[geeks] Running OS X on "normal" PCs

[gsm at mendelson.com]

On Tue, Mar 31, 2009 at 02:21:52PM +0200, Sheldon T. Hall wrote:
>Is it possible to run OS X on a regular-ole Intel PC?

No. OSX only runs on Mac computers because the available drivers are
limted and it requires EFI (extended firmware) instead of a BIOS to boot.

HOWEVER, if someone were to write a program which boots under a BIOS and
acts as if it were EFI, it would boot, but it probably would not run.
If MacOS were open source, then someone could put together a collection
of drivers and build kernels that run on a regular PC. Oh yeh, it is :-)

So the answer is no, you can't boot OSX on a regular PC, but you can 
find a hacked system that will boot on a regular PC and might even run
OSX programs. :-)

In the US this is illegal. 

There are two from Southeast Asia, where the copyright laws are more lax,
look for the XxX (a single layer DVD) and iPC (a dual layer distribution with
a "live" mode). If you have an MSI Wind U100, you want the disk tailored 
for it (MSIWINDOSX).


>If so, is it possible to create an installation, on either a CD or a USB
>key, that will boot a PC and have it run OS X, "live CD" style?

See above.


>If so, can this bootable object be created on either a Windows machine or a
>Linux machine?

It's an ISO file. You can burn it to a DVD. If you can figure how to get
the correct bootblocks on the USB key, you can build a USB key. They are often
used to install OSX on PC laptops that lack optical drives.


>If not, or if the above is such a PITA that no one would bother, is there
>another way to make a PC seem like it's running OS X?

If you had time to download the iPC disk, and a spare 8g or bigger USB key,
you could get it to run OSX. You need a resonably close hardware config and
1.1g of RAM.



>Here in France, clever practical jokes are a great April 1 tradition.  The
>boys down at the local cybercafe absolutely detest Macs.  I'd love to boot
>one of their machines up to look like a Mac....

Less involved than the original Amiga 3000 demo with the 3d hand holding the
floppy boot icon that turned out to be a MacII in an Amiga 2000 case?


Geoff.
-- 
Geoffrey S. Mendelson, Jerusalem, Israel gsm at mendelson.com  N3OWJ/4X1GM