Maui firm ignites Mac-PC firestorm

[MacBytes]

Category: 3rd Party Software
Link: Maui firm ignites Mac-PC firestorm (http://www.macbytes.com/link.php?sid=20041016162157)
Posted on MacBytes.com (http://www.macbytes.com)

Approved by Mudbug

[space2go]

"The hackers smashed it all to hell. We had a bunch of servers up for this, and they just destroyed them," he said. "The purists out there get their backs up about anything affecting Macs."

LOL Anyone able to click a link is a hacker these days.

[2GMario]

wonder if they were windows web servers...

[stoid]

Is it against the Mac OS X EULA to install it on any non-Apple computer? In that case, CherryOS and PearPC users are criminals. Clean as a whistle maybe, but how did they test it without installing software against it's EULA and breaking the law?

[JeffTL]

Apple hardware is more expensive? Since when?

Show me a computer comparable to the iMac G5 that is cheaper. I seem to recall that the Gateway Profile costs more these days.

And are the $800 laptops really worth it for serious use? Are the $1100 PC laptops really as good as an iBook?

[jchen]

I ran a quick check via NetCraft.

Windows Server 2003
Microsoft-IIS/6.0
12-Oct-2004 (last booted)
69.44.56.142
(netblock owner) ServerBeach

The newspaper article said they got 300,000 "hits" a day. Now, is that "hits" as in logged "hits" (if so, that's not much), or is it "hits" in terms of unique visitors?

Pardon my math; this is being rounded off and done in my head:

A 50k page view, and perhaps 2 pages per visitor would get 100k per visitor. 10 visitors is a meg of download. 1000 visitors would be a gig. 300,000 would be about 300 gigabytes of download for a day.

No wonder the box died. A full T-1 would handle about five 50k pages per second, right? That's 300 page views per minute, 18,000 page views per hour, so, full T-1 capacity of about 432,000 page views a day (around 225kbytes download per second).

If they got 300,000 "visitors" (hits), that'd probably bring it to its knees.

And not to mention all the "hackers" who smashed it up pretty bad. Hmmm. I wonder how all those hackers got through to smash things up?

The proof is in the taste of the pudding, folks. Those screen shots looked amazingly like Windows with Mac OSX laid on top.

If it works as advertised, I'd buy one. If it's any thing like Virtual PC (usually solid, but slooooooooow), then, it's G-o-o-d-b-y-e.

[iMeowbot]

wonder if they were windows web servers...
Yep, they were initially attempting to use ASP.NET and it lost. There is at least one outstanding vulnerability in that product relating to paths, and apparently someone messed with their mail capability too.

[iMeowbot]

Is it against the Mac OS X EULA to install it on any non-Apple computer?
Possibly, but the terms are written in such a way that it's not very clear that it would be a valid prohibition.
In that case, CherryOS and PearPC users are criminals.
If it's even binding, ignoring that type of license provision would be a civil, not criminal, thing. It's not piracy if you legally obtained the number of copies of software you are using. Apple can rightly refuse to support it, certainly.

[Nermal]

It's good to see that they're working on a demo version. Being able to download and try the app will be proof that it's not vapourware.

[pourhadi]

Still sounds bogus to me.

A no-name company announces a product which has capabilities that no competing product can come close to offering. Yet, prior to its announcement, there were no hints as to its creation. Also, this coincides with PearPC reaching a usable level.

And now, they "delay" the release of the product because of a web site failure caused by many people visiting their site?

I still don't buy it.

[Chaszmyr]

Their lawyers said they're in the clear? They'd better fire those lawyers and hire some new ones. They're specifically advertising that their product is designed to run OSX on a PC, which is expressly forbidden under the OSX license agreement.

[dubbz]

Apple hardware is more expensive? Since when?

Show me a computer comparable to the iMac G5 that is cheaper. I seem to recall that the Gateway Profile costs more these days.

And are the $800 laptops really worth it for serious use? Are the $1100 PC laptops really as good as an iBook?

When I was researching laptops I found several PC laptops that were both cheaper and technically better than the iBook. Some of them were quite nice looking too. Apple's current laptops are nice, but you buy them because you want an Apple, or MacOS X, not because of price/performance.

No objections to the iMac, though. That's a lot of computer for your cash. Heck, I want one myself, even though I don't strictly need one :)

As for the "hackers" bringing down their site.. that was probably caused by the article and link at Slashdot... Slashdot, meet Cherry. Cherry meet The Destroyer of Servers.. err, I mean Slashdot.

[thatwendigo]

When I was researching laptops I found several PC laptops that were both cheaper and technically better than the iBook. Some of them were quite nice looking too. Apple's current laptops are nice, but you buy them because you want an Apple, or MacOS X, not because of price/performance.

...and yet you don't put them out there for comparison. How odd, that someone comes in here and makes this kind of blanket statement, while also listing a PC as their main machine. It almost seems, I don't know, about as trollish as the claim that CherryOS' site went down because of "hackers" that couldn't stand to hear what they had to say.

If there are laptops that are "cheaper and technically better," then I'd love to see them.

[Nermal]

Their lawyers said they're in the clear? They'd better fire those lawyers and hire some new ones. They're specifically advertising that their product is designed to run OSX on a PC, which is expressly forbidden under the OSX license agreement.

The OS X licence is only valid in 2 states. Hawaii's not one of them.

[redAPPLE]

The OS X licence is only valid in 2 states. Hawaii's not one of them.

what do you mean? so it is legal in europe? in australia? in asia, too?

[Nermal]

I don't know. Only 2 states allow software makers to attach licences to their software - in the other states you must still respect copyright law etc. I have no idea what the rules are like in other countries.

[space2go]

In germany - and I think the rest of europe as well - those licenses are virtual toilet paper too.

[brap]

Like they really can expected a warm welcome from the Mac community. Moral of this story? They should have been using an XServe G5....

One of two things will happen with this company/product:

1. The PearPC code base used turns out to be too risky a move. CherryOS is never released, never heard of again. Nobody cares in 3 weeks.

2. It turns out to be a revolutionary piece of software; sells a few hundred units before it's either shut down, or bought by Apple. Can anyone say Connectix VGS?

Of course, in event #2, the coder will probably be hired by Apple, and work on PowerPC assembly for the real thing.

[takao]

hmm the EULAs would have to be signed before you buy the product...(as far as i know) ... or be printed on the box (make that huge boxes)
any 'rules' etc. appearing after the program is executed are not valid in germany (as judged by some german court)
so in germany: toilet paper
austria: ditto

[applekid]

Didn't you hear? CherryOS is all a hoax.

http://www.yourmaclife.com/
http://forums.appletalk.com.au/index.php?showtopic=1831&st=15&#entry14705

[nagromme]

Didn't you hear? CherryOS is all a hoax.

http://www.yourmaclife.com/
http://forums.appletalk.com.au/index.php?showtopic=1831&st=15&#entry14705

That was long and I confess to have skimmed it. The point seems to be that "dag33k" is suspected of being with Cherry. He probably is.

But I don't see dag33k claiming NOT to be with Cherry. He's looking for help testing--that makes sense.

What's the short version of what all that means? :D

[iMeowbot]

I'm not sure what those articles are supposed to mean. CherryOS is seriously buggy, and shouldn't have been announced as a finished product, but there is real code there which makes the "hoax" label just a little bit silly.

The Wired blog entries are kind of disappointing, in that the reviewer chose to mess only with doctored pirated OEM upgrade copies rather than real OS X retail discs.

What a waste all around.

[isgoed]

Didn't you hear? CherryOS is all a hoax.

http://www.yourmaclife.com/
http://forums.appletalk.com.au/index.php?showtopic=1831&st=15&#entry14705
I think this is what happened.

What a stunt!

[dubbz]

...and yet you don't put them out there for comparison. How odd, that someone comes in here and makes this kind of blanket statement, while also listing a PC as their main machine. It almost seems, I don't know, about as trollish as the claim that CherryOS' site went down because of "hackers" that couldn't stand to hear what they had to say.

If there are laptops that are "cheaper and technically better," then I'd love to see them.

Geez.. They're listed by date. PC bought first, PB bought last. Get it? I actually ended up getting a 12" Powerbook, not a PC laptop. Heck, I actually own *two* Macs. Obviously I must hate Macs. :rolleyes:

As for the comparison, here's the most relevant example.

Intel Celeron M 1.5 GHz
14" XGA (1024x768)
256MB RAM PC2700 (up to 2GB)
40GB HDD (5400rpm) (base is 30GB, increased to match iBook)
802.11b+g Wireless
2x2 USB 2.0, FW400, 1 x PCMCIA, IrDA, SP/DIF Out
Combo DVD-ROM/CD-RW
GeForce FX Go5200 (64MB)
2,3 Kg

11842 NOK, ~$1800

PowerPC G4 1 GHz
14.1" XGA
256MB RAM PC2100
40GB HDD (4200rpm)
AirPort Extreme
2x2 USB 2.0, FW400
Combo DVD-ROM/CD-RW
ATI Radeon 9200 (32MB)
2,7 Kg

13219 NOK, ~$2,000 ($1,378 in Apple U.S. Store)

The only issue I have with buying the Powerbook is that I'm still unsure if I made the right choice, and that I perhaps should've cashed out extra for the 15" Powerbook instead (and I'll even give you a nice comparison in that price class vs a PC too, if you insist).

And to keep it on-topic: If CherryOS = PearPC then it's too slow and buggy to be useful for anything serious.... 80% speed of native? Riiiight...

[acdninjapan]

It's good to see that they're working on a demo version. Being able to download and try the app will be proof that it's not vapourware.

If this is as good as advertised I'd definitely buy it. I know of a lot of people here in Japan who would be interested in this software as well.

[Santaduck]

Can someone summarize what ever happened with this news item? I see some URLs to reviews but am too lazy =x

1) Was the product ever released?
2) Did it work at all?
3) Was it a hoax?
4) Was it PearPC?
5) Was it fast?


and...
6) Here today, gonetomaui?

[cluthz]

Can someone summarize what ever happened with this news item? I see some URLs to reviews but am too lazy =x

1) Was the product ever released?
Not, yet. It's delayed until Q1 2005


2) Did it work at all?
We don't know yet... If its PearPc it would work..


3) Was it a hoax?
We don't know yet. Its a possibilty that it is vaporware.

4) Was it PearPC?
Many claims that, cherryos claims that it isn't.

5) Was it fast?
Will emulators ever be fast? Could x86 emulate PPC better than PPC can emulate x86? PearPC is 1/40 of a comparable macine.. VPC is probably 1/5, but its still slow.

Guess we'll have to wait a few more months to see if it's a reality.