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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?
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.
Apple doesn't want their OS to run on generic hardware because then they can't make it nearly as stable as it is on Mac hardware. That Mac OS has fewer hardware compatibility issues is kind of a no-brainer that way. Windows, being made to work with 3rd-party drivers on generic hardware, really does not have that advantage.
If I were Apple I'd probably choose inaction for a while. It wouldn't do to encourage this sort of thing because I could dilute the perceived user experience of owning a mac if it became less stable on generic hardware (which it almost certainly would). It also wouldn't do to discourage it right off the bat because this does have the potential to convert over some windows users if they can safely try it out.
The bottom line, though, is that these users didn't pay Apple for the hardware, so Apple will barely make any money off this.
that's interesting, i've never used a USB dongle before, though i've come across certain video-editing programs that support special hardware dongles that are supposed to enable advanced features.
how exactly does a USB dongle work? is it just a software program that is executed from a USB key fob? certainly it can't be so simple as to just copying the data from the dongle and putting it onto another generic USB drive can it?
i would imagine that the USB dongle would have to have special hardware with the program saved on some kind of firmware. i'm not too familiar with the capabilities of the USB interface, so i don't know if that might be a vital part of how this dongle works. but if you can reverse engineer the dongle and boot up the image from any old USB key, then you could just as easily make bootable DVDs.
"Boycott Vista and OSX, and get Linux instead and install a Macintosh skin [interfacelift.com] on Linux instead of pirating OSX."
OK so I do that. Now how do I run Aperture, Photoshop and Final Cut Pro on my Linux system? Yes those pprograms are the reason I have a Mac.
The reason one buys an OS is so they can run software. If the OS can't run the software you need it's usless.
That said. I'm typing this on a Linux system. I write software for Linux/Solaris but all of the creative digital content type stuff is done on mac OS X.
I've been a UNIX fan and user both at work and at home from long ago, i had UNIX before there was a thing called "Microsoft Windows". But I feel right at home on Mac OS X. It's the best desktop UNIX system out there. Solaris is the best server OS out there.
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