Windows on Mac and Mac OS X on PCs? [Update]

The release of the first Intel Macs has rekindled speculation and discussion about Apple's long term plans with regard to their platform and the level of "openness". This comes in two forms.

First, is the possibility of running Windows on the Mac. As mentioned previously, Apple's official stance is one of indifference - That's fine with us. We Don't mind. This, however, may require some work. Of note, MacWindows claims that Microsoft execs said that while the current version of Virtual PC won't run on the Intel Macs, the company is "committed to porting the emulator to the Intel Mac platform." No time frame is given. This delay may be due to claims by eWeek that the Virtual PC team was caught off guard by the Intel Mac announcement back in June 2005 and that "Apple has yet to provide developers with the deep hooks needed for such virtualization".

Meanwhile, Businessweek discusses the flip side of that scenario -- opening Mac OS X up to run on generic PCs. While Apple has no plans to do such a thing at this time, that doesn't stop analysts from asking "What if..." The author gives a balanced look at the options Apple might have and even notes that Microsoft's license-platform-to-all strategy may be hurting the consumer adoption of their Windows Media/MP3 players.

Update: One reader notes that the new Intel Macs use EFI instead of BIOS. And that Windows XP 32bit does not support EFI at this time, so booting Windows XP may not be possible directly.