bad, bad news on this front:
microsoft windows vista will not support efi booting (intel-based macs only support booting via efi)
the new intel macs use efi to boot, and expectations were that vista would support efi to facilitate dual-booting of windows and os x. microsoft has decided to stick to their old bios scheme with 32-bit versions of vista. they may support it on the 64-bit version of vista, though they haven’t confirmed it.
the way i read this, that means that users of the new intel macs (which have a 32-bit chip) won’t be able to easily boot vista any more than they are currently able to boot xp.
although this news is further proof of vista’s technical shortcomings, i think it has the side effect of possibly “checkmating” apple into a position where intel macs won’t have any ability to run windows at all (unlike ppc macs, which have the option of virtual pc, among others). or, at the very least, apple and intel mac users are dependent on microsoft for a virtual pc-like product that may not be forthcoming, or on the hacking community which to date has not made much headway in getting windows of any kind to boot on an intel mac.
and while all this may not be bad news for some, like myself, who don’t care a bit about booting windows on my mac, i think it may be bad news for apple as a company. it takes away a big marketing weapon for getting switchers to come over.
if someone can explain to me why the sky isn’t falling in regards to this subject, i’d be very happy.
