Neato: WinXP/MacOS dual boot on Intel-powered Macs

[Benfea]

http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/16/xp-on-x86-is-official-narf-gets-paid/

You knew it was going to happen eventually.

[UCLA02]

1. What does it mean? "Bottom-line" it, please?

I started to read the posts on the BB below, but it was petty bickering that my mind didn't want to mess with tonight. So what's this mean in the non-hacker-nerd world?

[Benfea]

2. You can run Windows XP on certain Mac computers.

The two guys figured out a way to get dual-boot on certain Macs. With dual-boot, you divvy up your hard drive into two chunks: one for each operating system. At boot up, you can choose which OS you want to use for that session. This effectively gives you two computers in one: one with Windows XP, and another with MacOS, meaning you should be able to run any piece of software intended for either. No longer do you have to give up all the latest games if you want to own a Macintosh.

[UCLA02]

3. OK, I get it.

I have a Mac PowerBook G4 and can understand how that could be practical.

Thanks.

[ghostsofgiants]

4. Fuck that, I wanna run OS X on my PC.

Any info on that?

[Omphaloskepsis]

5. It's doable..

google Maxxuss. Just be prepared for it to break when you try to do an upgrade to the OS.

[billyskank]

7. That's the question

Because the only good thing about the Mac is its operating system. The hardware is way overpriced. Buying an x86 mac to run Windows XP would be the most brainless thing ever.

[ghostsofgiants]

8. Precisely.

[Benfea]

11. It's certainly possible. This proves it.

The main difficulty is writing drivers for all the proprietary hardware Apple puts in Macs.

[ghostsofgiants]

13. Oh, I know it's possible, I've seen video of it done...

What I want to know is if it's become any easier and if it's now doable for a fully functional version of OS X and not just a beta version as in the aforementioned video. I have to check out what Omphaloskepsis was talking about.

[Benfea]

14. I imagine going in the other direction will take longer...

…since it may involve hacking the OS itself. I imagine Apple took steps to prevent precisely this sort of thing.

Is there any particular piece of Mac software you want to run on your PC? Or do you just want to check things out. I have to admit, I haven't touched a Mac since back in the days of MacOS 9.x; I haven't really seen nor messed around with OS X at all.

[ghostsofgiants]

15. I want the whole OS.

And yeah, it probably will require hacking the OS itself. That was pretty much expected from the get go.

[no name no slogan]

17. Darwin

I haven't looked at it in years, but in theory you CAN run it on x86 hardware-- but you don't get the cool skins.

If you really want to run OSX on PC hardware, just get FreeBSD. OSX is based on it. Plus, OSX's principal designer used to head the FreeBSD project.

[REP]

6. Ewwwww!

Why would I want *that* on my Mac? Icky!

(Yes, yes I get it. I'm just being a snob.)

[asthmaticeog]

10. You're not being a snob, you're being sensible.

For me anyway, the OS is the main attraction to Mac. Yeah, my hardware's all purty, but so what? I wouldn't dream of paying the high premium you have to pay for the hardware that runs my preferred OS and then shitting all over it by installing buggy, crashy junk like Windows.

I think the folks who sponsored the contest to figure out how to do it are hardcore gamers, and that's the attraction, a lot of popular video games aren't compiled for Mac OS. Still seems backwards to me, though. If someone's main reason for having a computer is gaming, why get a Mac to begin with?

As per primate1 above, the more sensible thing would be to find a reliable way to get OSX running on a generic PC.

[Benfea]

12. Yeah, you're being a snob. :P

The reason you'd want to do that is very simple. There's a heck of a lot more software available for Windows than for Mac (mostly games or proprietary software from your workplace). Previously, if you wanted to run any of that software, you had to use an emulator, which comes at a significant performance cost.

[jmowreader]

16. If you're a gamer you're a damn fool to buy a Mac

I've been running Mac longer than most of y'all (okay, show of hands: how many Mac users here had a Mac 512Ke? I did.) and I wouldn't wish a Windows box on Dick Cheney, but I'll be the first to tell you that if you're buying a computer specifically to run games, it damn well better be the most jacked-up Windows box you can get your hands on.

If I was a gamer who did graphics too, I'd get the PC for games and the Mac for graphics.

[meegbear]

9. Cool! I could use that!

I develop in both Windows and Mac! I dual boot would be killah!