Boot Camp’s dual-booting into Windows is nice, but not ideal for those of us for whom Windows access is a usually a convenience rather than a necessity. The ideal is to run Windows in a user-mode window while the system is running OS X.You don’t have to wait for Microsoft to sell Virtual PC for Intel-based Macs. The solution to do that is already here, presently in an imperfect form (only with regard to performance) but, I believe, soon to be perfected.The Q project runs a virtualized x86 system on an Intel or PowerPC-based Mac. Q is a front-end for the QEMU CPU emulator, which employs an ingenious just-in-time compilation scheme not entirely unlike Rosetta. QEMU emulates several other architectures including ARM, MIPS, SPARC and x86-64. The new QEMU Accelerator runs x86 code natively on an x86 and should eliminate the need to dual-boot Macs into Windows for many non-I/O dependent uses. Unlike QEMU, Accelerator is not open source, so for now, I’m using QEMU to emulate an x86 on an x86. Don’t knock it; it works. I installed Windows XP, Service Pack 2 using Q. The Windows install takes for-bloody-ever, and the process takes pauses that last so long you’ll think the installer quit on you. Be patient. It does succeed if you don’t let your machine sleep.The performance is roughly equivalent to Virtual PC running on a PowerPC Mac, which is to say, adequate for must-have emergencies. The Q/QEMU advantage is the speed with which it can freeze and thaw guest OSes. Use Q/QEMU instead of Windows’ Hibernate.Q has a small device driver disc image of its own that, as far as I can tell, fixes up the network. QEMU kicks ass; to my mind, its creator is an open source demigod. I would love to see Accelerator opened up as donationware. I’d be first in line with a meaningful PayPal token of gratitude. I’d rather see Q/QEMU/Accelerator take the role of virtualizer for Intel-based Macs than have the trophy go to Microsoft, VMWare or some other by default.I should add that Q/QEMU will run any OS you choose, not just Windows. Remarkable. Thank you, Mr. Bellard. Software Development