The Death of Apple?

[bsodmike]

I've been wondering about this for some time but haven't bothered talking about it. So Apple wants to swap over to the x86 architecture and OS X has been developed such that a 'simple' recompile of most apps will allow them to run on the new system.

So what is Apple using to prevent people from 'hacking' OS X to run on any x86 machine as we all know that Apple *is* a monopoly and if it wasn't for their OS we wouldn't be paying a premium for the hardware...

Mike...

[Gordy]

I think the main thing stopping joe blogs hacking it to any pc is the driver support. Apple only support a limited subset of the hardware. If you install it on a random pc the likelyhood is that you wont be able to get it setup easily.

I know if osx did work on all pcs I wouldnt be running win xp tho.

[bsodmike]

True....I guess Apple will rely on this fact and thanks to the multitude of various hardware combinations, it would be close to impossible to port across a driver database as large as what Windows current uses...at least one that works heh.

[StoneNewt]

All apple has to do is make it hard enough to rule out man-on-the-street going out buying a 300£ machine and lobbing OSX on it, most people wouldn't have the technical knowledge or ability to get any further than installer errors. Beyond that you're looking at the piracy crowd and within' reason they wouldn't buy the OS anyway.

[Dougal]

There was a preview of the Apple x86 hardware on THG or Anandtech.

Basicly they tried to install another OS on the same hardware, fine.

They tried to put OSX onto different hardware.

BIG errors started to appear.

Theres a hardware lock, and you can't upgrade the hardware with stock stuff easily either.

[Stoo]

If you can get Windows XP running on the same hardware, then all that's stopping you from running OS X on standard PC's is the lack of drivers and the chip it looks for on the install. Drivers can be written, and the install check will be bypassed, given time we will see OSX running on normal PC's.

[Dougal]

Hence why I said that it wasn't easy to upgrade.

[Stoo]

Once the TPM module is bypassed the only problem will be drivers, the majority of upgrades will be RAM, CPU & Video card, RAM doesn't matter, Neither will the CPU, and the the most popular graphics cards (ATI & nVidia) are supported in OSX anyway..

It's only the odd few peripherals that don't have the drivers currently.

Upgrading has very little to do with it.

[Bobster]

its been hax3d and tested on a P4 3.2

[Red10]

Off topic, but related:
Do we know that processors the Mac Intel machines will use?
Do intel have a 64 bit processor analogous to the G5, i know there ARE 64bit cpus avaliable but aren't they server class? I suppose Intel will be readying a new desktop 64bit design my then, how long will apple keep 32 bit systems going for?

[dangel]

I've heard there's a build floating round with TPM hacked out and without the need for a SSE3 compatibile processor... so the major hurdles are down now..

[Jonny M]

Off topic, but related:
Do we know that processors the Mac Intel machines will use?
Do intel have a 64 bit processor analogous to the G5, i know there ARE 64bit cpus avaliable but aren't they server class? I suppose Intel will be readying a new desktop 64bit design my then, how long will apple keep 32 bit systems going for?

The Pentium 4 600 series CPUs are 64-bit, and they are available now, and have been for a few months.

[dangel]

My Dell box at work is 64bits (P4 3.4) and i've had it for months.

Wouldn't of bought intel myself tho..

[Red10]

The Pentium 4 600 series CPUs are 64-bit, and they are available now, and have been for a few months.

Well........ don't i looks stupid...

[DavidM]

And AMD 64 bit CPUs are 64bit also

[Red10]

And AMD 64 bit CPUs are 64bit also

Yeah, i knew that i've owned a AMD 64 rig for over 12months...

I was just unsure of what intel offered in terms of 64bit processors..

Cheers

Dan.