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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?
Perhaps this will inspire a new "I'm a Mac, I'm a PC" commercial, with the PC donning a strap-on.
Or not.
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!
Tell me that won't happen.
UTF-8: There and Back Again
News flash.. multiple people have multiple opinions on various topics!
In other words, it's not generally the same individuals making both of those claims.
Once there was a fox. Not a firefox, just a regular fox. As he was walking by the orchard, he spied some apples. They looked lickably delicious, but out of reach. He tried jumping, he tried climbing, he tried shaking the tree, but they were out of reach, so, as he walked away, he told himself, "they were probably sour.". Then he raped a penguin.
Do you even lift?
These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.
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.
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.
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?
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.
Because for all their high-and-mighty pontificating about "freedom" and "rights" and "DRM" and whatever, most people just like to get stuff for free/cheap.
Would Apple or the RIAA or Sony or whoever all of a sudden one day say "It's illegal to copy and share our stuff, but we promise never to come after you," you can bet your ass that the threads ranting about "my rights!" would dry up lickety-split. Because for the overwhelming majority of folks, it's not about the principle of the thing -- it's about you getting in the way of me getting stuff for free.
Sad, but true for all except a limited number of genuinely-involved purists.
======================================
Writers get in shape by pumping irony.
And this your honor, is why Grand Theft Auto is bad !
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.
That's why Dell went under years ago, before they'd ever even really gotten started.
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.
And that, children, is where the Iceweasel came from.
OSX is unsupported on VMware and it runs really really slowly. I'm not sure if this has been improved but the one time I tried it was just too slow to be usable even for testing.
Sometimes my arms bend back.
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.
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