On 17/08/05, Simon Troup <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > As some of you may already be aware, some intrepid geeko techs > are already trying to figure out how to get OSX to run on an > ordinary PC, and some ae now speculating on how cheaply a PC > could be built to run OSX: [link snipped] > This looks like a right laugh to me, having spent over £3000 > on a couple of macs for the business this year alone. Does > anyone expect that this kind of thing will actually be possible?
Well, aside from the illegality of it all (as mentioned previously), I don't really think that this "solution will ultimately be feasible. Apple software has always worked as well as it does precisely because it is designed specifically for Apple hardware. Microsoft has had to support an endless list of devices and configurations, with varying degrees of success and compatibility. While it may be *possible* to hack OSX into "any old white-box PC," I would never recommend it. It might work decently, or even better than current PowerPC-driven Macintoshes, but I would never trust it because the OS simply isn't built to withstand that kind of hardware variability. If it's not sanctioned and recommended by Steve Jobs, et al, it's probably not going to be reliable enough for professional work. > Is the whole point of Intel/Mac that Apple are positioning > themselves for a proper x86 release a little later down the line? I seriously doubt it. There has been much talk of Apple creating OSX such that official copies can only be installed on hardware purchased from Apple. They may start up their own line of "build-your-own" components (or possibly include "approved by Apple" to certain existing parts), but they will be greatly limited in scope to keep the software and hardware working symbiotically as they have been in times past. Cobbling together a system using any and all available parts will *never* be recommended by Apple (they do consider themselves a hardware company, not a software company), though it might be an unsanctioned option in the future. > I'd love to be able to spec up my own computer systems and > build them. That would be cool, but I doubt building an Apple system will ever be as flexible as building a white-box PC. > It's OSX that I value over and above the hardware But in Apple's current business model, it's the reverse. They want you to buy their hardware... but after Intel chips are added to mainline Macs, I'm sure the price will go down considerably. (Also, reports from those who have hacked together OSX86 boxes are that the operating system runs much more quickly than it does on PPC chips.) I'm looking forward to "official" Intel Macs, but there's no way I'm going to try to throw together a computer for OSX unless Apple suggests that it's a supported option. -- Brad Beyenhof [EMAIL PROTECTED] my blog: http://augmentedfourth.blogspot.com Life would be so much easier if only (3/2)^12=(2/1)^7. _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
