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Dumping Aqua On Mac OS X For X11?

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the a-change-in-UI dept.

Sagefire asks: "Aqua is a beautiful interface but it can be incredibly resource intensive (especially for older/low-end machines). And, though the open source community has made great strides in reverse engineering proprietary drivers from Mac OS X, I would love to be able to simply keep using the drivers that came with it, for now. Since there is a fully functional BSD variant under the hood, is it possible (using X11.app, darwinports, and/or Fink) to boot to a command line and simply startx? Would it use less RAM to bypass Aqua?"

4 of 161 comments (clear)

  1. I've been bypassing Aqua for ages... by Channard · · Score: 5, Funny

    .. ever since I heard 'Barbie Girl' in fact.

  2. Re:Why not use a better OS to do this? by maynard · · Score: 3, Funny

    That's true. And they'll even run NetBSD! 'Cause NetBSD will run on your freak'n toaster, with enough loving care and attention. :P

  3. What I would like to know by Geoffreyerffoeg · · Score: 2, Funny

    is if it's possible to run Aqua / Quartz apps rootless on an X11 desktop (exactly the opposite of what X11.app does). This way I can use xlogin, GNOME, etc. for the default desktop UI, but still be able to run Mac-specific programs.

  4. "Needless eye candy" indeed! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny
    OS X did not support that machine's video card for any sort of acceleration, and there was no way to turn down the needless eye candy to a level that made the OS usable.

    Needless OS X eye candy?!

    I suppose you think Paris Hilton's diamond labia ring is needless, too. Well, I'm here to tell you that OS X and Paris Hilton need their bling!