Maybe old news but...

Maxxuss is back..

And apparently fighting internet style. He now has multiple mirrors of the OS X 10.4.4 cracks that allow OS X to run on SSE2 capable PCs. He is also apparently about done with the 10.4.5 cracks :

http://maxxuss.theblog.cc/

Looks to me like all Apple accomplished by shutting his site down was **** the guy off. Cat's already out of the bag, if they would just stop screwing around trying to break his x86 patches people would probably just buy OS X off the shelf (instead of risking spyware/virusware being downloaded with the OS off of BitTorrent).

Also someone got x86 linux running on an iMac :

http://www.osxbook.com/book/bonus/misc/knoppix/

lonerider said:

people would probably just buy OS X off the shelf (instead of risking spyware/virusware being downloaded with the OS off of BitTorrent).

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Yeah, just like selling boxed copies of Windows keeps people from pirating that OS.

I know maxxuss, He is grabberslasher on OSBA.

lonerider said:

Looks to me like all Apple accomplished by shutting his site down was **** the guy off. Cat's already out of the bag, if they would just stop screwing around trying to break his x86 patches people would probably just buy OS X off the shelf (instead of risking spyware/virusware being downloaded with the OS off of BitTorrent).

Click to expand...

Considering (based on hardware specs posted on the OSX86project website) you can build a box for around $500 to run the hacked version of OSX86 that rivals current powermac performance, I think Apple isn't going to make it easy. They have to much invested in their hardware.

It is annoying that OSX gets to run on windows before windows gets to run on Macs. But it was an inevitability that this would happen as soon as the processor problems where out of the way.

I think this is fantastic. My opinion is it is Apple's own fault more people don't use their OS because they decided to be a hardware manufacturer, and not allow their OS to be distributed to the masses. If something like this picks up it would actually cause thousands of people to make "the switch". More people using the OS leads to better programs as more people get involved because they now use it. I have a 2.8ghz intel that I may replace with a new one, and use it for an OSx86 box.

techster82 said:

I think this is fantastic. My opinion is it is Apple's own fault more people don't use their OS because they decided to be a hardware manufacturer, and not allow their OS to be distributed to the masses. If something like this picks up it would actually cause thousands of people to make "the switch". More people using the OS leads to better programs as more people get involved because they now use it. I have a 2.8ghz intel that I may replace with a new one, and use it for an OSx86 box.

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Yeah, but I'm sure OS X will lose much of it's stability if it starts supporting all x86 hardware. Aside from poor programming, I think that's one of the major reasons Windows is so unstable...too much stuff to support, too many ways to get criss-crossed in the system. Running on new hardware with a good initial installation and faithful maintenance, Windows XP can be fairly stable, but I've been running my old G4 Cube for nearly two months now with nary a hiccup and I don't do anything to take care of it. It just works. I like that about OS X

kaidomac said:

Yeah, but I'm sure OS X will lose much of it's stability if it starts supporting all x86 hardware. Aside from poor programming, I think that's one of the major reasons Windows is so unstable...too much stuff to support, too many ways to get criss-crossed in the system. Running on new hardware with a good initial installation and faithful maintenance, Windows XP can be fairly stable, but I've been running my old G4 Cube for nearly two months now with nary a hiccup and I don't do anything to take care of it. It just works. I like that about OS X

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Yeah, but Apple could just actively stop trying to block the installs and just let everyone know that if they don't install OSX on Apple hardware, they are on their own, so don't expect drivers or tech support. The current hacker community provides enough support for those geeky enough to do the install. For most people, the amount of tweaking and hacking required will be too much of a pain and they'll give up and either reinstall windows or buy Apple hardware.

Mr Bobbins said:

It is annoying that OSX gets to run on windows before windows gets to run on Macs.

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The OSX project guys where posting about this-- they think tha t the prize offered ($12000) to run windows on a new mac has slowed things down because the hackers aren't sharing information freely. Everyone wants the prize and wants to make sure they don't provide the boost someone else needs to win it.

who is offereing the prize?

PowerBookG4 said:

who is offereing the prize?

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http://windowsxp.onmac.net/The Contest.html

Edit to fix the $&#^% link.

Yeah, the non-sharing of information has been a big obstacle for the guys trying to get Windows running on the macs. Generally, IRC channels and forums are flooded with info about stuff like this. What works for some, and what didn't. Since the prize is so high, guys are being very secretive about their work and not sharing their findings.

As far as the comment someone made about OSX running on x86, if Apple can't make it safe for hackers on that platform then they are going to have trouble down the road. I don't see how they would have to support much more with a true x86 version than what they have to do now. If anything I think it would put OSX to the test with such a large customer base now available to them. Personally, the only reason I haven't tried Apple before now is that I was not willing to pay their "premium" for "non premium" hardware.

techster82 said:

Yeah, the non-sharing of information has been a big obstacle for the guys trying to get Windows running on the macs. Generally, IRC channels and forums are flooded with info about stuff like this. What works for some, and what didn't. Since the prize is so high, guys are being very secretive about their work and not sharing their findings.

Click to expand...

Seems somewhat counter-productive if you ask me... I'd think it would be smarter for a company to put it's programmers on this and then sell it as a product... As long as it is just a BIOS change and partitioning package that would allow them to avoid any copyright infringment... right?

It just seems like there would be alot more money to be made by turning into a true product so a team of programmers could stop being so secretive amongst themselves and scrounging over a measly 12Gs.

I wish I was smart enough to try.. I don't even know where to begin

I always hear this whining about how using OS X on hardware other than that produced by Apple will be unstable or unreliable...that is such fanboy FUD. There is no proof of this idea. Why would it have to be so unstable? I happen think it could be at least as stable as most linux distros (which are quite stable if you ask me). I think Apple is idiotic not to consider it...heck all they'd have to do is be just a bit more stable than windows...which shouldn't be that big of a deal anyway.

mcsenerd said:

I always hear this whining about how using OS X on hardware other than that produced by Apple will be unstable or unreliable...that is such fanboy FUD. There is no proof of this idea. Why would it have to be so unstable? I happen think it could be at least as stable as most linux distros (which are quite stable if you ask me). I think Apple is idiotic not to consider it...heck all they'd have to do is be just a bit more stable than windows...which shouldn't be that big of a deal anyway.

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The truth is, many people are reporting getting OSX86 set up on standard boxes (even dead stock Dells) and that it is a stable as on any Apple hardware. Quite a few people seem to be looking at what other people got working and custom building systems with hardware that they know to work well.

And it certainly is tempting-- spend $500 and have the equivalent of a power mac in a beige box?

And 10.4.5 has now been cracked and prepatched install disks are in the works, like are apparently allready available for 10.4.3 and 10.4.4. Man, it's been what, 6 or 7 days since 10.4.5 was released? Apple ought to just hire these guys and release OSX to the general public .

OSX should not have a problem running on current hardware. Heck, Apple uses standard harddrives, and graphics from the two top companies out there. The biggest negative about Apple is that you have to buy their overpriced equipment to use their OS. It is for this reason that they have a 4.5% market share.

I have been waiting for the day I could build my own mac, just like I build my own PC's. But the great thing about Dell these days is that you can buy a rig from them cheaper than you can build one.(only drawback is no choice of AMD processors) I really hope that this cracked version will explode to the masses and Apple will be forced to distribute their OS seperately. It will only lead to a better OS because it could bring them into direct competition with windows, which in turn would lead to a better Windows OS to compete with OSX. Isn't capitalism grand?

I don't think that apple can compete with windows if they were to release it to the general public.. this is because there is so much hardware out there that apple would take forever to catch up in writing drivers and making sure their systems are stable on that hardware. Although Apple has an amazing operating system it is because they design the hardware it goes on at the same time as designing the software.. If they could build an operating system that would work on other systems aswell, then yes I would probably buy it and build an amazing system to put it on, but I would still want the apple hardware and I would continue to buy that aswell.

And it certainly is tempting-- spend $500 and have the equivalent of a power mac in a beige box?

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Dream on.

I guarantee you that OS X legally available to install on third-party hardware would capture at least %15 of the OS market...and trust me...that'd be enough to force device manufacturers to write drivers for OS X. The device manufacturers are the ones that people should worry about writing drivers...not Apple.