9to5 suggests that installing OS X on an MSI Wind is both legal and easy. Their links to instructions for this machine aren't too clear. If it is legal, seems like a great Xmas gift for the 3 year-old who only knows OS X, but whom we would prefer be on her own machine.
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OS X on MSI Wind. Legal? Really that easy?
- Thread starter netdog
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The 9to5 article says Wi-Fi on the MSI Wind will work with OS X, but the video they link to says you have to replace the Wi-Fi card with a Dell part? 
You don't have to replace the wifi card any longer, some realtek drivers have been released. I picked up my wind and more memory yesterday. While you can do it w/o an external dvd drive, it seems to be a lot easier with one, so I'm going to pick one up today. forums.msiwind.net have the most up to date info, and the process seems pretty straight forward. Look for a post in the mac section that says something 10.5.6 working with no problems, or something along those lines.
Bentov
Bentov
At minimum, you should definitely make sure you own a legitimate license for Mac OS X for any computer that you plan on installing it on - in other words, you will have to buy another copy of Mac OS X for the MSI Wind. Installing Mac OS X onto a non-Apple computer such as the MSI Wind is a violation of the End User License Agreement (EULA). I think that it is very vague as to whether or not the individual user though is actually in violation of the DMCA in any more than a technical way - at best. Really, as long as you are doing this for your own use and aren't out there selling Mac OS X clones (Psystar) then you will be ok. Apple is not going to come after individuals for this, it isn't worth their time. If you are illegally distributing software on BitTorrent, that is another thing. With OS X on your MSI Wind, you are assuming all the risk of the parts not working and the burden of ensuring that future operating system versions and software will work on your configuration. There will be no help from Apple.
The best place to go for help or information on installing OS X on non-Apple hardware is:
http://www.insanelymac.com/
There are forums there that should help you with your installation. Also, you could go to Google and do this search:
Leopard "MSI Wind" site:forum.insanelymac.com
That ought to get you some good answers.
The best place to go for help or information on installing OS X on non-Apple hardware is:
http://www.insanelymac.com/
There are forums there that should help you with your installation. Also, you could go to Google and do this search:
Leopard "MSI Wind" site:forum.insanelymac.com
That ought to get you some good answers.
Easy as pie Took about 1.5 hours only because I couldn't find the right wifi drivers. However then I found a post that said, use these with a link, worked like a charm. I have the updated wind so it has a b/g/n+BT card. So now I have 10.5.4 on it, and I'll update to 10.5.6 over the weekend. I even did a little dance when it booted the first time and they have that little musical interlude If I had to do it again, it would probably only take like 45 min or so. I did keep the xp partition so I can dual boot, but I am thinking that I will just blow it away and go 100% mac.
My main reason was to find the cheapest machine that I could test osx on(but still use if I didn't like it) to decide if I really want to drop like $2k on an iMac, and after using it for just two days, I can say yes. So $429 for the wind, $20 for a 2gb sodimm and I was good to do.
I know that people will say this and that about it, but hey, my money and my time to spend my way. I ask all of you, isn't it better that I run it this way, like it, love it, and eventually buy a real one, then never running it and not buying a real mac? I think so.
Took about 1.5 hours only because I couldn't find the right wifi drivers. However then I found a post that said, use these with a link, worked like a charm. I have the updated wind so it has a b/g/n+BT card. So now I have 10.5.4 on it, and I'll update to 10.5.6 over the weekend. I even did a little dance when it booted the first time and they have that little musical interlude If I had to do it again, it would probably only take like 45 min or so. I did keep the xp partition so I can dual boot, but I am thinking that I will just blow it away and go 100% mac.My main reason was to find the cheapest machine that I could test osx on(but still use if I didn't like it) to decide if I really want to drop like $2k on an iMac, and after using it for just two days, I can say yes. So $429 for the wind, $20 for a 2gb sodimm and I was good to do.
I know that people will say this and that about it, but hey, my money and my time to spend my way. I ask all of you, isn't it better that I run it this way, like it, love it, and eventually buy a real one, then never running it and not buying a real mac? I think so.
OSX netbook compatibility chart (from boingboing)
Apple may not make a netbook but "life will find a way" (Jurassic Park).
Apple may not make a netbook but "life will find a way" (Jurassic Park).
yea, i have a 15" MacBook Pro 2.8 etc., etc., but I'd really like a Dell Mini9 so I could "toss it around" without worry about it falling apart...
and by falling apart I mean damaging a $3000 computer.
and by falling apart I mean damaging a $3000 computer.
I was amazed at how easy it was, to be honest! Picked one up for the wife for chrimbo (advent 4211).
I went the msiwindosx86 route, and it was pretty much the same as a normal osx install, apart from doing the realtek drivers once the actual install is finished.
Still on 10.5.4, as had to sneak it away so it wasn't found, but getting to .6 seems ok, just have to reinstall the graphics kexts after the updates, all the info you need is out there!
Have fun!
I went the msiwindosx86 route, and it was pretty much the same as a normal osx install, apart from doing the realtek drivers once the actual install is finished.
Still on 10.5.4, as had to sneak it away so it wasn't found, but getting to .6 seems ok, just have to reinstall the graphics kexts after the updates, all the info you need is out there!
Have fun!
As said, haven't had much of a go, but seemed a bit faster than my powerbook G4. Mine (the netbook) has a regular sata hd, rather than a lump of flash, and 2gigs of ram.
I doubt they'd compete much with a modern MacBook or anything, but that's not really what they're for. I read people were getting geekbench scores of 900ish.
Wouldn't want to be doing any video stuff, or heavy games (gma950?), but def not sluggish in general use
I doubt they'd compete much with a modern MacBook or anything, but that's not really what they're for. I read people were getting geekbench scores of 900ish.
Wouldn't want to be doing any video stuff, or heavy games (gma950?), but def not sluggish in general use
Who would've thought that a Dell would run OSX like a champ
I've been contemplating getting a MSI Wind, but only once the specs/battery life bump up a bit, I don't mind paying a bit more, just be nice to use it for more than just Safari use...
the performance is really good. it is like having a portable mac mini speed wise
it is faster than every PPC based mac laptop
i did try running a 720p episode of prison break and it couldnt handle that. but i dont think the gma950 has h264 decoding abilities