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Mac OSx for non mac systems

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I know there mods that can be done to install the mac os on non mac hardware but I was wondering. Will apple ever release the mac OS for non mac hardware.

there are some good programs for the mac OS but not enough to actually make me buy mac hardware (price point is too high and I like building my own systems)

If they could release the OS for non mac hardware, it would be great because when microsoft drops support for windows XP, It would be great to tri boot the mac OS and ubuntu, and windows 7 (since it should be supported for a while) then use a more modern version of windows purely for any dx11+ games that will come out.

(given microsofts track record, they like making windows more and more bloated and implementing feature from other OS in a inefficient and bloated way which further reduces performance)

This way I can avoid having windows 7 or windows 8 as my main os but still have a new windows OS for the select few games that I may run.

cGAn5.jpg

possible windows 8 box art
 
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I don't see that happening, at least not while Steve Jobs is still alive.

Just an FYI, while you didn't broach the subject, discussions of "Hackintosh" or other methods of running the Mac OS on non-Apple machines is prohibited here.
 
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That sucks. I really wanted them to come out with a version of the OS for non mac hardware in the future. If they want to get a huge market share, it would work, announce a version of the OS for non mac systems the day microsoft drops support for windows xp. most people who don't want to upgrade to the new more annoying windows will switch to either the mac os or linux
 
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Why? Buy a Mac simple!
 
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To be fair to the OP, he asks a question that is 'doing the rounds'. Why not make the MacOS available for build-your-own hardware systems? I think most of us know the answer to that, and it's called 'proprietary possessiveness'. [say that quickly 10x!]

Let me say right away, doing so is not for me, I'll stick with Apple hardware because of its reliability. But R512 is right, Apple products are high-priced (though much-improved on past years when they were in the exorbitant bracket). I agree - releasing the MacOS to the open hardware market might expand Apple's sales enormously.

How they might protect the OS from pirating - a problem rife in the Win community - is another matter.
 

bobtomay

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While there are a lot of us that would like to be building our own boxes (I am definitely in that crowd) to install OSX, there is no way that OSX will ever come out with an OS compatible with the last 8 years worth of hardware that's been designed around Windows.

Why would any hardware manufacturer go back to hardware they sold 5-8 years ago and come up with drivers for a new OS with not a penny of revenue to do so. It's been an uphill battle to get most of the manufacturers to make drivers available for their current hardware.

There is no foreseeable future where Apple will be looking backward.

Just because MS drops support for XP, doesn't mean users are going to quit using it. I still see members browsing this forum from their Win 98 boxes.

Will say, if OSX was to come out in a version that I could pick all my own hardware, I'd start picking today.
 
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If they want to get a huge market share,

There's the assumption. Do they want to garner huge market share? According to Jobs, no.

Why? Good question. Apple is busy building it's Mac market off the sales of iPods, iPhones, iPads and the "coolness" factor. The Macs US market share has doubled since the release of the iPod (same internationally) and they are making a killing off of those products. Why try to dominate an already dominated field when one can chip away at the leader while not looking as if you're not trying to? In the mean time dominate other markets, push innovation and tie your other products closer together, sell the "whole experience" as it were. People will buy the idea and money will pour in.
 
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They couldn't just restrict it to a few select chipsets, then let the hardware companies for other devices worry about the drivers?

It is generally hard to switch hardware especially if you currently have a decent system. They don't have to support everything, just a few chipsets eg the intel x58 series and the AMD 800 series chipset
 
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This way I can avoid having windows 7 or windows 8 as my main os but still have a new windows OS for the select few games that I may run.

You can already do this. Buy a Mac and install Windows via Bootcamp or multiple OSes via VMware Fusion or Parallels.
 
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That is very well said.
If OS X or a version of it was allowed on Non-Apple machines, then Apple,s desktop/notebook sales would plummet. And Apple might even be forced to become like MS. Where they have to forgo their hardware sales and just focus on high priced software with huge margins just to stay competitive.

And would all the extra software sales make up for the lack of hardware sales? I do not know. My guess is probably not. And also the ipod/iphone halo effect might be greatly diminished. And also there's the having to configure OS X for a million different chipsets and computers and not the few they do today.

And that is something I'd never wish to see Apple becoming.
 
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Apple went this way prior to Mac OS X with other manufacturers using Apple designed hardware from 1995 to 1998, called clones and it was a catastrophe. Boy were there some manufacturers who wanted to do this. here is a list:-

http://www.everymac.com/systems/by_manufacturer/index-mac-clones.html

That is the difference between Apple and Microsoft. Apple makes computers and operating systems for those, and those only computers.

Microsoft makes software for all makes of computers, with security becoming the lowest common denominator alas hence all the virus problems etc.
 
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If they want to get a huge market share...
I remember reading that Steve Jobs isn't as concerned about getting the biggest market share but rather he wants to make the best product for Apple owners. In order to do that Apple needs tight control over their products by making it themselves which is the good and bad aspect of Apple. A lot of Apple products work very well together without all the driver issues and other hassles when you try to do the same on Windows machines but it does make a rather closed ecosystem. Part of the reason why Apple products work so well is that their hardware is designed with their OS in mind and vice versa for their OS unlike Microsoft who has to make their OS work on all different kinds of hardware.

It's definitely not a perfect system and I've had my disagreements with Jobs' philosophy on some products but overall it does make a more stress free experience for users because Apple knows how to solve the problems in the ecosystem interactions because they make both the hardware and software that are used together in this environment.

An example of this is my iPod Touch syncs perfectly with all my iCal calendars and all my Safari bookmarks are automatically synced along with everything in my iTunes such as podcasts, music playlists, etc. The first time I connected my Touch it was painlessly done for me without me having to do much work. Sure this is also possible with other devices but they usually aren't as efficient in doing so and usually you have to take extra steps to do so. Anyone who has tried to sync other smart phones, PDAs, etc with their Macs will know what I'm talking about and even when done only on Windows machines.

If OS X or a version of it was allowed on Non-Apple machines, then Apple,s desktop/notebook sales would plummet. And Apple might even be forced to become like MS. Where they have to forgo their hardware sales and just focus on high priced software with huge margins just to stay competitive.
I was going to say something similar. I believe most of Apple's profit comes from selling their hardware while Microsoft I believe makes most of its money from software. The OS is more of a selling point for people to buy Apple hardware rather than Apple's main business. Apple doesn't charge that much for their OS in comparison to Microsoft. They can do this because the OS is not their biggest money maker. They practically gave away Snow Leopard with a $29 upgrade price.

There is too much for Apple to lose if they opened up their OS to other hardware manufacturers so I don't think it will ever happen...especially as long as Steve Jobs is there.
 
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$2000 for computer & OS vs. $30 for OS.

And this is a big oversight in the arguement of OS X is only $30 while Windows starts off at around $200.

Well, MS doesn't build machines to subsidize the price into.

If Apple were to release their OS for other hardware, you could be sure that you'd be paying a lot more than $30 for it.
 
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$2000 for computer & OS vs. $30 for OS.

And this is a big oversight in the arguement of OS X is only $30 while Windows starts off at around $200.

Well, MS doesn't build machines to subsidize the price into.

If Apple were to release their OS for other hardware, you could be sure that you'd be paying a lot more than $30 for it.

I think your quoting the price for an upgrade. The more appropriate price is probably the 169 for the snow leopard and iworks package... I mean who really uses Iworks for anything, its the first thing I delete after an install..
 
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I think your quoting the price for an upgrade. The more appropriate price is probably the 169 for the snow leopard and iworks package... I mean who really uses Iworks for anything, its the first thing I delete after an install..

Me for one. Pages is a brilliant app for letter writing. And keynote is just as good as powerpoint for me. Never really used numbers though.
 
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I think your quoting the price for an upgrade. The more appropriate price is probably the 169 for the snow leopard and iworks package... I mean who really uses Iworks for anything, its the first thing I delete after an install..

Actually OS X is only sold as an upgrade, you can't buy the full software technically. So yes, $30.00 was the price for Snow Leopard.

If you want to quote the $169 package of Snow Leopard and iWork, you'd have to compare that to a Windows 7 upgrade (which of the 20 versions???) and MS Office (which I'll even quote as an upgrade price while iWork was a full version, not upgrade) so I'll still say $169 vs $350 ($200 Windows upgrade and $150 Office upgrade) is a good deal.
 
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Let's get some perspective into the pricing of OS X. Yes, Snow Leopard is only offered as an upgrade, either for $29 or $169. However, for every previous version, Apple sold OS X for $129. Still cheaper than Windows.
 
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And iWorks doesn't compare to Office. Especially with the customization that can be done in Office with programs like Access.
 
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And iWorks doesn't compare to Office. Especially with the customization that can be done in Office with programs like Access.

I would say for the average users, the features used in Office are almost identical to what iWork offers. Only power users will miss anything in iWork and that's not a large part of the Office market.
 
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That is quite true. Most people just need a word processor that can let them edit some fonts and they're set. Also, it can be argued that Keynote is superior to Powerpoint
 

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