As predicted, hackers have found a way to boot Microsoft’s Windows XP operating system on newer Macintosh computers using Intel chips. The reward for this “achievement” is $13,854 in cash.
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| Source: AP |
To be more precise, their “feat” involved creating a dual-boot mechanism for the computer, allowing users to switch between two different operating systems. Many users of Apple Computers’ Mac are likely celebrating this event, especially after Apple announced its transition to Intel chips.
There are countless reasons for this development, but the most common one is that users WANT to run familiar Windows applications on their Mac computers.
Colin Nederkoorn, a maritime stock trader based in Houston, expressed his desire to use just one computer instead of having to operate both an Apple PowerBook and a Windows PC for different tasks as he currently does. This is why Nederkoorn, who is 23 years old, initiated this exciting competition. Hackers were encouraged to participate, and a cash prize was offered to anyone who could successfully activate the Windows XP operating system on Apple Computer’s proprietary hardware.
The competition started in January, but it wasn’t until last week that two software engineers, Jesus Lopez (33) and Eric Wasserman (41), achieved the breakthrough. Lopez mentioned that he handled most of the technical work—struggling with challenges late at night and on weekends, while Wasserman, a Mac computer expert, introduced Lopez to the competition and supported him throughout the process.
Before participating in the competition, Lopez had never touched a Mac computer. Although the contest was a personal initiative, he believes that “the results could serve many people, and the community will benefit from it“.
Last Friday night, the prize was awarded, and throughout that day, Nederkoorn’s website was buzzing with activity as the software development community rushed to improve, enhance, and refine Lopez’s work. For his part, Nederkoorn referred to his idea as “Windows on Mac,” an open-source project that anyone can contribute to.
You can download Lopez’s project from this website; however, it does require a fair amount of technical knowledge and some effort to fine-tune. Nederkoorn predicts that a more user-friendly and simpler “hack” version will be available for the community within a year.
“By then, you’ll just need to click twice, and you’re done,” Nederkoorn said.
When Apple introduced its first Intel-based computer back in January, company officials stated that Apple had no intention of selling or supporting the Windows operating system on its products. However (this is important), they also committed to doing nothing to prevent users from… doing it themselves.
As Apple’s Vice President Phil Schiller stated, “If anyone is using our hardware and is forced to endure the world of Windows, that’s OK too“.
Tian Yi
