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Run Mac OS X On Non-Apple Hardware, With a Dongle
An anonymous reader points out Gizmodo's review of a USB dongle, made by a company called Efix, which allows for an effort-free transformation of a non-Apple computer into one that runs Mac OS X. According to the reviewer, the transformation is perfect (aside from a few quirks he describes as "trivial"); the included screenshots sure make it seem that way, too. The dongle costs $155, and works only on a subset of PC hardware. Non-Apple machines running OS X will no doubt make Apple unhappy, though, so, the reviewer concludes, "it's understandable if you wanna approach this with caution."
These things are probably too cool to stay legal (if Apple can ban them somehow)... Someone should add a "hackintosh" /. tag to this thread...
http://www.efixusa.net/product_info.php?products_id=28
They take Paypal and Credit Card and it was $169 + $10 shipping...
Interestingly, I noticed that their Website appears to be based in England? http://geotool.servehttp.com/?ip=209.25.134.78&host=www.efixusa.net
I wonder if Apple and its vast team of Lawyers are the reason for the offshore hosting and sales site? (I bet it will be shipped from overseas too...)
Hardware Compatibility List: http://www.efixusa.net/hardware_comp.php
NOTE: The EFiX-USA Ebay Store has no inventory at this time: http://stores.ebay.com/EFiX-USA
I don't expect Apple to be happy about this. Will the company's location in Europe keep the Fruity lwyers at bay? I find it interesting that the reviewer's $800 rig outperformed the Apple $2000 rig.
Why is this thus? What is the reason for this thusness?
so, finally i can eat apple on my PC. i always wanted to try apple OS and ovoid its overpriced hardware specially here in India. Anyway, most of our application will not work on apple, so it doesn't make much sense!
Perhaps this will inspire a new "I'm a Mac, I'm a PC" commercial, with the PC donning a strap-on.
Or not.
Anyone know what exactly the device does?
I find it a bit weird that so many people bitch a blue streak all day long about how much "Apple sucks"until they have a chance to run OS X on a PC. Then it's like "kewl dewd, I can't wait to do that!". What's up with that?
Caveat Utilitor
Bah, no worky for AMD. This is Gigabyte mobo and Intel friendly only, which is understandable since most do-it-yourselfers will probably have a setup like this. Still AMD support would be nice.
If I mod you up, it doesn't necessarily mean I agree with what you've said, sorry.
I was under the impression that you could already run OS X on a PC as long as the hardware was supported. What exactly does this thing do that you can't do already?
Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
Hello Efix,
My name is *High Powered Apple Lawyer* This piece of papers says we now own your souls. Would everyone please line up on this platform and proceed down the plank into the meat grinder.
Sincerely,
Apple.
(The following day a new 'security update' is released to Mac OS X rendering the dongles useless.)
The Uber
http://www.tulg.org/
http://devurandom.livejournal.com/
Tell me that won't happen.
UTF-8: There and Back Again
Yeah but does it run Linux?
If Apple pushed their OS more, they could start to worry Microsoft more, just as Linux already worries Microsoft (that's not a troll statement). Apple could also do that other thing that companies usually do to exist - make more money.
Take Nobody's Word For It.
I just wish that someone could just VM an OSX image. I don't need it directly for myself, but friends have IT questions that I help them with from time to time, and I'm unable to do so without anything to play with.
Any recommendations? If I install FreeBSD, would I get a sandbox to learn where to click to set up shares? This stuff is so easy on Linux and Windows because I know exactly where to go.
1. You could be talking about two groups of people and so the people that say "Apple sucks" are not the same people saying they would try this.
2. The reasons they are saying "Apple sucks" could be related to any number of things Apple does, most of which have nothing to do with the quality of their OS. There are lots of those.
For an example of #2, if one were to lambaste Apple because their computers are overpriced, or they don't sell one within a particular price range, that person would not be a hypocrite for using this dongle (in fact, exactly the opposite - since they could put OSX on a cheap, high-spec PC).
Why, yes I have been touched by His noodly appendage. And I plan to sue.
I've been an avid Apple fanboy all my life, but if this works, then I might be building my own machine. AKA, the model Apple never offered us.
Seriously, as a guy with Linux, Windows, and Mac boxes in his house, I question the worth of putting OS X on anything besides an apple box. I use OS X on my Mini because that's what is there, and because I've got enough in the iTunes share to make it a pain to migrate. I've found OS X to be pretty, but clunky as all hell, and inexplicable in its wi-fi behavior. Many's the time I've eyed the mini with an Ubuntu DVD in my hand.
Inferior to what, exactly?
It actually connects to a USB header on the motherboard, which is good (no breaking it off or unplugging it by accident) and bad (not usable if your USB headers are crowded by other components or the case).
No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?
Umm.. you can already run OSX on PC hardware *without* no stinkin' dongle!
Well, that is, if you don't mind pirating software. There are several hacked copies of the OSX Tiger and Leopard install DVDs floating about that allow you to install OSX on any reasonably modern PC. Google around for 'leo4all' or 'ideneb'. YMMV.
Also: http://www.osx86project.org/ has tons of resources on how to run a 'hackintosh'.
There are also some VMWare 'appliances' -- that is -- virtual machines with OSX already pre-installed on the vmdk files. You just dl them and use vmplayer or vmware workstation and you got yourself OSX inside a VM.
People have been runing OSX on PC hardware for a while now. So, given that -- how is this exciting at all? It isn't even any more legal than just dling pirated/hacked OSX install DVDs. The way I see it -- there is no advantage to paying $150 to break the law with a stinkin' dongle, when you can download a 4GB DVD torrent and get OSX for free. Both are equally illegal and violate Apple's EULA or whatever.
So how is this new/newsworthy/even mildly exciting?
Why should PC users bother paying for the ability to run an inferior OS?
Why should they? You're right. There's no need to. They already *are*
They want me to put credit card information into a standard HTTP page? I'm absolutely SURE I trust them not to do something stupid like store that information unencrypted in a database.
FAIL.
While I agree with you about OS X compared to Linux (I especially hate the installer, it's not a patch on apt-get), it would be handy for dual-booting if you want to do something that's Mac-specific (such as port an application to it), or wanted to test websites in various browsers on different operating systems, without having to buy a new computer.
Slashdot violated Apple's NDA by revealing too much info about Apple, so Slashdot's Apple SDK license will be canceled without further notice.
Ahem, Apple will not allow the Apple section Slashdot anymore. :-/
slashdot rocks
I'm actually surprised that Apple hasn't marketed something like this. I mean, sure there was the mac mini. But If I wanted to try OSX with as little risk as possible, a "demo dongle" would be a lot less involved and probably cheaper from Apple due to their economies of scale.
The game.
That's stupid, why would you waste $155 when you could do it without a dongle for free?
Eh? (If I'm missing sarcasm here, I'll pre-apologize.)
Apple makes buckets of money on the software. COGS is minimal, where the COGS on hardware is pretty substantial. You can download apps, eliminating the physical media. Very profitable. Consider this too - you buy one computer, but buy many applications to run on it. The hardware is the enabler for the software purchases. It's kinda like machine tools - you'll buy a mill or a lathe, then spend 3x that amount tooling up to use the machine.
Apple has no desire to run their OS on any machine slapped together from parts. They're interested in providing a user experience, and in order to control the quality level, they need to control the platform. I can envision them having better financials if they could be strictly a software shop running on someone else's configuration-controlled hardware.
Inferior to whatever answer will enrage you the most! You took the bait, so now give him the flames.
As copyright owner of this comment, I authorize everyone to defeat any technological measure which limits access to it.
I sure as hell will not be the first person to order one of these things. Their site is pretty shady looking. I encourage you to spend some time checking it out. If you ordered one of these and it worked please post here and tell us about it! ADVthanksANCE
/.
One could argue that in order to test such a product, they must have installed OS X, which requires them to "accept" this EULA which they promptly violated by installing on a PC. Then, apparently, to sell the device ALSO violates the EULA they "accepted". So, they're doubly screwed. If the EULA were to be held up in court, Apple most certainly COULD stop these guys.
Of course, that's just my opinion, I'm no lawyer...
toys like these only makes OSX more popular!!
People have been runing OSX on PC hardware for a while now. So, given that -- how is this exciting at all?
Because, with other methods, you need hacks, and updates require more hacks. The idea here is that you can use a virgin install of OS X and it Just Works.
It isn't even any more legal than just dling pirated/hacked OSX install DVDs. The way I see it -- there is no advantage to paying $150 to break the law with a stinkin' dongle, when you can download a 4GB DVD torrent and get OSX for free. Both are equally illegal and violate Apple's EULA or whatever.
They are not "equally illegal". In your case, you are downloading copies of software (copyright infringement), and also the software has been reverse engineered and hacked (which might violate something). Then, in both cases, you violate the EULA with the installation (which isn't illegal). So, actually, buying the "stinkin' dongle" doesn't break the law, though violating the EULA will allow Apple to sue, provided the EULA is legal and enforceable.
Reading their site, it looks like you can install firmware upgrades... I imagine when you control the boot environment, any attempt to soft-patch the OS won't remain fullproof. If it can be programmed, it can be hacked, right? The only option I see is some TPM implementation
http://www.efi-x.com/index.php?language=english
Personally, I hope Apple keeps to their closed platform, as it would put a hard squeeze on Linux if OS X were available on any machine. The chances of this happening are so low that I'm not even worried about it. Apple won't pick the fight if there's an even slight chance they could lose.
Clunky as hell is a very subjective judgment. I find my productivity drops considerably in Windows compared to OS X. As for why one would want to use OS X on regular PC hardware, it's mainly due to the fact that Apple has for some time refused to cater to the normal desktop consumer/prosumer with a midrange Mac tower. The entry level price of Apple's towers was reasonable back in the G4 era. It rose with the introduction of the G5. And with the Mac Pro, it rose even more. The Mac Pro is positioned only as a workstation and priced accordingly. The iMac is supposed to serve the midrange, but many sophisticated buyers don't care for the iMac's AIO form factor. If Apple were to come out with a midrange tower again, there would be much less of a desire and demand for OS X on normal PCs.
Part of the hardcore faithful who believed in Apple long before it was cool again to do so
That's why Dell went under years ago, before they'd ever even really gotten started.
It's juvenile and immature, but it still cracks me up that these devices are called DONGLES. What jokester invented that name anyways? I can hardly read or say that word to people or in the store without laughing or at least cracking a smile. "Where do you guys keep your dongles?" "Do you have a dongle for (insert your hardware need)"
but that iDeneb project is way cheaper as it does not require a dongle.
Others have found a way to hack their BIOS to use the Apple OEM ID and do their own EFI to run Mac OSX to fool OSX to think it is running on a real Apple Macintosh. The nice thing about EEPROMS is that you can flash update them easily, and anyone who knows machine language can hack their own BIOS file into one that can easily pass for an Apple Macintosh BIOS.
As for people like me, we don't even need a dongle to make our Intel PC turn into an Amiga that is even cooler than an Apple Macintosh running OSX, and has a much lower memory footprint so it runs faster than OSX, and has an interface and look and feel like OSX or Vista, but is 100% free, 100% open source, and 100% legal.
For those who want to pirate OSX, get real, get AROS instead and support AROS developers to develop more AROS drivers and software. Why settle for a monopoly from Microsoft or Apple, when you can be free and use a non-monopoly OS that will run on almost any PC, Mac, Amiga, MIPS, PowerPC, etc system on the market?
You want an alternative to Windows? Wait until ReactOS is done. It will run Windows applications. If you want an alternative to Windows that does not run Windows programs get HaikuOS when it is ready as it is a free and open source BeOS operating system. Once OSFree is finished it will be a free OS/2 open source OS, but I heard they will make it run under Linux to run OS/2 applications. Support your favorite free open source operating system instead of pirating OSX. Who cares enough about bloatware to pirate OSX or Vista, they are both bloated and buggy! If you want a free OS, get a free open source OS as I listed above when they are finished and out of beta testing. If you can't wait join in their beta program and give them feedback on how to fix it, or join the developers to help them get done faster.
Boycott Vista and OSX, and get Linux instead and install a Macintosh skin on Linux instead of pirating OSX.
Remember, Slashdot does not have a -1 disagree moderation, and no, troll, flamebait, and overrated are not substitutes.
For those of us not 100% familiar with the technical and legal aspects of how Apple is able to allow the installation of its OS on only Apple machines, could someone educate me? I also want to know the measures Apple can/will take from a software standpoint to prevent this in the future. What's keeping them from modifying OSX to search for "banned" connected components and prevent booting?
for its OS and products
I'm just saying, it's a lot easier to put Ubuntu on a PC than it is to put OS X on one. I find Ubuntu (or any Linux, really) to be the better choice for a host of reasons that definitely apply to my experience, and may apply to yours. Sure it's subjective, but I'm not going to try to pass my opinion off as fact. (I'll leave that to the Apple fanboys. ;-) )
Many of the most recent Apple commercials emphasize how easy it is to "switch" from PC to Apple. You can even bring in your old computer, and they'll transfer your hard drive contents!
This is another bridge to help people make the switch. Apple loyalists will still buy Apple hardware. Most of them are scared of any homebuilt computers, and want to trust a large company to build and support their computer. This dongle is only going to be bought by the cheapskates, people who would have never come to Apple without it.
Apple obviously makes considerable profit off of both the hardware and software, but the profit margin on software is much higher(*). Apple should be happy to lose a few hardware sales in order to secure their place in software.
(*) Media and distribution costs are much lower than development costs, and dev costs are 0 for the n+1 unit
Free unix account: freeshell.org
One could argue that in order to test such a product, they must have installed OS X, which requires them to "accept" this EULA which they promptly violated by installing on a PC.
But what if they bought a Mac Pro and then replaced the guts with other components? Is the resulting computer still Apple-labeled? What if they have an Apple logo sticker that they stick on the case? Is that Apple-labeled?
The submitter stated:
Non-Apple machines running OS X will no doubt make Apple unhappy, though, so, the reviewer concludes, "it's understandable if you wanna approach this with caution."
This is actually not at all what the reviewer on gizmodo said, he said that they have no reason to think that EFiX are scamming anyone but still it's understandable if you want to approach with caution.
They make solid systems and a nice OS and they act like they want to take over the world but then they seem to hamstring themselves.
For instance, I think if they sold headless mid-range systems, they would probably go like hotcakes. You want people like me to switch and maybe we're ready to give up Windows and maybe we're even ready to be locked into Apple hardware to some degree, but the hard part for me is giving up the $850 I already have invested in dual monitors and keyboard/mouse that, besides the monetary investment, I really really like.
So my choices are either a fairly underpowered Mac Mini or a crazy expensive Power Mac. The Mini won't cut it and the Power Mac, well that's just too much to invest on a chance. If there was a nice headless Mac though that ran $1000, then they might tempt me.
And how do you know that the hacked DVD you downloaded isn't installing some sort of trojan or keylogger? Sure, Eddie11c seems like a straight-up guy, but who really knows? There is some comfort to using the original media and knowing that you don't need to rely on a a future pipeline of hacked updates.
From the EFI-X America site: "We were horned to start working with EFiX team. Please forgive us for our website as we are working toward making it more user friendly. Thanks for reading about us. We have over 20 years combined experience in doing things differently when it comes to computing digital life." I for one am glad that these guys are so horned to do their job. The more the merrier. Many hands make light work.
If we look at the tomshardware interview the developer claims
The EFiX is not a pen-drive at all. Inside it, there is a very powerful CPU and several gigabytes of dedicated static RAM. The module has its own code, language and endless functions. So there is absolutely no way that we even thought about using the patch-a-boo approach of "hackintosh".
A coprocessor with "gigabytes of dedicated static RAM" sitting off a USB interface for $155 which magically interacts with the host PC? That's obviously a lie.
I'm going to guess that it's just a softloading EFI, like the Intel reference implementation on uefi.org or a tweaked version of that developed as part of the hackintosh project. It lists precisely the hardware that is either already supported by OS X or for which drivers have already been written by third parties. The software on the USB stick could easily copy files from the install CD to stick, patch with standard hackintosh drivers, then boot the modified install process from the stick.
Add a bit of bullshitting and you can re-sell existing scripts copied to a USB stick for $155.
Why would you want to spend $155 on a useless dongle when you can run OSX natively on your PC hardware?
Mmm. Need coffee.
I was saying Apple wouldn't pick the legal fight with Efix if there was any chance they could lose and be required to open up their platform.
While we're on the subject, guess when linux wins big? When consumers are forced to live with in their means, and can't keep putting $2000 laptops on their Visa. Choosing between a family vacation and a new iMac isn't going to go in Apple's favor. If they are going to remain relevant in a tough economy, they are going to have to seriously lower their prices, but I think they're about to drop everything by 20% on their next round of updates.
And I'm left to wonder how many of their initial sales are to Apple itself who, no doubt, is now working feverishly on a patch to kill it.
This is the same Apple who, when confronted with accusations of performing Reverse Engineering on the gadget against the DMCA will proclaim, "What? Who? Us? We're entitled! Laws are only to stop other people from ripping off our stuff, not stop us from preventing legally sold copies of OS-X from running on non-branded hardware."
"It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
None that actually "exploded", but I've had two motherboards go bad with leaking caps. Both are back in service after having most of the caps replaced. It does happen.
"Dance like it hurts. Love like you need money. Work when people are watching." - Dogbert.
I have a *very* nice laptop issued by my employer -- that I never use for work. I'm all about OSX at home, so in order to have a nice kitchen laptop, I
(a) bought (*yes, bought!) a copy of OSX
(b) bought a new HD
(c) swapped out the old HD and installed OSX on it (with the original kernel but some 'unusual' kernel extensions)
(d) lived happily ever after
So now I have the equivalent of a MacBook Pro for a personal outlay of $500, plus way too much of my time. I would totally have loved to buy this dongle instead. It would have cost me $650 instead of $500, but very little of my time.
(Of course, since I work for a hedge fund, my time may soon be worthless)
Where are the stats to support your conclusion that the majority of OSX86 users are software pirates. It very well good be true, but a source to some study would be nice. To be honest, one can easily come to a conclusion on why an individual would pirate the OS. Would you pay $129 to own a copy of the OS if every other update broke it. This is about as bad as the comment above about either buying a used Mac or purchasing a new one, given that they are "ultra inexpensive at under $3000). The last time I checked the majority of PCs were priced at well under one grand. How many Macintosh computers can you get that are less than $999 (for that matter, how about $499).
The simple truth is that using Windows/Linux is a cost benefit analysis performed by the end user. You get the most product for your money using a traditional PC (not an Intel box blessed by Apple with EFI).
Who says you cant just go out and buy a copy of OSX and modify and run it via hackintosh? All that is needed to get around the install is to emulate the EFI on boot and there's a program out now that does that thanks to some reverse engineering by someone in the hackintosh community. With that you can even run the Apple update. This also works on AMD CPUs as well. Might have some problems running things that use PCI slots, but certain soundcards do have drivers out there. Honestly, I don't give a rat's butt what Mr. Jobs thinks (and his "oh no, you have to buy my overpriced [now pc hardware other than the EFI mobos Intel makes for them] hardware to run my OS). I should be able to do with the software once I purchase it at full price, so long as I am not distributing my copy to everyone else.
For more information, check out this site. Their faq will tell you the basics and they also have a list of hardware people have sucessfully installed OSX with here as well as a list of sound card drivers for pci if you do a search.
I can assure everyone here that EFI-X is not as good as it sounds. EFI-X is only a toy for lazy people as the same result can be got through a slight amount of work without the price tag. I was invited to be part of their development team, I declined after seeing the kind of people they have in their team (which is mostly arrogant idiots).
(how do i know this? i am an operator in a certain osx86-related irc channel)
I thought it was literally for external usb port, thought of my usb dongle mp3. I would buy one in a heartbit if they make external one for laptops as well. I've been saving up to buy macbook pro 15inch or maybe 17inch. I don't need as much horsepower as brand new ones have. i would just get 17 inch Acer or dell laptop for $500 refurbished. and plug one of those dongle and boom! wouldn't that make the day? \nerdgasm>
my granny used to run mac os at her toaster before she fought at vietnam...
Trusted Platform Module chip plus EFi firmware.
I'd guess this dongle contains a TPM chip for use with EFi-based motherboards.
You still have to pay for that extra level of vertical integration, plus a substantial application suite, to get a Mac on your desk.
The hardware is also top-tier in quality, which not everyone wants.
The usual solution to this dilemma is to spin off a differently-branded division for the cheaper stuff. And that's still a risk because it tends to cheapen the corporate culture over time.
This "dongel" is simple a USB flash drive. In the instructions the users is told to set up the BIOS to boot off the dongle. Inside the flash drive is a bootable EFI emulator. If some one wanted to run Mac OS X on their PC why not simply burn the same EFI emulator onto a CD-ROM and boot off the CD?
The dongle is for people who don't know who to set up the CDROM themselves.
Just to play devil's advocate here, Apple tend to only release one new version of each of their products a year, and they're usually pretty similar to the previous version and with only a fistful of configuration options. So they probably get an advantage in terms of only having to order 2M of the same Nano or Macbook motherboard and 2M casings, versus Creative or Dell which have a couple of dozen different systems on sale at any given time, and therefore probably have a great deal of difficulty in forecasting demand and ordering appropriately. It's probably the financial argument behind their "4-box" approach.
No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?
The posters above a're absolutely correct, and it's a huge opportunity that Apple is missing. All they need is a cut-down Mac Pro, call it a Mac Pro Mini. One upgradeable CPU, one (not four) hard drive bays, one (not two) optical bays, two (not eight) RAM slots, one slot for a graphics card, maybe one other slot, and a nice set of ports. They can't sell that for $999 and make a profit? Or sell it for $699 and use it to storm the gates of corporate America while they are annoyed about Vista. I think hackers, switchers, and many businesses would be thrilled with a Mac like that.
I even have a way to make it sexy enough for Steve Jobs: Make it "green"! Put it in a recyclable aluminum case and commit to making motherboard upgrades available for (say) five years.
Q: What does the "B." in Benoit B. Mandelbrot stand for? A: Benoit B. Mandelbrot
I am not sure whose side you were taking there.
It had four times the ram and was $1200 less?
So, can you clarify?
I am very sure any enthusiast can build a far better machine at a substantially lower price, provided something as easy as plugging in a dongle was all it took to fool OS X
* Winners compare their achievements to their goals, losers compare theirs to that of others.
You don't need this to run OS X on your basic Intel hardware. It use utterly useless and a waste of money.
Visit www.osx86project.org and read up on EFI. You can pretty much inject the EFI 'mechanism' into a retail Leopard install without tinkering with the kernel.
This is just a tremendous waste of cash on a USB stick that essentially does the same thing as an EFI bootloader.
According to the reviewer, the transformation is perfect (aside from a few quirks he describes as "trivial");
That's stupid. "Perfect" implies that there aren't any flaws whatsoever, even trivial ones; if there are, then by definition, it's not perfect. Great, maybe, or marvellous, or wonderful, or whatever, but not perfect.
I was going to say this, i am currently 'acquiring' a version of osx from tpb. Unfortunately I can't recmmend the OS as I have forgotten the name of it, its downloading at home. But I will try it out soon, triple booting Ubuntu XP and OSX sounds great fun! I can't decide whether OSX is better than Ubuntu though... Apple should implement apt-get, then it would be definite!
like phosphorescent desert buttons singing one familiar song
Just wanted to second the opinion that, if the majority of Mac users as douche bags as parent, then I am very very happy owning my HP with Ubuntu and XP.
What a complete douche bag.
Ubuntu is an African word meaning 'I can't configure Debian'
If this kind of effort were to go into fixing all the problems with Linux, making Linux capable of running every application from every platform ever concieved, we could install a Mac Skin and tell Apple and MS to eat OSX and Windows.
Seriously. Why waste your time with the futile. At least with Linux you have a chance of survival.
apple EULA will not stand up in a EU court so someone can setup a place like Psystar and use this with out braking the law.
It may need the power of 2 usb ports.
Why should PC users bother paying for the ability to run an inferior OS?
OS X is very well made pretty Unix boxen. Diddn't you know that Xnu is pretty damn stable? The same thing cannot be said about ntoskrnl. Infact as a computer technician that services all 3 major platforms: Windows, OS X and linux variants; IMHO Windows just breaks! I have see NTFS partitions rendered to CHKDSK horror from a few bad shut dowms. I know that HFS+ Journaled has a tendancy to fuck up permissions all the time however; Fixing HFS+ partitions takes alot less time. As for the linux end of things, i have never really ext3 fuck up much.
As is, I am convincing my customers to adopt Ubuntu to displace this defficit of computing horror known as Windows.
With a hackintosh it is a gamble. sometimes things dont go as planned and hours on IRC can be commonplace. But if you take the gamble, and it Just Works, you have the best desktop Unix boxen on the market.
I run my hack like I did my Intel Mac mini; like a normal user. I mean normal user by, Surfing the web, watching pr0n, playing opensource games, digital camera photos, and etc. I have never had my hack crash or stutter or even hack it with the good old terminal or Single User mode. I am very fortunate.
I dont know about you guys but Im damn proud of my Hackinboxen. Call to arms boys; fuck EFI-X Long live boot-132.
Dr. D
Umm.. you can already run OSX on PC hardware *without* no stinkin' dongle!
Well, that is, if you don't mind pirating software. There are several hacked copies of the OSX Tiger and Leopard install DVDs floating about that allow you to install OSX on any reasonably modern PC. Google around for 'leo4all' or 'ideneb'. YMMV.
There's been no need to pirate OS X since about a week after Leopard was released for sale last year. The Brazil method had you run a script to create a single layer custom install DVD from the retail DVD. You'd still be breaking the EULA but that's hardly the same thing as stealing software.
$155 for a usb dongle? might as well buy an apple. however, apple will not shut this down. they will buy the company and continue to sell the dongles for $200. this provides them with a great trojan horse to sneak into the Windows market share.
I haven't had any explode, but I've had a fair share bulge and die. One Socket A (Abit), one P4 (MSI), probable cause of death of two power supplies (I post-mortem the damn things for shits and giggles), and one video card (admittedly long, long ago). So it does happen.
Mal-2
How is the Riemann zeta function like Trump rallies? Both have an endless number of trivial zeros.
Could you provide an example scenario where it would be preferable to keep pure GUI applications running in the background when any way of interacting with that program is removed (I.E. - Closing every window for the app)?
I open and close application windows often. I may have different apps running. For instance when I'm online I frequently save webpages locally. After saving it I can quickly open a text editor and paste the page url into what I downloaded. Then I can close the window but keep the app running, which makes the next page I want edit open faster.
Falcon
Should there be a Law?
The simple truth is that using Windows/Linux is a cost benefit analysis performed by the end user.
My cost benefit analysis led me to buy my MacBook Pro.
You get the most product for your money using a traditional PC
What is this traditional PC? Do you mean a Windows PC? Before I bought my MBP I compared it's price to a few Windows OEM laptops. With one exception the MBP cost about the same as Windows OEM laptops. The one exception was a Dell and it cost $200 more.
Falcon
Should there be a Law?
1) OSX is more than a look (skin, theme, whatever) - it is about look and feel and the way things are done, including hardware and peripherals just working. It takes me thirty seconds to setup multiple monitors that are rotated on OSX. It takes hours messing with config files in Linux (I just did this recently) and it still doesn't work right. No 'theme' or 'skin' is going to solve those kind of problems - get real. The way OSX and Apple hardware works is more than just the eye candy (but the eye candy is nice too). 2) Sure, I can go mess with a whole bunch of different drivers and find the right hardware drivers, and hack the kernel and the install DVD, and mess with settings, and google the fixes/tweaks, and install/boot/tweak over and over again until I get something working on non-Apple software to save maybe $300 to $500. Or at $50 per hour I can just work at my job (which I enjoy more than hacking hardware) and pay for something that works out of the box (I own a MacPro). I will agree that there is a certain set of configurations that Apple just doesn't wish to sell, and that if there is no Apple config close to what you want then the dongle or a Hackintosh may be the answer for you - just don't expect it to work as well with OSX as an Apple made machine. It might, but it might not.
I tried for a while to use my MBP as my primary machine. Apple desperately needs to make a docking station for that thing.
Yea, I'd love to have a docking station for my MBP. I'd love to be able to quickly and effortlessly pack it up and take it with me.
The 3rd party docks also seem to almost all suck :/
I thought of getting one of those Bookendz but don't think much of them for the price.
Falcon
Should there be a Law?
I'm pretty sure that shoddy assembly processes are common to all the computer producers. Especially apple... lol
Yea, I've heard quite a few tales about how Apple's logic boards go bad too often. With me it's been the opposite. I'm typing this on my third Mac and the only hardware I've had with one was when the floppy disk drive failed in one I had 8 years before it fail. Of four PCs I've had, 3 running Windows and 2 running Linux (one was dualboot), though three had to have the mobos and hdds be replaced in the first year of ownership.
Falcon
Should there be a Law?
If Apple made a tablet Mac I'd love to get one. Another company does make them though, Axiotron makes the ModBook. The company buys MacBooks/Pros then rebuilds them into tablets.
Falcon
Should there be a Law?
Personally I feel the Apple applications (and computers) would be so much more interesting if .mac was free.
.mac used to be free, at least Apple used to give away a year's subscription on new Macs.
Falcon
Should there be a Law?
People who want a reasonably spec'ed machine that has decent upgrade potential. The main reason cited by die-hard Mac zealots* is that it would compete with the Mac Pro
The main reason I hear Apple won't sell a midrange expandable Mac is because Apple would have to test more configurations. I think it's a combination of different reasons though I would like to see some expandable Macs between $1000 and $2000.
Falcon
Should there be a Law?
But apparently your simple truth doesn't include the fact the using Macs is also a cost benefit analysis performed by the end user. You get the most product for your money using a Mac [I'm applying the same standards you did - end user analysis - and then making the conclusion that supports my argument as if I were somehow every end user - same as you did].
but I won't set it up and start using it just to not be able to update it later on, useless.
If they do, that's just a teaser. When I got my Mac nothing came with it about .mac. But even if it were free, I don't really see any reason to use it. I get space on my ISP's server which I've used for various things such as for my website, as storage, and to synchronize files. While I was taking classes I used it for class files. Though I'll have to check to be sure I think my ISP even allows scripts and such for perl, php, and other things.
Falcon
Should there be a Law?
Defenders are so quick to point to "if you compare feature for feature they really cost close to a PC"
I do that myself, perhaps two or three tymes with this article. However I also say I wish Apple would release a midrange expandable Mac, something between $1000 and $2000.
Falcon
Should there be a Law?
Do you mean server grade? If so there's the Xserve. Apple does have a hugh whole in it's lineup and doesn't offer much in the way of configurations though.
Falcon
Should there be a Law?
Make no mistake, I like Apple as much as the next guy, and have used their machines for many many years... but It's no secret that they have substantially higher mark-ups (and hence, profit margins) on their equipment than other PC Hardware manufacturers
But you are making a mistake. For years now Mac prices have been inline with Windows PCs. Last year, then again a week or so ago, I compared the price of a Mac with a similarly configured Windows PC and they were about the same with most OEMs. For some reason though I found Dells a couple of hundred more.
The problem with comparing prices is that you have to start with the Mac then configure the PC so it's close to the Mac's configuration. Apple doesn't offer much in the way of configurations unfortunately.
Falcon
Should there be a Law?
I'm not sure which I'd be more upset about if I woke up from a coma
You don't want to do that, wake up from a coma unless you get lucky and have a Near death experience. Since I came out of the coma I was in my life as been a living hell. While I was in the coma the docs told my family it would be a miracle if I lived. But it's been nothing like that, instead I wish I had died.
Falcon
Should there be a Law?
Choosing between a family vacation and a new iMac isn't going to go in Apple's favor. If they are going to remain relevant in a tough economy, they are going to have to seriously lower their prices
While I can't explain why, while we are in a tough economy now Apple's sales are actually good.
In case this Google news topic disappears:
Falcon
Should there be a Law?
I can envision them having better financials if they could be strictly a software shop running on someone else's configuration-controlled hardware.
Apple tried that. During the '90s before Apple brought Steve Jobs back they allowed third parties to make and sale Mac clones. When Jobs was brought back he took one look at the books, financial records, and saw Apple was losing money because of the clones. So he ended licensing the OS.
Falcon
Should there be a Law?
I will try it out soon, triple booting Ubuntu XP and OSX sounds great fun!
I can, though I won't, do that on my Mac.
Apple should implement apt-get, then it would be definite!
If you have a Mac try Fink, it can install Debian packages apt-get, .deb, dpkg, and dselect. To install Redhat .rpm packages try MacPorts.
Falcon
Should there be a Law?
Where are the stats to support your conclusion that the majority of OSX86 users are software pirates.
Stats ? Easy :
May contain traces of nut.
Made from the freshest electrons.
The simple truth is that using Windows/Linux is a cost benefit analysis performed by the end user. You get the most product for your money using a traditional PC (not an Intel box blessed by Apple with EFI).
This would be the case if the user was in an ideal market and was perfectly informed (like in a textbook). This doesn't happen in the real life. This doesn't even happen in markets.
So users certainly won't perform a cost/benefit analysis as such. They'll just chicken out and go with what they'll know without any analysis whatsoever (you can call that a cost/benefit analysis if you will but it isn't because they have nothing to base their analysis on). So they'll pick Windows.
In rare cases (either because they are geeky in the extreme or because a friend has been pestering them) they will run Linux, and sometimes even keep on running it. But that's not the norm. And that's speaking as someone who's been running it as his main desktop at home and work since before 1.0 (and who supports quite a pool of other users). Granted things are changing, but we aren't quite there yet (see Desktop, Year of the Linux).
May contain traces of nut.
Made from the freshest electrons.
hardware: they have to add a $150 for the dongle!
So, just like BOOT-132?
Actually, I would be surprised if it's not just BOOT-132 on a bootable USB, and nothing else.
I had an ASUS P4C800-E Deluxe 478 Intel 875P ATX http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131464/ IC start smoking when I first powered it up, that was fun. I RMA'ed for an ABIT board (back in 2004 when they were still good).
Apple.
Really? Exact contrary experience here: I went running into the Apple store to get me a Mini right after Ubuntu kept breaking my desktop's XServer (xdm, acceleration, everything) with every stoopid update (that is, every other day); something to do with the nvidia drivers and how it didn't like the "unblessed" version I was happily using but insisted on using only its own (broken) version. That was over a year ago, but my most recent attempt to "ubuntize" my desktop ended in exactly the same frustration (no better luck with Fedora either). ... and did I mention it happily sync's my iPods/iTouch/iPhone with no effort on my part? (Try to get Ubuntu to do that!)
The mini, on the other hand, currently works flawlessly with my 802.11n setup one floor above the wireless router; it has a couple of firewire disks that give me well above a TB of video/audio storage (iTunes, torrents, whatever; VLC and Handbrake work just fine out-of-the-dmg, no missing codecs to hunt/beg/steal), plugs directly into my 32" TV's DVI for awesome image quality and stays put 24/7 downloading "stuff" without as much as a whisper. Needless to say, Apple updates *never* break anything I'm currently using (of course, YMMV)
All in all, I've found OS X to be a terrific consumer OS; I have been also using it for web development for about 4 yrs now, equally awesome experience. Couple that with a linux server (just not Ubuntu, they are simply too far into windows-wannabe territory) and you have a truly effective setup for work-and-play that is 2/3 OS X (and 100% Unix).
Aww. Welcome to Vendor Lock-in(TM)!
I need another Mac to network a scanner I have. There are Mac and PC drivers for it, no SANE. :(
I have several Macs but none are otherwise unused with the right CPU. I have a few PC's sitting around looking for something to do. I could install Windows on one, but man I really don't dig Windows. So, OSX is the better option.
e.g.
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
Bah. Get a job that pays better and buy real Macs.
There is something wrong when you guys can't afford to buy the Mac you think you need (or maybe you don't need the Mac Pro and just an iMac).
Specifically, I have an Mbox2Pro & Apogee Duet (both firewire), PTLE 7.4.2, Live 5 (yeah i know), Logic Studio 8. Experience with any combination of these would be useful.
Thanks!
the iLife applications.
Oh, okay. I haven't used any iLife app yet, though I did mistakenly launch one or two. For instance iDisk. I don't what it is but there's a hot key combo that launches iDisk, I sometimes type fast and will hit the wrongs keys. A few tymes I've done that iDisk has launched.
Well, my digital camera is from 2004 but still one 4 mpx image takes 2.5 MB and since additional photos are virtually free I often take 3-20 images of the same thing just to see which one looks better.
Even with film I'm trigger happy. I can burn, er expose, a 36 exposure roll in minutes. I'm sure with a DSLR I'd shoot even more exposures. And the DSLRs I'd want to get have considerably more resolution than 4mpx. The minimum camera I want is the Canon EOS 5D which has a 12.8mpx sensor. The one I'd really love to get is the EOS-1Ds Mark III which has a 21.1mpx sensor. And that's just to start with, eventually I want to get a medium format camera, perhaps a 645 and a film back for it but also a digital back. And those have sensors with 40mpx or more.
The ironic thing, is that though I'm trigger happy with a camera, I'm careful when shooting a firearm. Then I make every shot count.
Falcon
Should there be a Law?
Maybe because more shoots don't give better results as often with firearms :D
Because of the expense of shooting film I try to make every exposure count. I'm on disability and don't work so my income is low. I may save some money by developing and printing my own film however I don't have a darkroom. There is a photography association here with darkrooms members can use and I plan to join. It's been a long tyme since I've worked in a darkroom so I'll need to take a refresher course, however the association offers some as it requires a class before members can use the darkrooms.
What you want is good exposure ;/
Except for low light photography my exposure is good. Well and probably multiple exposures, my camera has built in multiple exposure. What I need to work on is composition, which can only come with experience. I know the basic rules like the Rule of Thirds, framing, and working with lines and curves. But it's hard to be good without experience. And in my case I need consistent practice.
Falcon
Should there be a Law?
Mac Pro and Xserve:
Look at the price of RAM on the Apple Store, then look at the SAME RAM, on http://www.crucial.com/ or http://www.kingston.com/.
Thousands of dollars difference, for maximum you can get RAM, dude...
(or it was, last spring: not bothering with Apple unless they stop shoving their monopoly/extortion in their customers)
Also the fact that I cant choose the monitor I want for the 'mid-range', because it's built in.
Fock 'em- I'm not their dog, I'm independent, and I require sufficient screen res, sufficient CPU, and sufficient RAM, and they give me only one choice, that being the Mac Pro, which is stupid for what I need.
(looked at different configs for different purposes: not just one)