Winner announced in Windows XP on Intel Mac contest

A contest aimed at developing a solution that would allow owner's of Apple Computer's new Intel-based Macs to run both Apple's Mac OS X and Mircrosoft's Windows XP operating systems natively on their computers appears to have a winner.

In a message on the Windows XP on an Intel Mac contest Web site on Wednesday, the contest runners proclaimed that the "Contest has been won," and promised additional updates at a later time.

The winner of the contest, known only as "narf," will take home a cash prize of $13,854, which was accumulated through donations from 100 or so contest supporters and companies such as Digital Express, Delicious Monster, and Uneasy Silence.

All further donations will go into an account to sustain the open source project that will be launched alongside the winning solution, contest runners wrote on the Web site.

One of the rules of the contest was that the winning solution would have to allow for dual-booting — an installation and boot method that would allow Mac OS X and Windows XP to coexist on the same computer, prompting the user to decide which operating system to boot each time the computer is switched on.

According to an article on ArsTechnica, the solution developed by narf is "fairly complicated." The tech site notes that users will need a Windows PC to complete the process, which is likely to defeat the purpose of the hack for most people. However, anyone with a bit of computer knowledge, access to a PC and 30 minutes to spare, should be able to get the solution working.

The solution will reportedly work on Apple's new iMacs, MacBook Pros and Mac minis.

With the ability to boost Windows XP, Apple computers are now the first machines on which users can boot all three major operating systems without (potentially) violating anyone's EULA, Ars notes. However, the legal implications of modifying the Windows XP boot CD — which is part of the process — are not yet known.