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Conspiracy theory: Apple PLANNED for Tiger to be pirated on Intel PCs?

nagromme

nagromme

macrumors G5
Original poster
May 2, 2002
12,546
1,196
It's already happening. The criminals have stolen Tiger AND iLife '05 for Intel PCs. But it's of no long-term use: no support, no upgrades. Really only good for devs, and as a geek toy... and as a sneak preview of the BETTER way to compute?

EDIT by Nagromme: Please do NOT discuss sources and techniques here. It's illegal and against forum guidelines.

It really does seem like Apple LET this happen. They could never prevent it totally, not with these simple dev boxes, but they COULD make it very HARD to do. Instead, they did nothing to stop it.

Are they that stupid? I agree with this writer--probably not:

http://www.shapeofdays.com/2005/06/mac_os_x_on_int.html

Also--it gives Apple a free beta test of sorts, and gives Microsoft the shakes :)

Future versions will be more protected I'm sure--Apple won't lose hardware sales, and they won't bloat OS X by TRULY supporting those other widely varied hardware setups.

Still... Leopard vs. Longhorn will be interesting.

I sent this to MacBytes too, but I thought the forum folks might have some interesting thoughts.
 
I guess the number of people who know how to get torrent and set up dual boot systems is still small enough for Apple not to really care. It's not the target customer profile that they're going after.

I did think it was interesting that the author commented on the build not getting any security updates etc. I'd have thought that it would still be updated; otherwise it won't be a valid testing environment?
 
Applespider said:
....

I did think it was interesting that the author commented on the build not getting any security updates etc. I'd have thought that it would still be updated; otherwise it won't be a valid testing environment?
Click to expand...
You are exactly right. Steve Jobs said that every build of MacOS X ever made also has an Intel version. It is only logical that this will be true in the future as it was in the past. It strains credulity to believe that developers will be stuck with MacOS X 10.4.1 if users are running MacOS X 10.4.8. It also strains credulity to believe that pirates will not have the latest version of MacOS X outside Apple's Cupertino campus for each platform.
 
I don't think it means that devs will be stuck with 10.4.1. It means you won't be able to buy Leopard as an upgrade for pirated Tiger, as I interpret his theory--and that Software Update either is disabled in Intel Tiger (for now), or else will be checking for the "right" hardware before it updates.

That means only devs, with accounts that can access the dev download pages, will be able to get the updates.

And then THOSE can be pirated--but the point is, it makes these pirated copies of Tiger less useful.
 
interesting, but in all reality would we actually see Tiger on the intel chips? or for any long period of time such that it would make that big of a difference to Apple's bottom line? maybe the thinking is that the pirated versions of Tiger aren't that big of a deal due to the emergance of Leopard
 
While all this is interesting...

I am curious to know how many people knew about the Intel half of the OS?

I mean if OS X has been living this secret for 5 years, there was some TIGHT security on it, right?

I mean up until last Monday no one knew that OS X was x86 ready from the get-go (pretty much).

Mike
 
Before anyone worries too much:

Before anyone worries too much:

* We don't know if it really WAS pirated or not, yet... at least, I don't :D Could be a hoax still.

* But if it hasn't happened, it will--security measures or no--that was ALWAYS a virtual certainty.

* And Apple has known it for 5 years. If they did NOT implement any security, you can bet it wasn't by accident. They don't expect this to hurt them! (And maybe indirectly it could help them, as the link speculates?)

* It's NOT going to be used by a large number of people. It's illegal, not easy to get/use for the average user, and won't run on all hardware. And it's not supported! AND Mac product vendors won't support you either. Problems with Word? Too bad.

* And most of those kind of people were never going to be good customers of Apple anyway.

* Apple can implement more security in later versions if they wish.

* Bottom line, this will NOT harm Apple sales.

The question is... does Apple see some BENEFIT to letting this happen?

(Assuming it's true and they DID let hit happen.)
 
i knew someone would try to hack it once steve said OS X could run on intel. We will see what happens.
 
puckhead193 said:
i knew someone would try to hack it once steve said OS X could run on intel. We will see what happens.
Click to expand...

Well if the way i read the orig story is true, there wasnt any hacking involved.

Someone just took the OS currently running on the dev. kits and copied it. No hacking involved there. (unless you count illegal copying of software as a hack)

Just wondering, but wouldnt it be great if the dev. kits version of 10.4 had a hidden identification packet, so company A is identifiable from company B, etc.

Like Ricky Ricardo told his wife: "Lucy, you got some 'splainin' to do!"
 
I feel horrible. I want to download it ASAP, test it out, see how compatible it is, and end all debates going on right now about it. It's a good cause, right? See how well Rosetta works, etc. As soon as the real thing comes out I'll buy it. I already paid Apple a ton for a PowerBook, already have an extra copy (completely legal) of OS X around the house not being used...

But I have a strict anti-piracy rule imposed upon myself. I can't violate my own standards. Oh woe is me...

I want to search for it soooo badly, but I won't :(


Anyway, is this real? Has it ALREADY been leaked? I really hope not, because I know as soon as it is,
A) Apple stock will plummet
B) I'll have a hundred people who download it and they'll all tell me to do it and call me an idiot when I refuse to. As ALWAYS happens when new stuff are leaked. Sigh.


IMHO Apple should release a Mac OS X Demo (on their web site, I will not download it illegally).

Imagine this. It comes as an ISO or in an app that burns it for you. You install it (it'll dual boot for you, even for the average joe). It's Mac OS X 10.4.1 for Intel. Rosetta has been removed as has the web server and other professional goodies (so no running Mac applications). Apple can get big developers to pay to have their software included (For example, Microsoft pays Apple a little and Apple will include an x86 compiled Office Trial Version, or Earthlink pays a little and Apple includes Earthlink, etc) as a form of advertising, so Apple makes money.


People get to try OS X and the iLife apps, but some restrictions are added (no burning DVD's perhaps?). I'd think it'd be great.
 
I wonder if Intel Tiger could have a time limit built in?

GFLPraxis said:
But I have a strict anti-piracy rule imposed upon myself. I can't violate my own standards. Oh woe is me...
Click to expand...

Kudos! :) We'll have to watch rumor sites for our glimpse of the future. Besides... it's not going to be any BETTER than the Tiger I already own (once I get around to installing).
 
PlaceofDis said:
interesting, but in all reality would we actually see Tiger on the intel chips? or for any long period of time such that it would make that big of a difference to Apple's bottom line? maybe the thinking is that the pirated versions of Tiger aren't that big of a deal due to the emergance of Leopard
Click to expand...
The first Intel-based Macs will ship with Tiger. They will be released on or before June 2006. Leopard is not due for release until the end of 2006.
 
Right--because of the timing, we know that BOTH Tiger and Leopard (and maybe beyond) will run on BOTH PowerPC and Intel.
 
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