We all know about PsyStar, the company that sells an unofficial Macintosh clone running Mac OS X Leopard. While the device runs Leopard fine, it has its shortcomings in that operating system updates have to go through PsyStar testing first, becuase they might break your installation. While this problem isn’t addressed with this product, EFiX aims to simplify installing Mac OS X Leopard on your non-Apple machine.The device is a USB dongle that takes care of the ‘hacking’ for you, allowing you to install Mac OS X on a non-Apple machine straight from the Mac OS X DVD – no replacing of files or applying of patches. OSX86 hacker Netkas demonstrated a demo unit on his blog.
The unit is supposed to go on sale starting 23rd June.
Via Engadget.
I cannot imagine apple will be too happy with this….
Seemingly unrelated, cookie-cutter style flash animation from a FlashMX HowTo book…along with a brief series of lofty claims and zero substance. That always makes a site look legit to me. Maybe it’ll get published on OSNews (oh, wait.).
Oooo, oo… according to the webby:
“leading professionals (who work for TV stations, recording studios and many others)”
—-OMG, really? TV Stations?!?! Sign me up!
“we had to deal with various problems, including sabotage”
—-zOMG, no! I’ll add extra moneyz to my purchase to help them recover.
I’m sold! And to be proactive, I’ve already written and addressed my check payment to: Engineer Robson, Representative of the 1st Bank of Nigeria. Soon, I’ll get to be be like all of those ‘leading professionals’ who know about this product and have tested it extensively because they can’t afford a real Mac.
Seriously, I think I saw this bit in the ONION Movie. I mean… it’s not even sharp-witted and executed well enough to classify as “vapor ware.”
You tell ’em, sister! And did you, like, watch the video?
Oh.
Mmmm-y.
Guh-AWWWD!.
His optical drives aren’t even color-coordinated. Like, puh-LEEEZE!!!
This netkas is one of the lead hackers on the OSx86 project forums. I don’t doubt he could have come up with a invention like this since all the DVD’s that you can download to run a “Hackintosh” just hack the bootloader and setup a fake EFI environment to get your video cards and the kernel too work. Putting this hacked boot environment on a USB memory stick instead of on the bootloader of a DVD is not rocket science.
I used to play around with the OSx86 project, but I own a 20″ and 24″ iMac (girlfriends and mine). So it was never anything more than a hobby thing to do but it’s not a stable production environment to run since it is buggy on non supported hardware with 3rd party drivers.
and to clarify since I know I’ll get flamed by fan boys of the project, I had all hardware working on a PC but it still had bugs that I’ve never seen on the Apple hardware, that and you can’t run system updates.
Edited 2008-06-15 23:55 UTC
I think this is great…and it’s the best possible scenario for Apple as they can claim they have nothing to do with this. One of the major reasons Apple has never tried to challenge Microsoft on the desktop is probably because of Microsoft Office for Mac, as well as numerous other “understandings” between Microsoft and Apple. Since it’s more or less understood that Mac OS-X is superior to Windows in many ways, it’s a no brainer that many people would drop Windows for Apple’s OS if given the choice, given how cheap PC hardware is and the relative ease of installing OS-X. Furthermore, Vista’s resounding thud in the marketplace is leaving many people searching for alternatives now that XP is no longer readily available. While I’m a happy Linux user myself, I would certainly relish the ability to snag a copy of OS-X, EFiX, and a cheap Dell and have a full featured “Mac” in a matter of hours. This will be worth watching.
You are way too optimistic. Your point of view that users are fleeing Vista like a war zone is inaccurate. A lot of people like Vista (which does not include me), and Microsoft has a lot of commercial contracts with big companies.
Most people hate vista. But most people don’t have a choice. Even MS is putting Vista down and talking about Windows 7. Crazy!
Most can’t to scrap everything and go to something new or retrain their staffs.
Also to be honest I am a mac head but I can get 2 nice Dell Vista laptops for a little over the price of one Mac Book.
So if I am running a business (Which I do) would I go for the Mac or do I go for 2 Dells for every one Mac, and save the money upfront?
The other delema is that Apple has “no” business unit. I put that in quotes because they do have a “business” unit but they don’t really focus on business like Dell or Lenovo do.
When you do business with someone like Dell they give you the whole nine yards on their business machines (Apple doesn’t make “business” machines)they give you ALL the specs, they give you the life span plans, bios plans, driver plans etc. You know years ahead of time where Dell is going with their business lines. You don’t have to hope your stuff will work on it. And for an extra fee they will even make your images for you and adjust them for the newer models etc. Apple hates letting people know what they are up to!
Really though If apple sold a supported version of Mac OS on Dells or others on the low end side I think they could make a ton of money. A lot of people given the choice would buy the Mac OS on Dell.
“MS is putting Vista down and talking about Windows 7. Crazy! ”
Not really. MS has said, long ago, that they wanted a three-year release cycle, which would mean that today, we are approximately halfway through Vista’s lifecycle. It would hardly be surprising that, halfway through Vista’s lifecycle, we would be beginning to hear about Windows 7. If I correctly recall, work had begun on Vista even before XP was released. My point being that, irrespective of how Vista is received by the potential endusers, we would be hearing about its follow-up under any circumstance.
Yes but not to the level that we are hearing it. No one held up on deployment of XP waiting on Vista, but tons of people are doing that waiting on Windows 7.
Same way people skipped ME for XP.
C’mon, try a little variety in your weasel-words. Using “Most people…” twice in a row makes it look like you’re not even trying. Mix it up a bit, maybe throw in a few “some people say” or “it has been suggested that…” or “critics argue that…”.
Weasel-words. LOL! Sounds a little silly if you ask me.
You know as well as I do no one but MS fan boys are running out and getting Vista. That is why Apple PC sales are up 10 fold and Macs are 40% more expensive then other computers. People are just plan tired of stupid Windows and the spyware and hacks and viruses!
That is why MS let people offer reverse upgrades so you could legally down grade to XP.
They know it’s full of bloat that is why they are offering XP on Netbooks and not Vista.
And on top of that they have to hold a gun to Netbook hardware vendors to get them to go the MS way!
Worthless….meaningless….fruitless….hopeless…B.S. If there are any other ess’s I can throw in, please let me know.
I love how they try to make this seem like “Buy any old crap HP from Best Buy, and you too can run OS X with this product”. I suppose that along with completely cracking the EFI code, these guys are including device drivers for each and every peripheral under the sun.
Although it would be nice, I’m going to have to call a HUGE shenanigans on this. Mainly because your garbage Wintel PC has as much chance of running OS X as my nforce 680i does.
If you want the mac, buy the mac. Suck up the $2k and get all the legal apple you’ll ever want.
I made a hackintosh out of a crappy store bought HP computer. All the hardware I care about works, wireless, ethernet even my usb camera works. All this and it runs perfectly and it didn’t cost an arm and a leg.
Now here is the catch… I had to use an illegal hackintosh iso, but if there were a way to easily install a legal bought copy of osx then I would consider trying it.
Actually your 680i would run fine I’ve done it. But there is still the fact that you are running a hacked OS on non supported hardware, even if hacked drivers get it to work and run stable for awhile it doesn’t take much to bring the system down.
It’s not hard to get most newer machines to run with OS X with most hardware working, even most of the newer video cards work. But if you have ever worked on a Apple Intel machine compared to a “hackintosh” machine you’ll appreciate the packaging and integration the Apple product brings.
Edited 2008-06-16 02:39 UTC
Packaging and integration?
Welcome to the forum, first year marketing student.
Obviously you have no clue what you’re talking about and you’re just quoting catch words you’ve read or heard elsewhere.
How is a computer that looks like a desk lamp, is not upgradeable, mediocre performance, and ridiculously overpriced better than a quality pc box that works just as well but has much higher specs, is totally upgradeable (ie, can put 5 hard drives and all the ram I want) and cost half what the lamp costs?
And yes, you can get them in glossy white too if that’s your thing.
You must be speaking of a high end PC system, yes I’ve built many. Were you prematurely dismissing my comment of OS X running on a 680i? Or the fact that doing so isn’t recommended. And my comments do not apply outside of running OS X on a Vanilla flavour PC.
Since this article is about that, not about the quality of PC hardware vs Mac hardware.
Hi nice to meet you I’m guessing your the resident troll around here?
A friend of mine made his Dell into a hackintosh, it can be done without custom hardware now. The results though are relatively fragile compared to running it on Apple hardware. Incidentally, I did buy the Mac. I got a Mac Mini for $699, not $2k. 🙂 (A new Mini is slightly less, but mine has 2GB RAM, which is a more optimum amount of RAM for OS X.)
Why not? That’s more or less what Apple does.
What is so hilarious about this is people posting stuff like “any old crap HP from Best Buy”, “garbage Wintel PC…” and so on.
The assumption seems to be that there is some hardware quality difference between Apple branded PCs and the rest. Guys, wake up. The only difference is the case, the labels and a bit of bios. The disks, main boards, processors, memory, power supplies, opticals, yes even the connectors, are all identical. What you are buying when you buy a Mac in the way of hardware is a case. In that case is “any old crap HP from Best Buy”. In that case is another “garbage Wintel PC”.
There is no such thing as a Mac any more, from a hardware point of view. Hasn’t been for years. This is why you can actually install OSX on it, once you’ve circumvented a bit of DRM.
Surely everyone knows this already? So why on earth do they keep posting this stuff?
Because people think that the children putting together Macs in Asia wear gloves, compared to the HP children who don’t.
Elementary.
The difference is that the choice in hardware is typically beyond that of the average consumer pc, and the industrial design is downright phenomenal.
You can’t compare it to high end machines though. I’m pricing a new desktop replacement laptop, since it is more about not being tied to my desk then carrying it around all day, power is more important then mobility for me. I would like a macbook (as I like OSX alot, and I also like the look of the machines), but they don’t offer anything even remotely good enough. At the moment, the decision is between an mid specced Alienware m17x, or a Sager NP9262. Macbook pro’s are not even in the same class.
You may think so, I couldn’t possibly comment. However, one thing is clear, at least with those horrible HP/Dell Windows boxen us unwashed plebs can stick, more or less, whatever crap, or non-crap, hardware we like in them. Moreover, we can even ‘roll our own’ using whatever OS we like, apart from OSX, without needing permission.
Edited 2008-06-16 21:24 UTC
In almost all instances, the exact same internal hardware components used by Apple (except, perhaps, for minor differences in the motherboard) can be purchased by any individual. The same “choice in hardware” can be had by anybody (usually for less than what Apple charges). There is no quality difference.
In regards to Apple’s “phenomenal” ID, design mostly involves the hardware case (as mentioned in previous posts), and Apple hardware design is largely derivative, retro rehash, that primarily impresses design newbies caught in the reality distortion field.
Also, Apple hardware design has a history of usability and functionality problems: the round mouse; difficult-to -find controls; monitors that cannot tilt downwards; lack of standard features (no floppy on the first Imacs); very limited internal hard drive space (G5); etc.
Edited 2008-06-16 21:32 UTC
I couldn’t care less about what is “hip” in the design world, still Apples computers are almost the only computers on the market right now that don’t make feel like throwing up. It is not so much that it is so great (which i think it is, purely based on what i feel looks nice not on what i think is innovative) it is more that PCs have become so unthinkable butt ugly.
I would prefer a damn beige box of the nineties above what is sold these days. You actually have to put in effort to find PCs which don’t have a Window in its side and are lit like the most tasteless Christmas tree. The last two graphics cards i bought had fu***** lights integrated in the cooling vent which in return was so crappy that it made horrible noises after less than halve a year and *that* where the high priced brand named ones.
And regarding to the hardware design: if i want to know if my Mac Mini is running i have to look at it. I knew when my PC is running, because i can hear it running from ten meters away. Even my pretty silent Laptop is very noisy in comparison.
I can’t say i have regretted my decision on getting an Mac Mini instead of making my PC Vista and recent game compatible and I’m absolutely certain that i will not go back to Windows because I’m just so much more satisfied with my combination of Linux Laptop and Mac Desktop. So to each his own, but Vista is not coming anywhere near me as are PC Desktops in the future.
I feel the same way, even though I am a designer, and even though most product designers usually are not trying to be “hep” in the design world.
Certainly, there are design trends, but the only time one gets the notion that there are any kind of “hep” trends in design is when certain “movements” occur, such as the Memphis movement. However, I always got a feeling of “forced hepness” from Frog Design/Apple.
Anyway, design hepness is not as important as a small sense of design history (which could help prevent wild claims about the superiority of Apple designs).
And, again, Apple’s designs have a history of usability and functionality problems, which are unrelated to hepness.
Well, I guess that some of us are more strongly affected by appearance than others. I don’t really care what the box looks like — I care more about what is on the screen and about how well the moving parts function (and about performance).
There are plenty of old cases still around that have the windows and the lights. I have one, and it sits under a desk. It was very inexpensive. However, I would guess that most of the big PC manufacturers offer boxes without windows and lights.
In addition, Apple isn’t the only company making “stylish”, elegant cases. Look at companies such as Sony, Asus and even Dell. Furthermore, there are zillions of amateur PC case mods that are fantastic.
There are plenty of silent, non-fan-cooled PCs. Some are even “blimped” to deaden drive noise. Barring computers with flash drives, my guess is that the quietest PC is more silent than the quitest Apple.
Yes, you can buy noiseless PCs like the ones from Hush but they are much more expensive than almost noiseless Macs.
I care what my computers look like because i live in a one room apartment (i live in a city where a one room apartment is hilariously expensive so moving to a bigger apartment is not an option right now). It is a factor of quality of life for me.
Maybe I’m not objective here, but the last few times i checked the local electronics market the majority of PCs and related products looked like they where aimed at 14 year old gamers (tattoo look – or even worse – gaming themes, integrated windows, unnecessary lights, unnecessary fans in the look of a plane turbine and even – too me the number one sin of worst imaginable design – car themed PC cases). Others where very bulky and/or noisy.
While the Sony PCs look somewhat decent-ish (to my completely subjective taste) i had so much very bad experiences with a wide variety of Sony products that i would not wish to buy one.
I thought about building a case from scratch, but that is a little more effort than i really would like to put into it and what i would have in mind would also be likely more expensive than just buying a Mac when done in prototype amounts.
But i also wouldn’t have reason to do so, because I’m quite satisfied with my Mini, apart maybe for my 3D programming hobby, as it is rather underpowered in the GPU area, but hey, at least i have a reason now to write more efficient code
Never seen a Lian Li or Silverstone Case?
Have seen them and find them very ugly (despite some/most?/all? of them seemed to be windowkit free).
I suppose you guys haven,t seen this.
http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/reviews/4258725.html
Intel 8000 series processors, lithium polymer batteries, LED backlit displays, standard wifi + bluetooth.
You can’t get these features in a windows PC at lower prices.
Plus they all will run Linux with all features, witch is normally a huge sore spot in laptops.
Why all the irrational Apple hate? They mate good hardware with good software and great industrial design.
Any geek should appreciate that.
I’m all for the hackintosh btw, just don’t think it’ll run well on cheap hardware. you’ll get Vista on a $699.99 laptop…Yech!
Come to think of it I’m going to download the ISO and Virtualbox it on my Quad (her name is babygirl).
Edited 2008-06-16 22:19 UTC
Come on! Are you sure?!
If it’s so glossy white or brushed aluminum and comes in a cool box and costs more than my car then it has to be way better!
I don’t really see where the hacking is… no binary code is alterered in my hackintosh. I’ve only changed some device ID’s in plists files and customized a freely open source kernel.
Not really hacking is it.
Maybe the EFI bootloader is close but I think that is also opensoruce… please corect me if I am wrong.
Nobody really stated that it’s a difference of the quality of hardware, its the packaging and design. Yes you can run OS X on vanilla hardware but saying you don’t have to hack anything to get it to run is a ignorant insult to the people who spent hours coding the workarounds so that you can just download a patch and burn a DVD. Yeah maybe afterwords all you have to do is hack some device ID’s in a PLIST to get the hardware working, but way more work that you didn’t do went into it.
Apple selects hardware, programs/picks the drivers, and bundles them with their software. All the setups are stress tested to make sure they work. You can do the same with vanilla hardware and stress test the crap out of it so you know if works 100% but you won’t know that it still will when the next release comes out and no you still don’t have an Apple computer even if the hardware is the same grade or better.
Actually, a couple of comments in this thread did suggest that Apple components are superior. And such misguided notions are posted all the time.
In regards to packaging, who wouldn’t rather get a computer in a plain brown box and pay $100 less? Fancy packaging is worthless once one starts using the product.
As far as Apple design is concerned, its appeal is subjective. Furthermore, Apple has a history of problems with the usability and functionality with its hardware designs. Also, there are other brands that are just as “stylish.”
What is the point here?
Yes. One doesn’t have to hack anything to install OSX on a PC, because of the people who coded the work-arounds.
Apple coded Safari so that one can view a web page, and most Mac users have no clue as to what it took to code Safari. Are those clueless, ignorant Mac users making an insult to the Safari coders?
Too bad such efforts do little good in real-world use. I cannot count the times that I have seen Macs have catastrophic failures and that have had to be rebooted. I cannot recall the number of times that I have seen a Mac have some problem with an update screwing things up.
If one doubts that Macs have problems, one merely has to visit websites like MacFixIt: http://www.macfixit.com/ Go to the forum section and to look at many more difficulties/complaints.
Edited 2008-06-17 00:28 UTC
Yes you can run OS X on vanilla hardware
Not only can you, that is exactly what you are doing when you run OSX on Apple hardware.
Apple hardware IS vanilla hardware. That’s the whole point, it is true that it is ‘specially selected’ in the same way that when I buy a Dell rather than an HP I have ‘specially selected’ the Dell. When I buy a Fruit of the Loom Tshirt, I have ‘specially selected’ it. When I buy that pack of generic brand frozen peas I have specially selected it also.
The hardware is not however ‘specially selected’ in any other sense. It is not higher end, it is not any better quality, it is not unavailable to Dell or HP. It is also used by Dell and HP. It is in fact exactly the same stuff as you get in what the Apple mavens think of as crappy Best Buy machines.
Its just that it comes in a different case. Often in a case which seems to have been specially designed to produce overheating!
One difference is choice of components like electrolyte capacitors, which strongly determine lifespan expectation of mainboards etc. Also a big factor is the overall system design. Two different machines might be constructed of mostly the same types of hardware, but still one might have an bad heat dissipation concept or poor choice in ventilation (noisy), this or that component over- or undersized…
I do find Macs to be well constructed and the Mac Mini just blows my mind.
That isn’t to say that there aren’t very good PC hardware manufacturers. Despite bad opinion especially from the Mac crowd i think that Dell builds very nice Desktops and Workstations and do like the HP Laptops as well.
Still, they don’t run OS X unhacked which would bring you unnecessary headaches, so you are mostly stuck with either using Linux, which is fine (and what i do with my HP Laptop) but lacks a lot of application types or to use Windows and i simply refuse to suffer through another Windows iteration, especially if it is so surreal bad as Vista.
From this statement, it is not clear whether or not the use of electrolytic capacitors extends (or reduces) motherboard lifespan. Nor is it clear whether or not Apple (or most PC motherboard makers) generally choose (or avoid) electrolytic capacitors.
Please clarify.
Yes. The heat dissipation has historically been amazing in Apple case designs (not to mention the superior upgradability/versatility of Apple cases).
Also, again, there are plenty of well constructed PC cases that out-do Macs in quietness.
Yes, capacitor quality is important to circuit board life. But Apple uses the same components from the same suppliers as everyone else. The boards don’t have any different capacitors, and don’t last any longer. In fact, some varieties of Macs were notorious for blowing up. The E-Mac among others, which timed it to perfection, just after warranty expired.
…is Windoze XP + Flyakite OSX:
http://osx.portraitofakite.com/