[RJG Designing]

As the question states really, have you tried using hackintosh?

[zed]

Have you tried searching the forum?

[RJG Designing]

i have, i was going to go on to say how would i go about implementing it for my laptop.

cheers.

[andyl]

It's illegal

Just buy a Mac, or use an alternative free *nix system. Macs are not overpriced any more than your average Dell.

[RJG Designing]

true point andy, im thinking of getting an iMac, would you recommend one?

[andyl]

RJG Designing, on 19 January 2012 - 01:20 PM, said:

true point andy, im thinking of getting an iMac, would you recommend one?

I use a 27" iMac 2.8GHz Quad Core, 4GB RAM, 1GB GFX as my main computer. It's amazing, I won't lie. If you have an iPhone/iPad (or both if you're a geek like me), having a Mac works so well.

Pros:

• Just works. No need to come home and install a bunch of third party, performance knackering software
  
• No anti-virus or any other junk needed (at the moment) - true with any *nix system though
  
• Unbeatably intuitive interface/interaction, especially when using the Apple Keyboard + Trackpad (free with iMacs)
  
• 27" of bright, unbeatably sharp screen
  
• Silent - like, literally, silent
  
• OS X out of the box is just outright ahead of Windows at the moment, but that may be personal opinion
  
• Extremely cheap upgrades to the next version of OS. Win 7 upgrade was, what, £150+? OS X Lion was £21
  
• FaceTime because, let's face it, nearly everyone you know has an iPhone, iPod or iPad
  
• Far and few software updates. After doing two recent restores on Windows machines, I was ready to punch them. Install, restart, install, restart, etc.. Makes me shudder
  
• Coda - the best web-dev code editor, full-stop.

Cons:

• You can't get a 'cheap' iMac because they're not common/cheap pieces of technology
  
• Likewise for their kit - trackpads, etc. don't come cheap
  
• No 5.1 surround sound
  
• There are no software cons since you can run Windows on a Mac - completely legally and out of the box too - even at the same time with Fusion or Parallels

I'd also recommend the MacBook Pros. Mine is a little old now, late 2009, but it still runs absolutely perfectly on the latest OS (clean install to be fair). It's just never died, never lost battery life, never slowed down, nothing. Yes, it was more than buying a tacky Dell laptop, but it's sitting here next to me now, just as good as when I bought it. If you get a MacBook, don't buy a mouse - you will love Apple trackpads. I promise you. I can't even compare an Apple trackpad to the ones you see on Acers/HPs/Dells/etc..

There probably are more cons, but I've used Macs for about 7 years now so I'm very used to them. I use Windows Monday-Friday at the moment at work, I can't see me going back to it to be honest. I'm not saying OS X is the best, but I think I'm sticking with *nix systems - personal preference perhaps.

This post has been edited by andyl: 19 January 2012 - 07:14 PM

[notbanksy]

I'm running a hackintosh (and before all you copyright lawyers start banging on about the EULA I do have a mac, and the hackintosh is a bit of fun and not my main OS for my laptop (running linux)) ;p

I'm using a Dell latitude D340 which is incredibly similar to a macbook in terms of components. It's a bit of a task getting OS X to install properly, but once you get it going it's pretty stable. I used some tools from this site: www.osxlatitude.com which I highly recommend.

As for buying a mac, my Dell cost me £160 second hand (reconditioned) which is about half what I'd expect to pay for a reconditioned macbook with the same specs. So long as you buy the OS instead of pirating it, I really don't see what the problem is.

This post has been edited by notbanksy: 19 January 2012 - 07:55 PM

[Glowbridge]

andyl, on 18 January 2012 - 11:42 PM, said:

It's illegal

There isn't actually any precedent in this area to say that for sure.

Apple tried to claim Jailbreaking was in violation of the DMCA too. They lost. If you own a legitimate copy of MacOSX and you don't distribute it in any way (Like Psystar or Torrents) they have a very weak argument against you doing what you want with it.

Essentially they would have to convince a judge that the contract between you and Apple, their Terms of Service, is more important than your right to do as you please with things you own.

[RJG Designing]

cheers guys. very helpful!

i might just have to get one now -.-

[Georgew]

The screen is the valuable part of the iMac. If you can live without it, save some money.

[Stussmachine]

andyl, on 18 January 2012 - 11:42 PM, said:

It's illegal

Just buy a Mac, or use an alternative free *nix system. Macs are not overpriced any more than your average Dell.

This is not true. It is against Apple's TOS (Terms Of Service) but the it is not in any way illegal . Hackintosh systems to require a bit of maintenance/research/ and computer know how to keep them running regularly. Because of this I would not suggest building a Hackintosh unless it is a secondary computer. Typed from my MacBook Pro as I await my last Hackintosh part to arrive.

This post has been edited by Stussmachine: 03 February 2012 - 01:12 AM

[Angelo]

Its illegal to use OS X on other machine than Mac.
If you want problems with your wifi card or audio -> try to build a hackintosh. But if you want stability and good user experience - go and buy a mac

[notbanksy]

Angelo, on 09 February 2012 - 07:55 AM, said:

Its illegal to use OS X on other machine than Mac.

No it isn't. Maybe you should read the thread before you post.

[andyl]

notbanksy, on 09 February 2012 - 08:52 AM, said:

No it isn't. Maybe you should read the thread before you post.

How did you install your copy of the purchased OS X image (or disc)?

[notbanksy]

andyl, on 09 February 2012 - 11:42 AM, said:

How did you install your copy of the purchased OS X image (or disc)?

With a lot of research, trial and error! One of the reasons I bought my laptop was because I knew it was regarded as one of the better matches for Mac OS X, so with that in mind, the following may not be much use to you. I found this website osxlatitude.com which provided all the tools I needed to get my machine to install and boot OSX. Once you know what to do, and the order in which to do it, it doesn't take long. But I confess to having wasted at least a whole day getting it right.

Are you planning to try it?

[andyl]

notbanksy, on 09 February 2012 - 11:46 AM, said:

With a lot of research, trial and error! One of the reasons I bought my laptop was because I knew it was regarded as one of the better matches for Mac OS X, so with that in mind, the following may not be much use to you. I found this website osxlatitude.com which provided all the tools I needed to get my machine to install and boot OSX. Once you know what to do, and the order in which to do it, it doesn't take long. But I confess to having wasted at least a whole day getting it right.

It does seem quite complicated, even with a step-by-step. I was just wondering because I read this article, claiming it's actually illegal if you use any of the publicly available boot loaders, etc., as they modify software - thus you're violating copyright. 5 years in prison, according to SOPA.

notbanksy, on 09 February 2012 - 11:46 AM, said:

Are you planning to try it?

I'm a lost cause (yes, I know). I don't mess with hardware, I just buy things that work and make life easier! At the moment, Apple is bi-winning in that respect.
Yep, just managed to squeeze a Charlie Sheen quote into a Hackintosh discussion.

[Glowbridge]

There isn't any need to mess with hardware for getting a hackintosh going. Emulate the EFI BIOS and whack in the MacOSX DVD. Job done. Not like you are digging around inside the guts of your machine getting covered in tiger blood.

[andyl]

Glowbridge, on 09 February 2012 - 07:46 PM, said:

There isn't any need to mess with hardware for getting a hackintosh going. Emulate the EFI BIOS and whack in the MacOSX DVD. Job done. Not like you are digging around inside the guts of your machine getting covered in tiger blood.

I was referring to the fact that people generally build their own Hackintosh. I have little interest or faith in building my own PC

[notbanksy]

andyl, on 09 February 2012 - 06:45 PM, said:

It does seem quite complicated, even with a step-by-step. I was just wondering because I read this article, claiming it's actually illegal if you use any of the publicly available boot loaders, etc., as they modify software - thus you're violating copyright. 5 years in prison, according to SOPA.

Taken slightly out of context. Here's an example: if you bought the latest cd by your favourite band, sampled it, and created your own music at home, for your own entertainment, is that breaking copyright? No. Because you're not broadcasting, publishing, selling, or claiming the work. Same with OSX - the examples in the article are of companies who were stupid enough to sell non-Apple hardware with OSX installed on it. Modifying the software may be against Apple's wishes, or even their terms of use, but they'd have a hard time building a legal case against this. And besides, if you modified it to work better with their proprietary hardware, you'd still be in breach, but they'd probably thank you for it.