Windows XP Booting on Mac Contest Over [Update x3] - MacRumors
Skip to Content

Windows XP Booting on Mac Contest Over [Update x3]

The contest to boot Windows XP on the Mac is over. The winners will receive $13,854:

Contest has been won - updates to follow shortly. All further donations will go into an account to sustain the open source project that will be launched with the initial solution.

The instructions to the contest stipulated the following conditions:

- Boot Windows XP on the Intel Mac
- Windows must coexist with Mac OS X and may not interfere with the operation of the other
- Upon starting the computer, the user must be offered a choice of which OS to boot

A photo of the OS selection screen was posted (mirror). Upon booting the Mac, an Apple logo appears on a grey screen. Pressing the down arrow key at this time brings you to a Windows logo on the same grey background. Hitting enter lets you proceed to boot the selected Operating System.

According to this post the final solution will work on the 17" iMac, 20" iMac, Mac mini and MacBook Pro. The full solution should be posted shortly and appears it will include downloadable bootloader.
Update: The final solution has been posted for downloading, but is receiving a lot of traffic.
Update 2:: Windows on Mac sub-forum has been created to organize discussion and troubleshooting on this topic.
Update 3: Support for the 20" iMac is not yet available. There is a FAQ available with a test version for the 20" iMac.

Related Roundups: iMac, MacBook Pro, Mac mini
Related Forums: PowerPC Macs, iMac, Mac mini, Mac Pro

Popular Stories

Apple Event Logo

Apple to Launch These 15+ New Products Later This Year

Friday March 27, 2026 2:03 pm PDT by
March has been an incredibly busy month for Apple, with the company unveiling more than 10 new products and accessories. We said hello to the MacBook Neo at the start of the month, and we bid farewell to the Mac Pro at the end of it. Nevertheless, there is still a lot more to come this year. Beyond the usual annual updates to iPhones and Apple Watches, Apple's all-new smart home hub is...
iphone 17 pro dark blue 1

Apple Preparing 'Most Significant Overhaul in the iPhone's History'

Sunday March 29, 2026 8:18 am PDT by
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has high expectations for Apple's first foldable iPhone. In his Power On newsletter today, he said the foldable iPhone will be "the most significant overhaul in the iPhone's history." "iPhone 4, iPhone 6 and iPhone X were clearly a big deal, but this is a whole new design," he said. Like Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 7, the foldable iPhone will reportedly open up like ...
iOS 26

iOS 26.4 Adds Two New Features to CarPlay

Tuesday March 24, 2026 1:55 pm PDT by
iOS 26.4 was released today, and it includes a couple of new features for CarPlay: an Ambient Music widget and support for voice-based chatbot apps. To update your iPhone 11 or newer to iOS 26.4, open the Settings app and tap on General → Software Update. CarPlay will automatically offer the new features so long as the iPhone connected to your vehicle is running iOS 26.4 or later....