Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Patch posted to run Mac OS X 10.4.4 on 'generic PC'
The Register ^ | 15 February 2006 | Tony Smith

Posted on 02/15/2006 10:59:49 AM PST by ShadowAce

A utility has been released that will allow the Intel-oriented version of Apple's Mac OS X operating systems to be run on machines other than the company's own iMac and MacBook Pro. However, the coder behind the patch, Maxxuss, warned that the software is a work in progress and that there's "still a lot of work to do".

That said, for folk who like to "play around", he said, the software will help them get started. The code requires a computer with an SSE3-supporting processor. It also appears geared toward set-ups in which Mac OS X is run alongside another operating system using virtualisation software like VMWare.

The patch contains a modified version of the mach kernel that bypasses the systems Apple has put in place to try and prevent this kind of thing from happening. It also requires the Mac OS X 10.4 DVD bundled with Intel-based iMacs and, soon, MacBook Pros.

Clearly, installing the operating system when you don't own the disc is illegal, and the process almost certainly violates Apple's end-user licence agreement. Just for good measure, the patch's "decrypted system files" probably infringe the notorious Digital Millenium Copyright Act and its European equivalent, the EU Copyright Directive. Future Mac OS X updates may break the patch. You have been warned.

Anyone willing to proceed in such circumstances faces plenty of typing into the command line to attempt to get the OS to install and, ultimately, to boot. ®


TOPICS: Computers/Internet
KEYWORDS: apple; intel; osx
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-31 next last
I knew it would just be a matter of time....
1 posted on 02/15/2006 10:59:52 AM PST by ShadowAce
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: rdb3; chance33_98; Calvinist_Dark_Lord; Bush2000; PenguinWry; GodGunsandGuts; CyberCowboy777; ...

2 posted on 02/15/2006 11:00:07 AM PST by ShadowAce (Linux -- The Ultimate Windows Service Pack)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Swordmaker; HAL9000

Apple Ping


3 posted on 02/15/2006 11:00:45 AM PST by ShadowAce (Linux -- The Ultimate Windows Service Pack)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ShadowAce

One OS to bind them all.........


4 posted on 02/15/2006 11:03:24 AM PST by Red Badger (And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ShadowAce
Win XP 64 is supposed to be compatible with intel dual core architecture.

I'm sure that there will be lots of hacks available to run the new Mac OS on PCs and visa versa.
5 posted on 02/15/2006 11:05:12 AM PST by HEY4QDEMS (Learn from the past, don't live in it.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ShadowAce
... The code requires a computer with an SSE3-supporting processor...

If I don't understand what this is talking about, I shouldn't try this at home?

6 posted on 02/15/2006 11:06:38 AM PST by B-bone
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: B-bone
If I don't understand what this is talking about, I shouldn't try this at home?

You can if you want a box of useless electronics.

7 posted on 02/15/2006 11:08:38 AM PST by Keith in Iowa (Howard Dean: Bankrupting the Democratic Party morally, intellectually, and financially. Go Howie go!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: B-bone
Good question, which I don't know either.

Here is what I got from Wikipedia on the SSE3

CPUs with SSE3

* AMD:
o Athlon 64 (since Venice Stepping E3 and San Diego Stepping E4)
o Athlon 64 X2
o Athlon 64 FX (since San Diego Stepping E4)
o Opteron (since Stepping E4)
o Sempron (since Palermo Stepping E3)
o Turion 64
* Intel:
o Celeron D
o Pentium 4 (since Prescott)
o Intel Core
o Xeon (since Nocona)
* VIA/Centaur:
o C7
* Transmeta
o Efficeon TM88xx (NOT Model Numbers TM86xx)

8 posted on 02/15/2006 11:12:27 AM PST by lormand (...the wrong person came out of the water that fateful night in Chappaquiddick)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: ShadowAce

I have long thought Mac was stupid not to sell their OS seperate from propriatary hardware anyway...It is one of the primry reasons why Windows has long been kicking their tails in sales.

Mind you I am a Windows man myself..but I might actually tempted in buying MACOS for fun if I didnt have to buy their stupid overpriced hardware too.


9 posted on 02/15/2006 11:12:51 AM PST by Prysson
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Red Badger
One OS to bind them all.........

I thought that was supposed to be Micro$loth? Steve Jobs should be careful. He is making a deal for more power, "... and Gates does not share power."

10 posted on 02/15/2006 11:15:04 AM PST by The_Victor (If all I want is a warm feeling, I should just wet my pants.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: The_Victor

Eventually we'll have a universal OS that will run anything on anything..........just needs more memory..........


11 posted on 02/15/2006 11:16:51 AM PST by Red Badger (And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: Prysson
I have long thought Mac was stupid unwise not to sell their OS seperate from propriatary hardware anyway...It is one of the primry reasons why Windows has long been kicking their tails in sales. Mind you I am a Windows man myself..but I might actually tempted in buying MACOS for fun if I didnt have to buy their stupid (IMHO) overpriced hardware too.

There, I made you seem less stupid emotional.

12 posted on 02/15/2006 11:17:58 AM PST by SlowBoat407 (The best stuff happens just before the thread snaps.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: B-bone

If your CPU is more than a year old it probably doesn't support SSE3.


13 posted on 02/15/2006 11:20:42 AM PST by Mount Athos
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: ShadowAce

BTW, on a related subject, A friend of my wife's Windows 2000 based computer is now useless because somehow it got the Password Protection activated. She says she's had the computer for a couple years and never had a password. Now it will not allow her access no matter what she does. I told her she might have a virus and might have to erase the hard drive and start over like new. Any help for the lady? She's about 70 and doesn't understand a lot about computers..........


14 posted on 02/15/2006 11:20:53 AM PST by Red Badger (And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Red Badger
She's about 70 and doesn't understand a lot about computers..........

Well, nothing I can do remotely--especially if she doesn't know a lot.

Sorry.

15 posted on 02/15/2006 11:23:05 AM PST by ShadowAce (Linux -- The Ultimate Windows Service Pack)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: B-bone
Ah, the beginning of wisdom, grasshopper is to know what you do not know.

This is something for guys who want to screw around under the hood and have lots of spare time. Possible? Yep. Something you want to depend upon when quarterly reports are due? Nope.

16 posted on 02/15/2006 11:24:09 AM PST by Richard Kimball
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: SlowBoat407
There, I made you seem less stupid emotional.

Apologies to Prysson, but your response had me laughing.

17 posted on 02/15/2006 11:24:38 AM PST by Egon (We are number one! All others are number two... or lower.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: Egon

All in good fun.


18 posted on 02/15/2006 11:26:58 AM PST by SlowBoat407 (The best stuff happens just before the thread snaps.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: Red Badger
...A friend of my wife's Windows 2000 based computer is now useless because somehow it got the Password Protection activated.

An OS password, or a BIOS-level password? Can't really help you with either, but there is a difference. A BIOS-level password isn't going to be fixed by reinstalling the OS or erasing the drive-- it's doubtful you could get to a position to do it anyway.

If it is a BIOS password, someone smarter than me might be able to tell you how to reset the BIOS.

19 posted on 02/15/2006 11:28:08 AM PST by Egon (We are number one! All others are number two... or lower.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: Egon

you just push the reset CMOS button on the computer for 10 seconds after unplugging it, wherever that is, sometimes you have to move a jumper on the motherboard to do it.


20 posted on 02/15/2006 11:37:20 AM PST by Mount Athos
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-31 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson