Filed under: Hardware, OS, Software, Blogs
Vista SP1 to support EFI booting standard - what does this mean for Boot Camp?
Rounding up on 9 months of Vista being on the market, Microsoft is of course at work on Service Pack 1 which is slated for an early 2008 release. At the official Windows Vista blog, Brandon LeBlanc has offered extensive details on what the focus of Service Pack 1 is, and while much of it is targeted at businesses and independent software vendors, an interesting section outlining some of the fundamentals mentions that support for the EFI booting standard is on its way (under the Introducing Windows Vista Service Pack 1 section; there aren't any anchors I can link in this extensive post, so you'll have to search for that title or simply 'EFI').
In their hype and marketing for Boot Camp, Apple makes a pretty big deal about Intel-based Macs supporting EFI while "Windows XP, and even Vista, are stuck in the 1980s with old-fashioned BIOS" (check the sidebar of the Boot Camp page). So what could it mean if Vista catches up to the EFI bandwagon? I'm not quite sure yet. It could likely make the Boot Camp engineers' lives a lot easier, and while I know less about virtualization software like Parallels Desktop and VMware Fusion, they might be able to sleep better at night as well. Ultimately, if EFI support in Vista makes it easier for Apple to support running Windows on a Mac, this could likely yield even more sales from swtichers - especially those who need Vista for things like work or gaming. As to speculation on whether this could bring some of the wilder stuff like running Windows apps in Mac OS X without the need for the Windows OS or virtualization tools, I'll leave that to the tin foil hat enthusiasts in the audience.
Thanks Adam
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
matt said 7:45PM on 8-30-2007
'bout time!
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Kit said 5:58AM on 8-31-2007
"As to speculation on whether this could bring some of the wilder stuff like running Windows apps in Mac OS X without the need for the Windows OS or virtualization tools, I'll leave that to the tin foil hat enthusiasts in the audience."
How on earth would a different boot system remove the need for Windows applications to access Windows frameworks? "Without the need for the Windows OS" – if this update is coming in the form of a Windows OS update, how can it possibly affect the ability to run applications without Windows?
The one thing it *should* mean, is that you should be able to install Vista on a Mac without Boot Camp (although you're probably still going to want to use Boot Camp, since it handles all the partitioning etc. for you, as well as providing all the drivers for the custom hardware) by just inserting the CD and installing as you would on any other EFI-based PC.
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adrian said 8:01PM on 8-30-2007
Then again, Microsoft might pull a fast one and shut the door on boot camp.
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Sam said 8:44PM on 8-30-2007
I kind of expect Microsoft's support for EFI to be just as unfriendly to other operating systems as their current MBR bootloader, where installing Windows will destroy the bootloaders for OSs such as Linux.
Having said that, most people using Linux will know how to restore their bootloader and will realise that no data loss has occurred. I would hope that Microsoft will recognise that Mac users have no need to consider bootloaders and such, and make their own EFI bootloader take into account other OSs on the system when installing itself.
Hopefully, Apple's Startup Disk preference pane and control panel won't be affected by whatever Vista does to the EFI partition. I wonder whether applying Vista SP1 to an already installed system would automatically switch Vista to EFI booting - there's no need for it really, as obviously the system is able to boot - and what it would do to custom bootloaders like rEFIt, which I use on my MacBook.
Sam
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sneezy555 said 9:02PM on 8-30-2007
correct me if I'm wrong but it seems like this works only with 64 bit windows and that already had EFI support in the first place, if someone could explain this it would help thanks
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Mike said 9:31PM on 8-30-2007
The best thing about M$ is that they are pathethic. See the Vista ad? A couple on the top of a hill in a pose as they are they where lost and trying to locate something (probably Apple's HQ...) in a landscape full of with haze and fog where one cannot see a crap and the text says... "Bring clarity to your world"...
To finish, the point the couple is standing is a downhill, that represents the Vista itsel, as it is getting dust on the shelves.
The conclusion of this picture is: if you are lost in a mountain and cannot see the exit, the only way you can go is the way downhill. Perfect!
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Johnny Thrash said 11:22PM on 8-30-2007
Microsoft... pathetic. As always.
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itsme said 11:35PM on 8-30-2007
This means nothing for BootCamp. Now, if XP SP3 supports EFI, BootCamp is done for!
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itsmeee said 12:05AM on 8-31-2007
Take from Paul Thurrot's walkthrough of SP1...
"In the initial shipping version of Windows Vista, 64-bit (x64) versions of the OS could boot on EFI-compliant PCs, which replace ancient BIOS technology with a more modern solution. With SP1, EFI-based x64 Vista systems can also support network boot, a feature that was previously available only on 32-bit (x86) Vista versions on BIOS-based PCs."
To me this reads that you need two things for EFI, a 64bit system (which all new macs can put a check mark down for), and the x64 version of Vista which is a piece of crap because of device drivers (for printers, scanners etc).
So basically if I'm correct all that will change is... well nothing since the x64 Vista is a piece of crap.
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Steve said 12:22AM on 8-31-2007
There is a misconception that Apple's "Boot Camp" is what lets an Apple Mac boot Windows. You can take a Windows XP SP2 CD into any Apple store, turn any system off, pop your CD in and boot up and install XP onto that system. Boot Camp is not required.
Boot Camp contains a GUI interface to partitioning toos to make that easier (though they are already there from the command line) and it contains the Windows driver disk.
The booting capability has been in all Intel Macs since April 2005 and a firmware update updated older Intel Macs (thats why it was a requirement to have that firmware before you used Boot Camp)
Steve
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itsmeee said 12:09AM on 8-31-2007
lol where is the "edit for grammar" function?
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!!!! said 10:20AM on 8-31-2007
Who gives a flying fuck? How is Windows news of any interest to Mac users? Oh, right--this is TUAW, hivemind of switcheurs who really would have been better off sticking with Windows.
If you're the type who just doesn't feel comfortable without SquareSoft Accountancy 2000 or whatever PC apps it is you people need so badly, perhaps you should have thought of that before you bought your shiny new Mac. As the saying goes, you can take the PC from the user...
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!!!!! said 10:22AM on 8-31-2007
TUAW's comment system is reminiscent of a torture trap from some Ballmerian fantasy. Of course, you tasteless dweebs here at TUAW probably can't even perceive the shit in which you wade knee deep, so it's not surprising you don't care.
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nTuX said 10:48AM on 8-31-2007
Quote from the article :
"[...]those who need Vista for things like work or gaming.[...]"
I think there is a problem with that sentence. ;)
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Adam said 3:03PM on 8-31-2007
Dont you just love the asshats that post comments here. Somebody needs to get laid...
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Greg G said 1:18PM on 9-03-2007
Only 20 years in the past? Windows, using old, outdated technology for years? Nowai! ;)
Anyway, I see this as another "me 2!" from windows. Yeah, they finally caught on, but who wants to wait that long for them to catch up to Apple all the time?
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