Boot Camp - always ask on bootup?

Hi...

Other than holding down the option key, is there a way to always have Boot Camp ask which partition to boot to?

If you want a specific OS to boot everytime, then go to System Preferences/Startup Disk
Other than that, do what you've been doing. (hold option and select)

I guess that the OP wants to be asked all the time and not just change the default boot partition.

There is the FlipSide software which allows you to reboot to a specific partition from within OSX but it doesn't seem to work properly on my new MBP.

Tex

Always ask on bootup solution

I believe you are looking for Bootpicker, a Apple program, which after you setup in system preferences, will let you choose between Mac, Windows, and Linux if you have them installed. If you have Snow Leopard it still works.

Bootpicker does not work on Catalina 10.15.7
@Soulwar did not answer the question, which I also have...

Could Apple not add a Boot Camp Control Panel / System Preference that, besides specifying Windows or MacOS as default boot option, also have an option 'always ask'?

Welcome to the forum. This thread is 12 years old. You can tell by looking at the date of the last post, which was in 2009, and the one before was in 2008. While the mods here don't normally close threads, they might encourage you to start a new one if you have a question.

AndyGlasgow2021 said:

Bootpicker does not work on Catalina 10.15.7
@Soulwar did not answer the question, which I also have...

Could Apple not add a Boot Camp Control Panel / System Preference that, besides specifying Windows or MacOS as default boot option, also have an option 'always ask'?

Click to expand...

First, Welcome to our forums!

Boot Camp has been around since Apple first switched from the PPC architecture to Intel way back in 2006 - 2007.

Apple has never deemed it necessary to provide a "Switcher System Control Panel" app that always asks which OS you wish to boot.

There have been many Boot Menu apps over the years including the popular "BootPicker" which still works for the latest Intel version of macOS. Why would anyone need a boot menu app that pops up and asks?

Seems redundant.

Also this thread is what we call a Zombie thread. Please start a new thread from now on rather than tag on to one that's 12 years old.

Might be old but the problem is still current and apparently unresolved. I tried Bootpicker, but it says it cannot run under this version of MacOS.

AndyGlasgow2021 said:

Might be old but the problem is still current and apparently unresolved. I tried Bootpicker, but it says it cannot run under this version of MacOS.

Click to expand...

It is true it still works that way, but the age issue is that this thread is very old. It would have been much better to start a new one with information on your current information: what Mac, what version macOS, what version Windows, etc.

AndyGlasgow2021 said:

Could Apple not add a Boot Camp Control Panel / System Preference that, besides specifying Windows or MacOS as default boot option, also have an option 'always ask'?

Click to expand...

As for your question, we are not Apple, we are just a group of users of Apple products. You ask "could" Apple do something and the answer is "Sure, but who knows if they are even thinking about it?" We don't have insight into Apple's planning. Given Apple is moving away from Intel to their own Apple Silicon, support for Windows, unless MS releases a suitable version of Windows, is likely to diminish, not increase.

Not exactly what you are looking for, but I find Bootchamp quite convenient.
Works for me with Mojave and Windows 8.
.

Another wonderful utility I find very useful is refind. It's probably overkill for what you need and quite complex, but I'll mention it anyway. I have 5 boot volumes I need to go in and out of so it is good for me. Suggest not trying it if you are uncomfortable with the terminal.