A big problem with the iPhone is that every time Apple releases a software update, those that have unlocked or used some sort of Jailbreak software on it find themselves with an expensive phone that no longer works. A combination of this and the recent release of the iPhone SDK had me thinking about whether or not it would be possible to run multiple versions of the system software so that if an update (or an application I might be testing) were to ruin the phone, there still would be another, working copy available.

This would prevent me from having to do a full-reset anytime I screw up, and/or find myself with a dead phone…… the question then becomes, is it possible to dual-boot an iPhone?

YES

I came across an article last night which tells you exactly how to be able to dual-boot your iPhone in different versions of the system software.
A word of warning though, this is no easy task and primarily involves using the command line, so I would not suggest this for the novice user.

The article was written in part by Jonathan “NerveGas” Zdziarski, a programmer notorious for his iPhone hacks as well as author to recently released book, iPhone Open Application Development. Zdziarski was also the creative mind behind a whole gamut of other iPhone innovations – everything from a Nintendo Emulator to even developing an initial technique that would enable the usage of SSH in your iPhone apps. You can find his blog here – www.zdziarski.com/ but if you really want the most up-to-date scoop on iPhone enhancements/hacks, head on over to their irc channel – #iPhone.

In case you just upgraded your iPhone’s firmware to 1.1.4, here’s a post regarding how to jailbreak it from cre.ations.net, or you can go directly to the source and download ZiPhone.

[original source - iPhone Atlas -- photo credit: the Boy Genius Report]