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Would you use a hackintosh in business?

I faced this decision and decided to stick with the MP. Yes, it was more money up front, but I eventually analyzed that any downtime (small or not) would be a real kick in the nuts for a small business owner. I won't want frustrations of any sort, let alone those that come from trying to cut corners.

If you're moving into an office, I would chalk up the extra expense over a few years worth of business.

I'm sure you'll make enough to pay for the difference.

Ironically, a few months after I made that choice, I had to install Windows 7 on another Mac Pro and every headache I thought about, started to happen.
driver outdated, needed to update, reboot, asked for permission for every click I made (have since turned that on), oh and let's not forget the near $200 license for win7. I was so happy I stayed with the Mac side of things. Of course, this is isn't to say your attempt wouldn't be clean and easy.

Best of luck,
Keebler
 
Keebler said:
I faced this decision and decided to stick with the MP. Yes, it was more money up front, but I eventually analyzed that any downtime (small or not) would be a real kick in the nuts for a small business owner. I won't want frustrations of any sort, let alone those that come from trying to cut corners.

If you're moving into an office, I would chalk up the extra expense over a few years worth of business.

I'm sure you'll make enough to pay for the difference.

Ironically, a few months after I made that choice, I had to install Windows 7 on another Mac Pro and every headache I thought about, started to happen.
driver outdated, needed to update, reboot, asked for permission for every click I made (have since turned that on), oh and let's not forget the near $200 license for win7. I was so happy I stayed with the Mac side of things. Of course, this is isn't to say your attempt wouldn't be clean and easy.

Best of luck,
Keebler
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Thanks for the replies and I completely see where you're coming from. We have been doing some maths and we 'should' be able to buy a brand new 2.3GHz Mac Mini within a month (maybe 2 if things were difficult). However, I am just a bit concerned with the difference in spec between a 2.3GHz Mini and a 3.3GHz Quad Core hackintosh for a similar price.

I've also just spoken to my friend and he's bought the hardware already (his problem I know but I kinda feel impelled to reimburse him now). So, how difficult would it be to sell £'s worth of PC parts without the likes of an ebay account?
 
I'm not a huge fan of using a laptop at a desk to be honest however it is something I'm currently considering.

I'm getting more tempted by the idea of having a mini now. My brother is at uni and can get the 2.3GHz for £476 and is allowed upto 2 apparently so that'd be perfect (would've liked the slightly faster model but can't justify it).

If I got a real mac, I could also look at getting a couple of 2nd hand 24" Cinema Displays (one for each system) instead of the 23" LG LED screens I've currently got.
 
velocityg4 said:
To all those saying that making a hackintosh is illegal and a copyright violation. I would consider that a false assumption. Apple's EULA has not yet been contested in court yet for a decision to be reached.
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In your defense of copyright infringement, you do get a few things wrong.

The reason why EULAs are not usually contested in court is that it is the EULA that gives you the right to do _any_ copying at all. If you managed to get a EULA declared invalid, you would automatically lose all rights to use the software.

The restrictions to the rights of the copyright holder that you claim don't apply. If the copyright holder of an OS tried to limit your right to run software on the OS, they would be limiting the right to copy software that isn't theirs - and they have no right to do that. But Apple has the right to limit the copying of _their_ software. If Apple tried to disallow running Windows on a Mac, that would be trying to limit copying Microsoft's software; Apple can't do that. But they can quite clearly limit copying their own software.

Modifying software for interoperability is only allowed if you have the right to run the software in the first place. Which in the case of MacOS X on a Hackintosh you don't. And Apple vs. Psystar has quite clearly established that anyone who manages to make MacOS X run on a non-Apple computer falls under the DMCA, and there is absolutely no way around this. And since you can't buy a copy of MacOS X that comes with a license allowing to install it on a Hackintosh, any such copy _is_ pirated.
 
gnasher729 said:
Psystar has quite clearly established that anyone who manages to make MacOS X run on a non-Apple computer falls under the DMCA, and there is absolutely no way around this.
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Just to note that the OP is not in the US and thus the DMCA does not directly apply. YMMV, IANAL and all that.

I wouldn't use a hackintosh for work, or even a real Mac bought with a student discount, or any academic licenses software. There's just too much risk. While I have not seen it first hand, I've heard enough horror stories about BSA "audits" on companies from my friends in IT.

B
 
balamw said:
Just to note that the OP is not in the US and thus the DMCA does not directly apply. YMMV, IANAL and all that.

I wouldn't use a hackintosh for work, or even a real Mac bought with a student discount, or any academic licenses software. There's just too much risk. While I have not seen it first hand, I've heard enough horror stories about BSA "audits" on companies from my friends in IT.

B
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What about Adobe student software though that permits in the license that it can be used for commercial purposes?

Quote from: http://www.adobe.com/education/students/studentteacheredition/faq.html

Can I use my Adobe Student and Teacher Edition software for commercial use?

Yes. You may purchase a Student and Teacher Edition for personal as well as commercial use.
 
:apple:Go with the hackintosh! Save some money and by a ipad2 to go along with it. I would have your friend install snow leopard on there instead of lion... Then you don't have to worry about updates...:apple:

OP already has mac hardware... If your so paranoid just say you did the work on the old pro....
 
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balamw said:
I wouldn't use a hackintosh for work, or even a real Mac bought with a student discount, or any academic licenses software. There's just too much risk. While I have not seen it first hand, I've heard enough horror stories about BSA "audits" on companies from my friends in IT.
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I don't see anything on Apple's website preventing student purchases being used for commercial purposes, and I haven't heard of any college freelancers getting sued for using Macs purchased with student discounts.

software is a case-by-case thing, though generally it's not allowed for commercial use.


webcity said:
I'm not a huge fan of using a laptop at a desk to be honest however it is something I'm currently considering.

I'm getting more tempted by the idea of having a mini now. My brother is at uni and can get the 2.3GHz for £476 and is allowed upto 2 apparently so that'd be perfect (would've liked the slightly faster model but can't justify it).

If I got a real mac, I could also look at getting a couple of 2nd hand 24" Cinema Displays (one for each system) instead of the 23" LG LED screens I've currently got.
Click to expand...

I think you need to tell us what exactly the computer is for.

the latest notebooks are powerful enough to be used as desktops, and you already have it, so why not seriously consider using it as one, at least temporarily? unless your MBP is relatively old, a Mini won't be much faster.

if money is such an issue, why look at 24" ACDs when there's a glut of high-quality 23-24" (1920x1200/1080) monitors that sell new for less than a refurb 24" ACD?
 
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toxic said:
I think you need to tell us what exactly the computer is for.

the latest notebooks are powerful enough to be used as desktops, and you already have it, so why not seriously consider using it as one, at least temporarily?

if money is such an issue, why look at 24" ACDs when there's a glut of high-quality 23-24" (1920x1200/1080) monitors that sell new for less than a refurb 24" ACD?
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The computer will be for day to day running of the business (although customer records, etc, will be stored on a FreeNAS server).

The Macbook Pro I have has just reached 3 years old.

Can you recommend any decent 24" 1920x1200 monitors?
 
webcity said:
What about Adobe student software though that permits in the license that it can be used for commercial purposes?
Click to expand...

toxic said:
I don't see anything on Apple's website preventing student purchases being used for commercial purposes, and I haven't heard of any college freelancers getting sued for using Macs purchased with student discounts.

software is a case-by-case thing, though generally it's not allowed for commercial use.
Click to expand...

Again, this is where YMMV. As I said, I would not do that myself, but as far as licenses go you need to decide for yourself.

I am just not comfortable with licenses bought under student/academic auspices for use in a commercial environment.

The costs of the hardware and software required for doing the job need to be baked into the business model. If you can't afford the tools, you're probably in the wrong business.

This is just my humble opinion, YMMV, IANAL, etc...

B
 
I have a 'Hackintosh' netbook that I converted to OS-X shortly before the iPad came out. This was strictly a software change, no hardware changes. And I bought the netbook that was billed as one of the most 'compatible' for installing OS-X.

I was totally underwhelmed by the experience. Admittedly, this was a $350 netbook, but it was a piece of crap hardware. To say that it 'felt cheap' is a huge understatement. It was pretty slow, the keyboard was bad, the trackpad was almost unusable, and the screen was mediocre. Also, while the custom graphics drivers worked OK, the custom wireless drivers never really worked reliably.

So, personally, I have been turned off by the idea of a Hackintosh.

OTOH, if you have 'lete' skills, you probably can get one working and keep it working. Just be very careful with any software updates.
 
I think hackintoshes are great! But as long as you know what you are doing!
Now that I think about it, OP is not building the machine and is relying on a friend.... In this case unless OP can figure out how to do the updates himself then don't go into something you have no understanding about.... Hackintoshes gives us ways to customize are OSX experience do upgrades we want to.... Apple has been pushing us to this point... soldering memory to the MB, any mods you do to your mac voids the warranty.... It is getting old...
 
Would I use a Hackintosh in business?

No. Just No. I wouldn't use one anyway (I need 100% reliability. And no hackintosh is truly stable), but I certainly wouldn't use it for production use.

It should also be noted that EULAs are technically enforceable under UK Law, and you are technically breaking the law by making a hackintosh, however I don't think that any judge would ever in their right mind consider doing anything to you for 1 single hackintosh. (I certainly know that unless Apple filed a suit, the CPS sure as heck won't do anything as its not in the public interest).

If you do go with a hackintosh you also lose any recourse if it all goes wrong. If a Mac goes wrong, you can call up apple, complain and if it goes wrong repeatedly in the same way they send you another one. You also get less support from software vendors, as they don't have to support your hacked together box. This means that should a device inside/card you've added to your hackintosh cause some key business software to stop working, you may never find the problem, as no Mac Software developer is going to do any more hardware testing than "Does it run fine on Apples Macs? Yes, OK thats that done", they certainly won't check for as many device conflicts as the PC version will undergo. I've certainly had instances where certain graphical software stops working on a legitimate Mac because it had a particular brand of Audio interface installed. Now, this is not something that they test for, and these things happen, if your on a supported Mac their more likely to help you than if when they ask for the model you go "Oh its a PC I built myself and hacked OS X onto".

Just my 2¢.
 
I built one a year ago just for the fun of it, and enjoyed the project quite a bit.

That said, I do have a friend that uses one in his business and it's been just fine.
 
Check out tonymacx86.com for information on hackintoshes. I use an i5 Quad system I built for work purposes. I have a purchased retail copy of Snow Leopard I used to install, and for stability reasons I have no desire to upgrade to 10.7. Perhaps one day Apple will actually attempt to meet the demand of people seeking "mid-tower" systems.

Wow, many of the posts citing non-stop problems obviously have not made a "vanilla" hackintosh system. The best hackintoshes mimic oem hardware chipsets. Sure there is potential for problems, but not so much after you get the system fully updated and all hardware working (i.e. sound, ethernet usually doesn't work until you install the kexts for them). I suggest you make a 10.6 system if you decide to go this route, since it's more stable, fully compatible with your CS5, and you will not have to worry about all the incremental updates that Lion will receive.
 
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Thanks for the suggestions. I've actually been playing around with Lion today and not so keen on it.

I have built a previous Hackintosh which ran Snow Leopard so that wouldn't be too bad an idea.

Someone suggested I go for a used iMac instead but I still don't know what to think.
 
What is the computer going to be used for? I know you say the day to day running of the business, but what does that entail?
I have recently purchased the base model Mac Mini.It seems plenty fast enough to me ( I have upgraded to 8GB of RAM).
I only use it for personal use, but I use Photoshop,rip DVDs and convert video formats,use Word and Excel.The only time I see the spinning wheel, and only briefly in the grand scheme of things is when opening the Mac App Store. Of course, if I were to be playing games I might want a faster processor and a better GPU, but I don't .
 
For Apples EULA i go with the German company Pear C
Article from 2009 and so far they still build hackintoshs legally in Germany

According to Ars Technica, the PearC (Apples, pears, geddit?) actually packs some pretty impressive specs. Starting at €499, the company offers a starter PearC with a variety of dual-cores, either a GeForce 7200GS or 8400GS and up to 750 GB HDD. The Advanced model comes with a Core 2 Quad processor, a Blu-ray burner and a GeForce 8400GS, 9800GT, or 9800GTX. Lastly, the Professional model packs a Core i7 processor, 1TB of storage as standard, and up to 12GB of RAM. All come with the option to install Mac OS X.

With Psystar still busy defending itself against Apple (a year of legal costs sort of starts to add up), you’d think other aspiring clone makers would wait to see how things pan out before putting their own wares on the market. Apparently not. TUAW reports that PearC's parent company, Hypermeganet, says there’s no legal way to review the Mac OS X End User License Agreement (EULA). We passed the original article onto a member of our German team and he said the company’s main argument is that since you can’t read the EULA before purchase, it’s not valid.

While the law no doubt only stands in Germany and Apple will almost certainly file suit anyway, we’re still really interested in seeing how this develops.

And their Hackintoshes work without any problems , you install from the original OSX disc no modifications needed and still no chance at court for Apple to win in Germany as everyone can only read the EULA after purchasing the Snow Leopard disc making the EULA invalid in Germany and all the other EU countries

they got bought by a company called F.A.U.S.T in 2011 ,who want to invest further into PearC to become second after Apple in therms of marketshare (thats no problem and they dont fit cheap parts inside only the best is good enough )and want to overtake Apple in terms of Quality and Service (not hard they offer as standard 2 years warranty on all components without extra cost) and they produce in Germany not in China and still beat Apple in price
https://www.pearc.de/
 
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saldawop said:
What is the computer going to be used for? I know you say the day to day running of the business, but what does that entail?
I have recently purchased the base model Mac Mini.It seems plenty fast enough to me ( I have upgraded to 8GB of RAM).
I only use it for personal use, but I use Photoshop,rip DVDs and convert video formats,use Word and Excel.The only time I see the spinning wheel, and only briefly in the grand scheme of things is when opening the Mac App Store. Of course, if I were to be playing games I might want a faster processor and a better GPU, but I don't .
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The computer will be used for finances, offering live support, letter heads, etc as well as some basic photoshop, lots of website design/development, etc.

Thinking more and more I'd like to get iMacs, but the main issue would be adding an ssd. I'd die if I got dust behind the screen.
 
webcity said:
The computer will be used for finances, offering live support, letter heads, etc as well as some basic photoshop, lots of website design/development, etc.

Thinking more and more I'd like to get iMacs, but the main issue would be adding an ssd. I'd die if I got dust behind the screen.
Click to expand...

the dust is unavoidable , but you can clean the glass easy , more difficult are the smudges as they are inside the panel itself , but after a couple times taking the whole lcd panel apart you will find a solution ...a bit tape for under 1$ solves it ;)
 
MacHamster68 said:
the dust is unavoidable , but you can clean the glass easy , more difficult are the smudges as they are inside the panel itself , but after a couple times taking the whole lcd panel apart you will find a solution ...a bit tape for under 1$ solves it ;)
Click to expand...

See, the thing is, that bit of dust would drive me bonkers and I couldn't put up with it.
 
webcity said:
See, the thing is, that bit of dust would drive me bonkers and I couldn't put up with it.
Click to expand...

well welcome in the future glass panels in front of the display and high gloss displays are the future and most here on the forum love them , despite the dust and smudges
 
I wouldn't recommend using a Hackintosh for business. You need reliability and time is money. You invest time in system support that you could be investing in your real business. To that end, you quickly get a diminishing return on your savings. The iMac isn't that expensive and neither is the mini.

If you have a larger business, the support issue is simply compounded.

As to Apple's enforcement of the EULA - it seems very unlikely that they are going to go after the home hobbiest. For that matter, they probably are equally unconcerned about one and two-person operations. Larger businesses should try to be legal in all regards. As mentioned before, why would you want the hassle?

Where Apple is concerned is a company like Psystar who went out and directly competed with Apple using Apple's OS. There is no way Apple could let that stand. Psystar bought copies of OSX, in an effort to be legit, but then they went and loaded it on non-Apple hardware and sold it. A clear, corporate, for-profit violation of the EULA on a large scale. Apple had to respond and they did.
 
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