AMD Mac Anyone?

bpat1434

Hey guys, I just had a lot of fun this morning. I wiped my WinBox of the Win x64 version (better than XP with a 64-bit processor admittedly). I thought: "Gee, what can I do that would push the bounds of my technical knowledge?"

Then it hit me: I've always wanted a mac, and so I read a tutorial online from 360insider.net about running OS X natively on my PC. Well, I did some digging (not a lot) and found out that I have the processor power, and memory to actually run this thing. So I followed the tutorial, got some help from the lovely Ubuntu community as to how to get around an X-Server error (not finding screens... blah). Took about 4 minutes to copy the image to my disk. Rebooted and Voila!! I was running Mac OS X 10.4.1!! Tiger-x86!!

It was interesting. Definately a new experience. It was a little clunky in that apps took a little time to fire, the mouse would stutter here and there, and my networking was borken (don't know the entity to use for the "o" with slash). So I played for a bit, and took a few screenshots. I can say that I did get it up and running, and I have no reason to lie. I definately would love to see Apple release their OS for the regular PC crowd (either Intel strictly, or Intel/AMD) by OS X 11 (whatever they're naming it).

Here are some of my screenshots (TIFF format since that's Mac's default "Grab" format). Saved to my USB FAT32 drive (in case you wondered how I got them back to my Windows box). Here are the originals:
My Mac Shots!! 🙂

I'll convert them to PNG or something soon, and upload....

[ EDIT ]
Okay, so here are a couple (there are 2 others, but I'm not posting here) of my screens. The ones that prove this was on an AMD 64:

~Brett

dream_scape

Yes early developer OS X 10.4 Intel versions that would run natively on PCs were leaked last summer.

That's a very early build of the OS though [the earliest official release of the OS X 10.4 Intel build is 10.4.4 I think] I doubt it will be very stable, and I doubt you'll be able to upgrade it to a more stable version.

bpat1434

Yeah, but it was fun... I had to revert back to Windows cause it just wasn't cutting it. A little too slow on the AMD 64 🙁 . But I'd still love for Mac to start taking a corner of the M$ market....

Sxooter

actually, every version of Mac OSX released lately has had hacks to make it run on commodity PC hardware within days.

The first law of hacking: That which can be done can be undone.

dalecosp

After all ...

heh, Sxooter, and probably anyone else, can fill in that blank. OSX should run very nice on "commodity hardware", indeed.

csn

Sounds like you're still better off buying an Apple ;(

I think Apple should switch to AMD from Intel - should help to reduce their prices.

bpat1434

I don't think the processor will matter. It's the rest of the hardware that does. For some odd reason Apple loves to limit its audience. I guess that helps its competitive advantage. Smaller group, better product.

dalecosp wrote:
After all ...

Mac is BSD (or some flavor of *nix)....

Sounds like you're still better off buying an Apple ;(

Always were, always wil be

Sxooter

I have a girlfriend in Denver who wanted a new computer. Her girlfriend is a Mac user, her husband is a PC user. Knowing she's likely to spend more time with her girlfriend than her husband (they're starting a business together) I recommeded the Mac, since her girlfriend is quite familiar with it.

Funny story. there's a BBC sitcom called "The IT Crowd" Every time they answer the tech support phone, they ask "Is it on? Is it plugged in? Yes, you're welcome, have a wonderful day."

So, guess what problem my gf in Denver had with it the first week she had it? loose power cord. hahaha

vaaaska

Is this a first...running it on AMD?

Sxooter

csn wrote:
Sounds like you're still better off buying an Apple ;(

I think Apple should switch to AMD from Intel - should help to reduce their prices.

and the incremental savings for Apple would be pretty small to use AMD versus Intel, and they'd have to switch all their underlying hardware. My guess is that they approached both CPU makers and got a sweeter deal for bulk quantities from Intel, by threatening them with AMD. Classic negotiation tactics.

csn

All they'd have to switch would be the mobo. I got an AMD desktop a while ago and the chip was half the cost of a Pentium. Apple's notebooks and towers are still somewhat pricey, but their iMacs are reasonable, and their MiniMacs are a seeming deal.

Funny story. there's a BBC sitcom called "The IT Crowd" Every time they answer the tech support phone, they ask "Is it on? Is it plugged in? Yes, you're welcome, have a wonderful day."

So, guess what problem my gf in Denver had with it the first week she had it? loose power cord. hahaha

Heh. I was in the Apple store and the sales rep said most people there were clueless about computers. Shortly thereafter - and seemingly on cue - a yuppie couple asked, while looking at the MacBook Pros, "We're just looking for something to watch DVDs on." Pretty expensive DVD player.

csn

Apple Unveils Software to Run Windows XP

Named 'Boot Camp', heh. Wow, Apple's on a roll.

Weedpacket

Oh dear, and I thought daisy-chaining ssh logins could get out of hand. What will it be like when it's easier to just fire up another emulator instead of popping the stack?