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HOW TO: Convert a Mac into an x86
inventgeek writes "With the recent announcements Apple
has made regarding its operating environment, Inventgeek.com
has a mod that seems rather fitting. They have converted a Mac
G3 to an Intel P4 System capable of running Windows or Linux. Full how to
is available on there site for those brave enough to bask in what many say could
be Apples greatest folly, and a
blow to Linux." Update: 06/08 17:53 GMT by T : A few further Mac-OS-X-on-Intel notes, about the new Intel development kit from Apple: Readers jimboman78 and shooflot sent in, respectively, links to (mostly positive) comments on the front page of Accelerate Your Mac and a more skeptical but equally preliminary description at Think Secret.
RTFA, the description here is misleading.
The case mod for the G3 was interesting for the most part. The author includes several pictures and descriptions of the mod and is nice enough to include price points and a scale that makes no sense.
http://www.allometry.com
This is just another "fit a PC in a mac" mod. It has nothing to do with Apple's decision to move to Intel chips, nor is it a particularly inventive thing to do. And, ooh, he put an LED in the case. That's *classy*.
Area IV, here I am
...save yourself a few bucks and just buy an X86 box for much, much cheaper....
Good quote, too many chars. Seriously, the slashdot 120 char limit sucks!
It's just a case mod and consists of the following:
1. Buy a Mac G3
2. Through away all the electronicsy bits
3. Buy a PC
4. Put PC electronicsy bits inside the G3 case
5. Stick a Windows logo on case
6. ?
7. You are so not l33t
John.
I still don't get the hooplah over this in terms of Linux usage. I see the two as being very distinct. Yes, I know OS X runs a BSD (?) variant, but it is still a vendor product. Even if I could run OSX on a whitebox system I probably wouldn't, since I know the backup and support for is going to be superior to any that Apple (single vendor) will give me.
Given that one of the major selling points of Linux (aside from the stability and lack of virus attacks) is the ability to be choosy with vendors, I can't imagine someone trading in Vendor M for Vendor A. If I were a network admin or a CIO, I'd be looking at being vendor free as much as possible.
Just my $.02 - whatever that's worth these days...
The Kai's Semi-Updated Website Thingy
How is Mac OSX going to hurt Linux? I mean, people buy Macs to install Linux on them and its not like Apple is going to allow people to install OSX on commodity hardware. Apple is still a hardware company. If anything, the new machiens will just be overpriced commodity Intel gear. $500 for 512 megs of RAM, shit like that.
If anything, its hurts Microsoft bad. Linux is a server OS first, desktop second. There are far more Linux servers out there than desktops and the enterpise is looking for Linux servers to interoperate with their Windows desktops. I don't see OSX making any inroads into the Linux server market, hence, I don't see it to be a threat.
On the other hand, those company's looking to move an alternative desktop may choose OSX over Linux but might have anyway. Not to mention, in a recent survey post people choose Linux to avoid vendor lock in, which is Apple's specialty.
"NEXT WEEK ON SLASHDOT: We put a PC into.... A CARDBOARD BOX! Is there ANYPLACE that's too wacky for us to use?"
Not only is this a dupe of another lackluster "roflolol i put a pc ina mac case" story from a few months ago, but it's completely un-newsworthy on its own merits.
This is as akin "turning a mac into a PC" as "wearing Davey Crockett's hat" is to making you a raccoon.
Now, if it were something really clever, like, say, taping a camera to an R/C tank and calling it a 'basement exploring robot', that would be totally different. Why, anyone who would do that would be pure genius!
Hardware is not used under license. It is yours.
KFG
Dear lowly worm,
It has come to our attention that you have converted an apple into a car. This is strictly against our EULA and we will be dispatching our squadron of attack lawyers immediately. It will be an insanely great lawsuit featuring impeccably dressed lawyers with super slick white plastic computers. You have been warned.
Sincerely,
The Apple Legal Team
air and light and time and space
Now if Apple decided to allow OSX to be run on commodity hardware, that would be threating to both windows, linux and every other OS. If Apple decided to open up the propriatary components that really define OSX, that could lead to people switching to OSX. As it stands now, the likelihood of Apple doing either is very slim.
Companies don't use Linux because they like the UI. Companies go with Linux because it's highly customizeable, they have full access to the source and there are no royalties or licensing fees. Mac-Intel won't impact any desktop Linux users because you won't be able to run Mac OS X on an Intel whitebox.
Raises an interesting question:
1. Apple will not be allowing OSX to run on standard PC hardware. Part of this will almost certainly be because of incompatible hardware, but Apple's had language in its EULAs saying you can only run MacOS on Apple hardware ever since the end of the clone era.
2. Given that Darwin, the underpinnings of OSX, runs quite well on stock PC hardware, it seems unlikely to me that someone won't figure out how to get OSX/x86 running on standard PCs.
3. Therefore, would it be against the Apple EULA to run OSX/x86 on a standard PC motherboard shoehorned into an old Mac?
Of course, this is all theoretical right now since OSX/x86 isn't really shipping yet.
The machines do not have Open Firmware. They use a Phoenix BIOS. That;s right, a Mac with a BIOS. (I asked if the Bios had any tweaks like Memory Timing which is common for many PC motherboards, although Intel OEM motherboards don't usually have any end user tweaks like that.-Mike) They won't tell us how to get in the BIOS. I'm sure we can figure it out when out dev kits arrive.
They run Windows fine. All the chipset is standard Intel stuff, so you can download drivers and run XP on the box.
Now this is regarding the DEV machines Apple is handing. I know everyone on slashdot has ASSUMED that Apple will control the hardware based on the CNET article that said Apple would not allow users to install OSX on non-Apple hardware. However, what if this threat is just Apple saying that they'll use the lawyers instead of a technological solution? Think about it, Apple will have limited driver choices out there since it wil be a limited Apple-controlled machine. So either someone writes the drivers or your machines is close enough to run OSX. I think those of us with Pentium M notebooks will have the easiest time with OS X. Now, what I want to know is... if these machines have EVERYTHING any other PC does, why is it not possible to run a copy of MacOSX on a normal white box PC.