I never played Alpha Centauri, so I don't really know, but I've heard the developers talk quite a bit about how this isn't really the same thing, and outside of being vaguely "Civ in space" they don't have much in common. There's plenty of gameplay footage posted on Steam; you'll have to take a look at your leisure and come to your own conclusions.
I don't enjoy bootcamp - but it's necessary, sometimes. I have Windows friends I game with, and the Mac version of the game is either frequently out of sync (Civ) or not released until years later (Total War Shogun 2) or nonexistent at all. So when the OS X version exists and is the correct version, I play it, and otherwise, into the fiery depths of Windows I go. Just requires about $100 up front investment and about an hour a month in upkeep.