Slashdot Mirror


WinXP on a Mac, Hoax?

Brill writes "Ars Technica is reporting that a member of the 'WinXP on Mac' forums called narf2006 may have succeeded at the impossible. He's submitted his solution to get XP on an Intel Mac, for the $12,000 prize, but for now the only proof available is a blurry Flickr collection of photos that could be faked with virtual PC. His reputation on the forums however is strong, and he's already calling for testers." We've had people write in to say this has been announced a hoax on the contest page. The contest page is, of course, down due to bandwidth reasons. Engadget's conversation about this announcement has several theories on how this may have been faked. What's the verdict? Real or Fake?

27 of 390 comments (clear)

  1. Is it Real or fake?? by roe-roe · · Score: 5, Funny

    simple answer.... YES

    1. Re:Is it Real or fake?? by mortonda · · Score: 4, Funny

      I can't seem to find my cat... have you seen it?

    2. Re:Is it Real or fake?? by c_forq · · Score: 4, Funny

      Be careful, once someone observes it it may be dead.

      --
      Computers allow humans to make mistakes at the fastest speeds known, with the possible exception of tequila and handguns
    3. Re:Is it Real or fake?? by Creepy · · Score: 2, Funny

      heh - it's a plant to keep the meta-mods on their toes. Weeds out the incompetent meta moderators that don't check the context.

  2. Re:Explain how? by Kjuib · · Score: 5, Funny

    You are missing out on a GREAT OS running on some AWESOME HARDWARE... get with the program... everyone runs Windows XP on their Mac... come on!

    --
    - Your stupidity got you into this mess, why can't it get you out? -Will Rogers
  3. Re:obivous! by Jesus_666 · · Score: 4, Funny

    It was not obvious that something like this would happen.

    --
    USE HOT GRITS WITH STATUE OF NATALIE PORTMAN (NAKED AND PETRIFIED)
  4. Old news by Compunerd · · Score: 1, Funny
    --
    Computers are like air conditioners.
    - They stop working when you open Windows.
  5. Re:Maybe interesting as an exercise... by Ma�djeurtam · · Score: 4, Funny
    Not so secretely.

    Q, an emulator based on QEMU is already working on MacIntels. From their News page :
    This is just a very first test on universal binaries for Q. Expect flaws! No virtualization yet, but it's way faster than on PPC never the less.
    As I understand it, virtualization IS planned in Q, and is already a reality in QEMU, albeit it is a closed-source add-on.
    --
    Instant Karma's gonna get you, Gonna knock you right on the head (John Lennon, 1970)
  6. Re:I thought Apple didn't care ? by Greyfox · · Score: 2, Funny

    It's pretty much inevitable that someone will call them wanting support for the Apple machine they screwed up by trying to install Windows. Just answering the phone probably costs them $20-$30, so even if the users are forthcoming that they tried to install Windows and Apple tells them they can't be helped until they reinstall OSX off the restore DVDs, those calls will eat into Apple's profit margin. If a lot of people start doing that, Apple might have to hire another support person. That would double the cost of their support center and Steve will never get to finish his game of solitaire (Or whatever the Apple equivalent is.) All that engineering up front to discourage installing Windows on their hardware was probably just an attempt to avoid those support calls.

    --

    I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?

  7. I have a life by kcurtis · · Score: 2, Funny

    I'm a level 60 Warrior on WoW. I battle those nasty night elves and live the high life in Orgrimmar.

    Oh, you mean real life?

    But seriously, and related to the first part of my post...

    I would love to have a Mac for browsing, mail and multimedia editing, and to also dual-boot into XP for gaming. (Yes, I know WoW comes on Mac, but many games do not).

  8. Re:Explain the fricken 12,000 bucks for this... by eno2001 · · Score: 3, Funny
    Is it THAT important to buy Mac hardware to put Windows on?

    But of course... As soon as the number of Macs running Windows to do real work outnumbers the number of Macs running Mac OS, can you imagine the reaction of the die hard Mac fanboys? Just that alone is worth $12,000 x 100. ;P (JOKE ALERT!!! JOKE ALERT!!! JOKE ALERT!!!)

    --
    -"...bad old ideas look confusingly fresh when they are packaged as technology" - Jaron Lanier (Digital Maoism on Edge.o
  9. And here's the picture confirming ... by Dr.Sweety · · Score: 5, Funny

    ... that this is not a hoax! Windows XP boots on a Mac! http://www.mathcaddy.com/windowsxpbootsonamac!!!!1 /

    SCNR :)

    1. Re:And here's the picture confirming ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      Dual boot, no less.

  10. Re:I thought Apple didn't care ? by Ford+Prefect · · Score: 2, Funny
    --
    Tedious Bloggy Stuff - hooray?
  11. Windows XP on a mac? by Bitwaba · · Score: 2, Funny

    I'm still having trouble getting winXP to install on my pc sata drive... maybe narf2006 can give me a hand.

  12. Re:This shot in particular by pete_norm · · Score: 2, Funny

    From the Flickr website:

    _________
    Hold your clicks a moment please...
    Flickr has the hiccups. We're looking into the problem right now, so please check back later.
    _________

    It seems Flickr has a Slashdot caught in its throat...

  13. Hypothesis by MrNougat · · Score: 2, Funny

    This "XP on a Mac" thing is currently a hypothesis. It is something that has been reasoned as possible, and now has been tested one time. Provided that the tester kept meticulous notes, others should be able to follow those notes to reproduce the experiment, and report their results to the media. The more times the experiment is successful, the more it can be described as a theory or law.

    However, since the current state of knowledge on this subject is thin, it is just as likely that the way to get Windows XP running on a Mac requires divine intervention. One could then describe a Mac running XP as "Intelligently Designed."

    --
    Web 2.0 == Giant Blogspam Circle Jerk
  14. I installed XP on my mac... by utexaspunk · · Score: 3, Funny

    ...and then I installed FlyAKiteOSX. Now I'm really confused :(

  15. "His reputation on the forums" by xant · · Score: 2, Funny

    How does he sleep at night? On a huge pile of money.

    --
    It's rare that you're presented with a knob whose only two positions are Make History and Flee Your Glorious Destiny.
  16. Re:Of course it's a fake by Milton+Waddams · · Score: 2, Funny

    I was talking to someone in my class the other week and he was saying that his TINY laptop was better than my iBook because the CPU in his was IBM (it was AMD but I got that he was talking about x86 versus PPC). I then said that Macs actually had IBM chips in them and newer Macs had Intel chips in them but my iBook had Motorola chips in them. He was utterly confused.

  17. Re:Maybe interesting as an exercise... by PIBM · · Score: 5, Funny

    Rest assured that the tank would win on the racetrack. No way is he gonna miss the porshe ;)

  18. Re:Explain the fricken 12,000 bucks for this... by KUHurdler · · Score: 5, Funny

    "Who would put up 12,000 bucks?"

    Microsoft

    --
    Fix Your Own TV - RiddledTV.com Avoid the Landfill
  19. Re:In Soviet Russia... by tpgp · · Score: 2, Funny

    Well than! Ill try to remember that in future.

    --
    My pics.
  20. Re:Even if this one isn't real... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    For the DRMed pr0n... :-)

  21. Re:obivous! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    As long as you have a big enough tebuchet.

  22. Re:Explain the fricken 12,000 bucks for this... by MayorDefacto · · Score: 2, Funny

    So, what you're really saying is, "Once you go Mac, you never go back"

  23. That's like... by Kaenneth · · Score: 2, Funny

    like hiring a Supermodel to wash the dishes.
    like buying a BMW and filling up at ARCO.
    like renting out a Mansion for your cats.