March 29th, 2008
Ever since Apple shipped Boot Camp 2.0 along with Leopard I’ve been wondering if and how they’ll push future updates for utilities and drivers on the Windows side. The Boot Camp Assistant is no longer responsible for burning a driver CD — now that Windows drivers are found on the Leopard install DVD — and is subsequently a former shadow of itself. I wouldn’t be surprised if Apple incorporates the Boot Camp functionality into Disk Utility in a future update.
Where does that leave those who want updated Windows drivers; scouring the internet like normal Windows users?
There are a number of options Apple has if it wants to push these updates to Boot Camp users. I say if it wants because I’m not entirely convinced Apple finds driver updates a high enough priority. The nVidia graphics drivers, for example — which I have written about a number of times — were not updated once throughout the entire beta cycle. If no critical updates are found, Apple may just leave updates until the next OS 10.x revision.
The most probable route would be for Apple to use its Software Update utility on Windows to push Boot Camp and driver updates to users. The Software Update utility is installed as part of the Boot Camp installation, and that software should be able to detect what drivers require updates and automatically provide the correct versions. It would be the most hassle-free method of delivering updates.
The recent Safari for Windows kerfuffle might have left Apple weary of using their Software Update utility for anything other than iTunes and Quicktime updates, however. Additionally, this would probably accompany a similar update on the OS X side in order to update the Boot Camp Assistant — not that this detracts from the elegance of the procedure.
Are there any other simple and effective method of updating Boot Camp installations?
Apple could do what it did before with the beta versions of Boot Camp: provide an updated Boot Camp Assistant on the OS X side and let users burn an updated driver disk. The problem with this approach is that it creates a significantly larger threshold for people to overcome if they want to update their Windows installation. One could argue that if the user is capable of installing Windows in the first place they are experienced enough to burn a driver disk and all that entails; but this would leave a lot of less skilled users — who probably had their resident nerd do the initial installation — in a bit of a bend.
Updates to Boot Camp will most likely plug critical holes in the utilities and drivers, and these updates should therefore be easy to install. This method fails the simplicity test.
There is another — albeit far fetched — solution to the driver problem: provide updates directly on apple.com. Similar to how other brand name computer manufacturers make drivers available, Apple could have a special section on its Apple Downloads site for driver updates.
I can’t see Apple doing this, however. Again, it requires the user to actively seek out these updates, and in many cases would have to be made explicitly aware of their existence. As far as I’m aware Apple does not do this with any of their other products, so why would it go out of its way to do this especially for Windows?
This whole discussion becomes moot if Apple feels their Boot Camp software is good enough as it is. The Software Update method seems like the most likely, but Apple needs to tread lightly with that particular utility for the time being. Waiting for the next point release of OS X is not an acceptable solution. Until then, I’ll have to look for my own updates.