boot Camp creates a dual-boot Mac

Apple is upgrading its Boot Camp beta-test software that lets firms run Windows on Mac systems.

The latest Boot Camp 1.1.1 release will work on Apple systems that use Intel’s Core 2 Duo processors, including the latest iMac desktops. An updated version of the software is due to be available as part of the next Mac operating system release, OS X 10.5, codenamed Leopard.

When it was first uploaded in April, Boot Camp was seen by some observers as a way to make Apple more appealing to business buyers because they would be able to run the gamut of Windows and Apple applications. However, as Apple will not support Windows on Macs, that is unlikely to happen.

Boot Camp has also been somewhat overshadowed by the release of Parallels Software’s Parallels Desktop for Mac. While Boot Camp lets users select to boot Windows XP rather than Mac OS X, Parallels lets Macs run other x86 operating systems including Windows simultaneously in virtual machines.