Restart in Windows without changing startup disk or having to use administrator password?
My 6-year old kid uses the family iMac for his Kodu-projects, which require Windows. He wants the real deal with Boot Camp and won't accept any virtualization :)
The problem: I want the OS X-disk to be the startup disk, of course. He wants a convenient way to restart the computer in Windows-mode (easier than pressing the Command-key at startup). There are some Apple-scripts and applications out there (like BootChamp), but they all ask you to enter the admin password. Despite (or because) he's quite computer savvy, I'd rather not give it to him at this point.
What options do I have?
BootChamp requires you to input the administrator password at its first use, but after that it allows you to restart without asking you for the password again. Unless you child is tech-savvy enough to get into Keychain, I think BootChamp may be exactly what you're looking for. It's also very easy on system resources.
After installation, you could reboot into Windows yourself, giving BootChamp future permission by inputting your admin password. From then on he'll be able to change OSs without having admin access.
I have had BootChamp crash a couple of times, usually when I plug in a USB device or remove one without using OS X's remove function. I've been running it for several months with only five or so instances, so it's pretty rare, but something to consider.
Cheers!