Hackintosh community dying?

[q64ceo]

I first started in the Hackintosh community in late 2007. I did this out of spite against Apple for their switch from PPC to Intel (I had a PPC eMac for one month then Jobs made the announcement switch.) When I first started, one of the more popular websites had an average of 4000 users on at any time. Leopard was an instant hit with the Hackintosh community and everyone was flocking to get their hands on it.

So, what happened? That website that I was talking about is down to maybe 500 average users every half an hour. The other Hackintosh websites have seen declines, too. PCWiz, who is known for most his famous Magnifique themeing program, was originally a Hackintosh god, and he left the scene in 2008.

So, I ask you, why do you think the Hackintosh community is dying?

 

[bruinsrme]

I stopped investing time into it when Windows 7 was officially released

 

[Hellhammer]

What sites were you looking at? InsanelyMac and Tonyx86 are quite popular I think. I doubt it is dying but there are more sites and ways to do it and maybe "the regulars" are bored of answering the same questions day after day.

 

[(marc)]

I think the sites were flooded by noobs and then the smart people started leaving. Or maybe they bought Macs and moved on to more interesting things. I once had a hackintosh but eventually got sick of all the little problems that kept me from working.

 

[maflynn]

There's always a spike in posting and people looking for help in those forums when new motherboards were introduced.

We're not really seeing new 1366 socket motherboards right now, so there are steps needed for the existing mobotherboard/chipsets have already been developed.

I for one found the insanelymac community very help in creating my hackintosh. I don't think the community is dying when apple is charging 2500 for a quad core mac pro and you can build a quad core i7 for under a grand.

 

[jcsingle21]

@q64ceo

Off topic, but can you let me know how/if you enabled onboard network card on the 537s? Running 10.6.6

 

[maflynn]

What sites were you looking at? InsanelyMac and Tonyx86 are quite popular I think. I doubt it is dying but there are more sites and ways to do it and maybe "the regulars" are bored of answering the same questions day after day.

After revisting this thread and rethinking my position, my opinion has changed a bit.
For me, creating a hackintosh was something I wanted to try. I prefer OSX over windows but win7 has a lot going for it. I think windows people who wanted OSX but were unwilling or unable to pay the apple-tax, jump on the idea. They cooled to the prospect of dealing with the issues inherent with creating/maintaining a hackintosh and went back to windows.

Then there's people like me who tried it and now moved on. I'm not really active in insanelymac, I still use my hackintosh but I'll not do it again. I prefer using OSX on apple hardware just because there's less hassle.


All in all, I think there will always be a segment of people wanting to create a hackintosh, but if apple moves to the ipadification of OSX as some people worry, this may have a negative impact on the hackintosh community. That is less people wanting to use OSX.

When Tiger comes out later this year, we'll certainly see a spike in activity but I think that spike will be less then what we've seen with 10.5 and 10.6. I'm pretty much set with my hackintosh and have little desire to undertake the process of upgrading it to 10.7

 

[Mousse]

When Lion comes out later this year, we'll certainly see a spike in activity but I think that spike will be less then what we've seen with 10.5 and 10.6.

Fixed that for you.

I'm probably gonna go Hackintosh with 10.7. I've been interested for a while, but all my decision making has been glacial. I've been contemplating a new car purchase for the past 5 years. Procrastination, thy name be Mousse.

 

[maflynn]

My only recommendation is to give it time. You don't want to be on the bleeding edge when it comes time to install 10.7

If you haven't built a system yet for OSX, hold off until you see which motherboard is the most compatible/easiest to install OSX.