Although many experts thought that booting an Intel-based Mac with Windows Vista wouldn’t be possible, an adventuresome soul has managed to do just that. OSx86 Project forum member AirmanPika has posted images and talks briefly about what works and what doesn’t. Apple’s new Boot Camp made the installation possible, but not without a few problems.
Installing the beta version of Microsoft’s successor to Windows XP wipes out the other data on the target drive, including Mac OS X. There are also some issues with CD drive and video driver software. Installing Windows Vista will leave your Mac as a single-boot system, but it will be Windows only.
Experts have felt that there are serious hurdles to overcome before Vista would install and run on an Intel-Based Mac because the Mac uses a special type of low-level hardware programming called EFI during startup. Windows relies on an older system called BIOS, and booting Windows on a Mac requires special software to emulate the BIOS code.
Apple has stated that Boot Camp is compatible only with Windows XP Service Pack 2.
AirmanPika’s efforts make a nice proof of concept for booting a Mac with Windows Vista, and shows that Apple can add support for the operating system in future Boot Camp beta is it wants.