Aug. 12, 2005
Apple's OS for Intel-based computers, which is currently in the hands of developers, may have been cracked so that it will run on non-Apple hardware.
TechWeb News
Mac enthusiast sites reported Friday that Apple Computer's operating system for Intel-based computers, which is currently in the hands of developers, has both been leaked to the Internet and cracked so that it will run on non-Apple hardware.
In early June, Apple's chief executive Steve Jobs announced that starting in 2006, the company's Macintoshes will be equipped with Intel microprocessors rather than the current PowerPC chips produced by IBM.
Although Apple has been vague about whether other operating systems -- such as Microsoft's Windows -- will run on the new hardware (it has, however, said it will not sell or support other OSes), it was adamant about preventing its own Mac OS X from running on non-Apple computers.
That may be more difficult than Apple thought.
Several sites reported this week that crackers had managed to install the developer-issued version of Mac OS X for Intel on non-Apple machines, including Dell laptops. One site has posted video purportedly of Mac OS X booting on a non-Apple-approved Intel-based PC.
Another site, dubbed OSx86 Project and dedicated to the new OS from Apple, noted that OS X for Intel can be installed under VMware's virtual machine software, and that a disk image of the OS has been posted on several BitTorrent sites.
The crack supposedly bypasses Intel's Trusted Platform Module (TPM) chip that was intended to prevent the operating system from running on non-Apple boxes. The digital rights management chip, which is supported in the new Mac OS's kernel, is Apple's attempt to tie the operating system to its own hardware; Mac OS X for Intel shouldn't install to PCs without the TPM chip.
Apple did not immediately return a call asking for comment.
From iexbeta website:
Mac OS on regular x86 PCs? Ever since Apple announced its switch to Intel x86 processors, and the availability of early x86 development kits, quite a few people have tried to get this early x86 Tiger build to run on non-Apple PCs. We've seen tons of fake claims, including videos, screenshots and torrent files, but it seems this time that finally some people managed to do it.A few days ago, a Torrent emerged for the Tiger x86 DVD shipped with development kits. However this DVD won't even boot on regular PCs, for two main reasons :
- the motherboard of Apple's dev kits include a TPM chip (Trusted Platform Module) to secure the use of the OS on Apple-only motherboards. The rest of the motherboard, however, is pretty much Intel-standard.- this early x86 Tiger build had been compiled to make use of SSE3 instructions, only implemented in Athlon 64 processors and newer Intel Pentium IVs.
It seems like both restrictions have somehow been lifted. Reports are coming of Mac OS x86 being able to run from a VMWare virtual machine, after extensive tweaking to remove both TPM and SSE3 restrictions. A torrent of that virtual machine is even said to be available. Needless to say, we will not provide its link nor answer any question as to where to download this puppy.
Users with PCs close to Apple's own dev kit specs seem to be enjoying a nice speed, close to, if not even better, than that of current Powermacs G5. Users with non-SSE3 chips however, seem to experience a much slower and unstable system.
More details to follow...
Hmmmmmmm. Interesting.