Just before making an official announcement to allow Mac users to run Vista Home, Microsoft has swiftly retracted and said that virtualisation of both the Home and Home Premium edition is still banned.
This means that Mac users, waiting for an affordable alternative to running Vista Business, Ultimate or Enterprise, will have to stick to Windows XP for the foreseeable future.
Before completely changing tack, Microsoft had originally said earlier this week that due to customer feedback it would be amending its End User Licensing Agreement (EULA) to include Vista Home.
However, the company had addressed the possible security risks associated with running Windows Vista in a virtualised environment.
Working with its Intel-based Macs, Apple has Boot Camp software that allows users to install and run Windows on their system. However, this software officially only works with the XP operating system.
Parallel, a US-based virtualisation technology company that provides a platform for running Vista on Mac said, on its official blog, that the Microsoft EULA effectively “means that if you’re a user and you want to run Vista virtually, you must buy the highest-end versions of Vista, or you’ll be in violation”.
The company added that in its opinion Microsoft had lost a Mac customer set who will simply not find the higher-end version of Vista affordable.
By Marie Boran
