Mac OSX for a generic PC platform?

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Level 1

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Mac OSX for a generic PC platform?

I am a retired IT guy who fixes PCs for a living. I use a home made AMD based PC and run Windows XP most of the time. I find loads of people with PCs who, like me, are fed up with Windows and want something else. To this end I have tried all the major Linux distros and not found one that would be easy to migrate to from XP, largely because of peripheral hardware compatibility problems.

So my question - is there yet a version of Mac OS that I can run on my PC? I read frequently that Apple Mac is moving towards Intel based platforms but have they gone far enough yet to allow us Windows sufferers to escape without selling our hardware. I sincerely hope that the answer is yes, if not now then maybe next year in order to save us all from Vista.

PC, Other OS, Help!

Posted on Nov 13, 2006 4:49 AM

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Answer 1

Nov 13, 2006 5:00 AM in response to v1rto

Not now, and likely never. Apple makes the considerable majority of it's revenue from hardware sales. They provide a great OS, 'tis true, but that's primarily an investment to drive hardware sales.

I really think Apple has no desire to ever see it's OS available to run on anyone else's hardware but their own.

You do not need the latest and greatest Intel-based Mac however - a good used PowePC G4 or G5 is still a very nice machine, and for many, many applications, the older G4's and G5's offer perfectly repsectable performance.

And, if you are familiar with Linux, you'll find that the open source apps available for Linux can be made right at home in OS X (eg. OpenOffice, the GIMP and so forth).

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Answer 2

Gulliver

Level 7

25,740 points

Nov 13, 2006 5:18 AM in response to v1rto

Hi v1rto,

first of all: WELCOME TO THE DISCUSSIONS!

No, you cannot install MacOS X on a PC. However, with the switch to Intel processors and BootCamp it is possible to partition the hard disk of a Macintosh computer and run MacOS X on one partition and Windows natively(!) on the other - no emulation anymore.

If this answered your question please consider granting some stars: Why reward points?

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Answer 3

v1rto Author

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Nov 13, 2006 5:33 AM in response to Gulliver

Thanks for the replies so far, which are sadly much as I suspected.

I am on an Ebay hunt at the moment for a G4 with Tiger so may soon join the Mac community as a pucca Mac user.

The information on using OpenOffice is also useful. The linux distro that I use most often is Mepis 6 so am familiar with all the open source applications.

As I understand it Mac OSX is based on BSD Linux, is that correct?

I also have to say that this Mac forum is very good, easy to read and not over-complicated. Many good Linux distros are let down by appalling forums.

PC Other OS

PC Other OS

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Answer 4

Gulliver

Level 7

25,740 points

Nov 13, 2006 5:50 AM in response to v1rto

v1rto,

MacOS X is based on FreeBSD.

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Answer 5

Nov 13, 2006 6:04 AM in response to v1rto

If you plan to use open source apps, then you will also find it useful to look into the package managers available for OS X.

IMHO, the best is still FINK ( http://fink.sourceforge.net/ ), but there is also DarwinPorts ( http://darwinports.opendarwin.org/ ) which is now MacPorts ( http://www.macosforge.org/ ).

OpenOffice for OS X - http://porting.openoffice.org/mac/download/index.html
NeoOffice - http://www.neooffice.org/

...lot's of free stuff out there, which will make your move to OS X easier and less costly.

If you buy a machine off of eBay, be sure the seller is including the original machine disc(s) - ie. not just a retail copy of the most recent OS X or an upgrade to OS X. The retail boxed version does NOT include the free iLife applications that ship on an Apple machine's original system restore discs. I just mention this as, unfortunately, many eBay buyers get their machine, and not the original system discs, thus cannot restore iLife apps if they reinstall the OS.

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Answer 6

v1rto Author

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Nov 13, 2006 9:58 AM in response to Michael Black

Thanks again. I will look out for the original disks when I find a reasonable priced G4. A G5 would be better I guess but they don't come cheap it seems.

I am sure Apple could make money out of selling a PC compatible version of OSX to existing PC owners. Most of the PC users I come across only use a browser, a messenger, a mail client and occasionally something else, usually iTunes! But in order to do just this they spend $50 a year to keep the XP viruses and spyware out. The alternative of a one off payment of say $120 for an OSX and no ongoing costs would be a bargain. I would definitely buy it just to see if I liked it. I must have spent that much already on distros like Xandros and other non-free ones already!

PC Other OS

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Answer 7

Nov 13, 2006 10:27 AM in response to v1rto

I guess it's a nice thought, but I don't see it. Retail boxed OS and software made up less then 1% of Apple's revenue in the current fiscal quarter - Mac's were about 58% of revenues (the majority of those being laptops), and iPod's and Music products (including the iTunes store) made up nearly 42%. So, say opening up the OS reduced hardware sales by 10%, then, at $120 per OS copy, Apple would need to sell over 2.3 million retail copies of OS X to make up for the hardware shortfall in revenue (based on Q4 2006 revenues of $4.84 Billion US).

I just can't see that happening. OS X really only exists to keep people buying Macs - the same as every version of the Apple OS before it.

And by tying the OS to the hardware, Apple does produce a better overall product, IMO, with better consistency and fewer issues then many windows platforms (and, just to be clear, I have, and do, own quite a few of both).

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