Do you think OSX->86 adds any value to the Mac community?

[Sesshi]

Floating around the discussion forums for the crack for OS X which allows it to run on non-Apple Intel machines, as befits a community which was essentially started on hacking and then illegally distributing software, there seems to be very little talk of running productive apps legally on the 'Hackintoshes' either.

The purchase demographic seems to be different, if you see what I mean. Someone who buys a piece of Apple hardware with software thinks slightly differently to the hacker who puts all his money into building his own PC's and downloads all his apps from Bittorrent.

I have considered the crack on a number of occasions, especially as regards being able to combine the superior business support of Dell or HP for example with the elegance of OS X. However quite apart from the very grey nature of the enterprise even if I purchased a copy of OS X, I deemed it impractical for the purposes of application support.

I was curious about people's opinions of this, especially Apple developers. Do the OS X->'86 crack users add something to the Mac community? If so, what?

 

[crazzyeddie]

Do the OS X->'86 crack users add something to the Mac community? If so, what?

No. If anything they risk Apple needing to use some sort of 'activation' feature like Windows, except I'm sure it wouldn't be bypassed as easily (read: TPM or other hardware-based security).

 

[Sesshi]

I wonder if any developers have come in from the OS X 86 side. As I said, it would be interesting to hear from the people who make software for the Mac.

 

[Queso]

I don't know if there's even much serious need for OSX86 short of giving extra people a taste of the Apple way of doing things. It would be interesting to see how many of them have since gone out and bought Apple hardware.

It strikes me that the Intel OSX was hacked to see whether it could be hacked more than anything else. Now someone's done it, most of the interest is moving onto other things.

 

[Lollypop]

I dont think they have added value to the excisting mac market or users, but im wondering about value to potential switchers.

A friend of mine tried their methods (I didnt want to know where he got a copy of tiger), but he could barey get it running, he didnt try any of the ilife apps and eventually went back to windows.... , effectively detering a potential switcher. I dont know if the process has become easier and more reliable, but they should put up a clear disclaimer, its not the real real mac os x.

 

[Cooknn]

there seems to be very little talk of running productive apps...

The Hackintosh community does it for the fun of it, IMHO. Not to be productive. There are no video drivers that work the way they should and all sorts of other issues as well

 

[topgunn]

I, a law abiding Mac user, have benefited from the OSX86 project. I had a problem with my iMac and sound still coming from the internal speakers when I had headphones plugged in. I found a driver I could use that would "fix" the problem on their site. It fixed it by rerouting ALL sound through the headphone jack but that fit my needs perfectly.

I don't think they are costing Apple any money. The people who are using cracked versions of OS X would never have supported Apple anyway. On the flip side, there are numerous users over there who have since gone out and bought low-end macs because they got hooked and wanted a computer that actually worked like it was supposed to. OSX86 will remain a fringe operation. It will not become easy enough or have enough features that work to actually get Joe Blow to install it on his Gateway.

 

[Glen Quagmire]

The OSX/86 project was one of the reasons why I started thinking about buying a Mac back at the end of last year. That, and the switch to Intel. I did try it out - briefly - but never got anywhere with it. I saw enough to see that OS X looked like a good enough OS and something that would be a decent alternative to Windows (unlike Linux, which I've tried many a time - Slackware, Caldera (years ago), Gentoo, Mandrake, etc, etc and always end up uninstalling).

In January this year, I bought a Mac mini, which has been great - and very reliable (no kernel panics). Two days ago, I ordered a top-of-the-range Mac Pro with plenty of trimmings. When I buy a laptop in future, it will be an Apple. Unless Apple screw up royally or go bust, I doubt if I'll buy another PC again. I prefer OS X to Windows and the hardware looks better, is properly integrated and is (in theory) higher quality.

So, yes, I'd say it adds value, though it depends on who you ask. Some people are dead set against the Mac and OS X, whatever happens. Some, like me, are more open minded and willing to take the risk.

 

[progx]

there's a potential benefit, but it'll never happen...building your own Mac OS X machine. think about it, you're own AMD Opteron 64 tower, running a high end ATI Radeon X1K Graphics...that's power of choice to the user!

other than that, nothing more really. i mean Apple's prices on these new "Macs" don't justify the cost as the old PowerPC machines. prices have to drop before Apple hardware will be in my sights again.

 

[Xeem]

I don't think there is any benefit or harm in a select few running OS X on PCs. I'll admit that I've been tempted by the prospect of building my own Mac, but my iBook has held me over so far.

 

[Lollypop]

So, yes, I'd say it adds value, though it depends on who you ask. Some people are dead set against the Mac and OS X, whatever happens. Some, like me, are more open minded and willing to take the risk.

Thats very true, its amazing how inflexible certain people can be, ive seen at my company, people had to get forces to use a mac before anyone cared or sat up and payed attention, I was trying to get people to pay attention, even use a mac, but it took someone to force them before they even tried.

prices have to drop before Apple hardware will be in my sights again.

Agreed, the advantage of the 0sX->86 project is that it gives users a cheaper intro to the mac, but if apple doesnt decrease their prices or give a little more incentive, most people will just go back to the cheapo dell they had.