Apple's Boot Camp Now Supports Vista

The Mac maker will now support Microsoft's newest OS, as well as XP, with its Boot Camp software, which allows Windows to run on its Intel-based machines.

Apple has released a new update to its Boot Camp software that will now support Microsoft's Windows Vista operating system.

The latest 138MB download of the Boot Camp 1.2 beta is now available through the Cupertino, Calif.-based company's Web site.

The Boot Camp software allows Intel-based Macs to run Windows. In addition to having an Intel-based Mac, beta requires the user to have at least Mac OS X Tiger 10.4.6 or a later version of the company's operating system.

The full release of Boot Camp will come with Apple's newest OS, called Leopard, which several analysts claim could be released sometime in April.

Apple has not announced a specific date for the release of Leopard.

In addition to Apple's own software for Windows, VMware, the leading provider of virtualization software, and Parallels are both offering products that will allow Windows to run on a Mac.

VMware's virtualization software for Macs, called "Fusion," is only available in beta. Parallels released the full version of its Desktop for Mac software on Feb. 27.

The latest update to Boot Camp will support all versions of Vista, which includes Vista Home Basic, Home Premium, Business and Ultimate. The software continues to support both XP Home and XP Professional.