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Thu, 12 Apr 2007 Boot Camp users fret at beta test time-out

Boot Camp beta will still work but be unsupported once final version ships

Jonny Evans

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Boot Camp Beta testers could be dumped when Apple ships Mac OS X 10.5 'Leopard'.

Reports exploring the terms and conditions for acceptance into the Boot Camp Beta scheme have noted the inclusion of certain clauses which mean that users of the software will lose access to support and driver updates when the virtualisation software reaches final release status.

Boot Camp is Apple's homebuilt software which lets users run the Windows OS in a separate partition on any Intel Mac.

The software will be included in the release of Apple's hopefully-soon-to-ship 'Leopard' operating system.

The beat has proved incredibly popular – Apple confirmed over 1.5 million downloads of the software had taken place by January 2007.

Users are now concerned that the licensing terms of the beta state that the software is only usable until the release of a commercial version or until 30 September.

Apple spokesperson Lynn Fox moved to reassure existing Boot Camp users that the license wouldn't mean any immediate calamity, telling CNet News.com: "The Windows installation on a user's Mac will continue to work after the Boot Camp license expires."

Fox did warn that elements of the Boot Camp software, such as the Boot Camp Assistant software (used to install Windows in a partition on a Mac) would cease to work when the trial period expires.

Users who choose not to upgrade to Mac OS X 10.5 may get the chance to buy a copy of Boot Camp for OS 10.4. A report in July 2006 claimed the final build may be made available to such users for $29.99.

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