Apple's Boot Camp 1.2 supports Windows Vista

Although we were already informed that Leopard wouldn't be postponed for Vista support, it's always comforting to have just a tad more proof, and you really can't ask for much more than the latest iteration of Boot Camp (v1.2) now playing nice with Redmond's newfangled OS. Aside from allowing Intel-based Macs to load up Microsoft's latest operating system, the latest beta also includes updated drivers for the "trackpad, AppleTime, audio, graphics, modem, and iSight," and you can even control the action in Windows Media Player (and iTunes, of course) with the Apple Remote. Additionally, Apple is now invading your Windows system tray by adding an icon "for easy access to Boot Camp information and actions," and finally, you'll find Apple Software Update within both Windows XP and Vista environments. So while we can't exactly announce that Leopard is ready to pounce just yet, it's fair game to say that a new OS is most definitely available for your beloved Mac.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

[NHAnimator @ Mar 29th 2007 8:25AM]

I don't use Apple. Haven't since the IIe. But they do seem to have a winner with Boot Camp.

[James @ Mar 29th 2007 8:37AM]

I seriously hope wifi works better with this update. I did a little workaround to get wireless working, and even though vista could see the card, I couldn't connect and I had to reset my router after booting back into OS X because there were weird connection problems. Very odd problem that nobody else seems to be having, but there you go...I have bad luck most of the time..

[purezerg @ Mar 29th 2007 8:40AM]

hey, my opteronF installs OSX natively too!

[nikster @ Mar 29th 2007 8:55AM]

good. now if Vista sucked just a liiitle bit less it would be even better. i am sorry i keep bashing vista but i think i deserve it after wasting nearly a week on the POS.

[Eric V @ Mar 29th 2007 9:01AM]

How about adding Linux support like Ubuntu... To be honest I could really care less about installing Windows on a Mac. Finding a PC laying around is like dimes in a bucket.

[Todd George @ Mar 29th 2007 9:15AM]

I'm hoping they fixed the funky touchpad driver issues. They would just mysteriously stop working right on MacBooks under Windows. A simple "palm tap" would bring them back to "normality".

[h8rain @ Mar 29th 2007 10:21AM]

I thought I was the only one with that problem :). I was about to call for service, but it works perfect in mac mode, so I chucked it up to driver issue.

I hope it improved XP support. I personally do not like Vista, but I have to use Windows for MS Access (I program an interface/database for my job).

[Todd George @ Mar 29th 2007 10:27AM]

There were a couple of big threads on Apple's BootCamp Forum about it. The work-around was to tap with your palm. Everyone pretty much chalked it up to driver issues, but I think everyone also expected the fix to ship with Leopard, and not be available as part of BootCamp for free. I have yet to try v1.2, but the "change list" does show Touchpad driver fixes.

[Hank Cazorp @ Mar 29th 2007 9:53AM]

Great. Now if only Boot Camp came with a right mouse button.

[Jason @ Mar 29th 2007 10:35AM]

It works the same as in OSX - place two fingers on the track pad and click. Really quite simple. ;)

[Raven88 @ Mar 29th 2007 10:14AM]

right button: two fingers on the trackpad and one click

[Hank Cazorp @ Mar 29th 2007 11:06AM]

I do know that context-menu clicking is possible (even simple) through the touchpad, I just prefer a physical button. I would pay extra for it.

Operations like "two fingers+click" seem to me very kludgy and UN Mac-like...function following form.

[Nick @ Mar 29th 2007 10:11AM]

I've been using Vista on my MBP-CD since Bootcamp 1.1 - I had no idea it wasn't officially supported?

[Ross @ Mar 29th 2007 10:15AM]

I have installed Vista on my Mac Mini without bootcamp drivers. Vista has by itself found and installed every single piece of hardware except BT. Everything works. Media Center rocks vs. FrontRow. I have deleted OS X partition to put in more divx movies:)

[Chris Stewart @ Mar 29th 2007 10:28AM]

Congratulations to the Boot Camp team for adding Vista support. I still don't get the Vista bashing, besides the fact that it's a M$ product. I've been running the final release for over three months now, and wouldn't go back to XP if you paid me. I'm running Vista on my two year-old Asus Z71-v notebook and it runs faster with Vista compared to XP, makes better use of my video card (Windows Aero is nice, stop complaining about similarities) and hardware installation is a snap compared to XP: it just works or it doesn't, simple as that. For XP-only software I'm using a VMWare virtual machine and it purrs along nicely. So, fanboys, read this: Vista good, OSX good, XP not too bad, ME/98 disgusting.

[Krace @ Mar 30th 2007 8:29PM]

> I'm running Vista on my two year-old Asus Z71-v notebook and it runs faster with Vista compared to XP

are you serious?
what's your nominal clockspeed and how much RAM do you have? (reason why i'm asking is that i have the same model)

[Chris S @ Apr 2nd 2007 1:42AM]

1.8Ghz, 2GB ram. Star Wars Battlefront II used to choke on XP, and I would constantly get booted from games for lag, but I haven't had a single problem since running the game with the same hardware on Vista.

[Randy @ Mar 29th 2007 10:32AM]

In XP/Vista, on a Mac, How do mouse around w/ only one button? I'm not trolling, I don't own a mac (but I'm considering it) I'm genuinely curious. Do you "click" w/ a tap of the pad? how are the scroll wheel and right-click handled?

[anon @ Mar 29th 2007 8:17PM]

Apple has made the trackpad sense multiple inputs. If you have two fingers n the trackpad and depress the mouse button it will register as typical right-click. If you have two fingers on the trackpad and then move your fingers around it will scroll. This feature can be turned on/off if one wishes. being Apple, they have made this feature feel very natural to perform.

[Matt @ Mar 29th 2007 10:46AM]

XP Great, OSX Good, Vista Poor, Slackware Great!

[l0ne @ Mar 29th 2007 10:49AM]

To scroll, you drag two fingers on the touchpad.
To right click, you click while having two fingers touch the touchpad.
It works in OS X too.

[Mitch @ Mar 29th 2007 12:16PM]

Now if apple would only add a second mouse button on the laptops, it would be worth it to buy one. Come on APPLE, multitasking is IN.

[Nick @ Mar 29th 2007 12:22PM]

Please read the million other comments informing you about how Right-Click is handled on the Macbook Trackpad.
One button, One Trackpad.. many many uses (including scrolling and right click using two fingers.)

[Mitch @ Mar 29th 2007 12:31PM]

I have used the gestures on the Mac's and they stink, put a real right button on the thing, and maybe even a third...

So, lets see mac users cant figure out how to use a second button, but the can figure out trackpad gestures...???????

[Modano @ Mar 29th 2007 12:34PM]

I think the point isn't that Mac users "can't figure it out" but that less-advanced users, who have no need for a second button, aren't troubled with one, while advanced users can easily use the two-finger tap. This isn't exactly some complicated gesture- it's tapping with 2 fingers instead of one!

[Meltz; @ Mar 29th 2007 4:46PM]

Okay, i've had my MBP for close to a year now. Track pads on other laptops don't even compare - i never use the phys. buttons anyways. I have always tapped the pad to click, and on windows laptops, i've always thought it was a huge inconvenience to contort my thumb all weird and backwards to reach the right button. So....yeah you can shut up now

[Randizzle @ Mar 29th 2007 2:14PM]

isn't it funny that Apple has a very publicized software to run Windows? Shows how much apple fanboys need Windows cuz inside them, they know they still need Windows. And do people who use Windows really need a Mac OS? nope cuz they have everything the need.

[Shahryar Rizvi @ Mar 29th 2007 2:34PM]

Yeah, with the whole two finger + click thing on the touchpad to right click, nobody should be allowed to complain about that. I'll tell you the one thing I do wish though.. unless I'm totally missing it.. when I'm opening a file from within an app, I hate that I can't rename or move a file or create a folder from within that finder-ish window. In Windows, you can just right click or do whatever rearranging at any time. I have to make a mental note to come back to this from Normal Finder (which I always forget to do) to fix or add or delete something.

[roach @ Mar 29th 2007 2:40PM]

Yeah...funny how they criticized Windoze and now they're making money off MS' back. Same deal how Apple and followers also criticized Intel and now it like a god-sent hardware.

[Joseph @ Mar 29th 2007 4:14PM]

kwitcherbitchen

[chris @ Mar 29th 2007 4:04PM]

is there a simple way to backup/restore the windows partition as it would be possible with acronis when running windows natively?

oh and would i be able to create a second windows partition from within windows?

[Mitch @ Mar 29th 2007 7:18PM]

I have had Many Macs, from the Mac plus (which i still have) to the last sold model of PowerBook G4 and have used the gesture feature, I find it uncomfortable. Since everyone has their own preference for ergonomics, it would make sense for them to have a second button. There is no sense in limiting your market by removing something that every other laptop has. If they had it, I would buy a Macbook pro, but since they don't there is no point in it for me.

[It is secret! @ Mar 29th 2007 5:05PM]

The fact that people keep thinking they change the date for bootcamp and vista is ridiculous. They really don't care about it, that is something that can be tagged on at a later date....I downloaded bootcamp AFTER I got my macbook. Why would apple concern themselves with a competitors product for release when it isnt an integral part of their own operating system. It'd be the same as microsoft saying they didn't want to release vista until they were absolutely sure that it would run on intel macs.

[Luiz Telles @ Mar 31st 2007 2:03AM]

Who the hell would want to use Vista on a nice MacBook Pro for example? Compare to OS X Vista is pretty primitive.

[Kevin @ Mar 31st 2007 2:52PM]

Guess what, Linux has supported the "two finger tap" on many trackpads (Synaptics) for years. It's so much easier just to push one physical button. Tapping has a bit of a longer response time, and is worse for productivity. I don't need to be switching between one finger for pointing, two fingers for right-clicking, button for left clicking, etc. On a standard pad, you have a thumb to click and a finger to point and scroll.

And the two finger scroll? Having a "scroll strip" off to the side (and sometimes on the bottom) just makes more sense. You can go much faster with a single finger than you can with two, and you can avoid accidentally scrolling by putting a second finger down.

Can you middle click with a Mac trackpad? That's very important to me, and Linux lets me do it. It's a two finger tap for me, OR press both mouse buttons (the ridge in the middle will do). If needing to gesture a right click is more important than middle click to you, you can alter it to your liking. For me, I can single-finger for left, two-finger for middle, and three-finger (yes three!) for right.

But I've got buttons, so none of this is necessary.

[qphuong @ Apr 5th 2007 10:22PM]

So when u begin the Vista installation does it wipe out all of your old XP stuff like games, programs and save profiles ?