Apple has sent in the clones. Well, sort of. “Some nine years after the Apple clones were officially killed off, pirates in South America have resurrected the trade. Apparently, the latest thing is a ‘PowerPC G6 Macintosh’, an ‘Apple G6 Macintosh-Clone Computer’ with a 3.8GHz Pentium 4. These come with shedloads of OSx86 compatible hardware, and pre-loaded with something called a ‘Mac OSX-86 Apple MacOS X Tiger 10.4.3’.” As for real Apple news: there’s a solution to a problem whitch will affect virtually all Mighty Mice eventually. The problem, where the MM stops scrolling down, can be solved by opening the mouse and cleaning it [English|Dutch]. I tested it, and it works (my two MMs had the problem).
Build your very own mini with this : http://www.bvm-store.com/ProductDetail.asp?fdProductId=313 Run OsX just like all the cool kids and still to brag to other cellar-dwellers on how you build your own pc.
Thanks for the MM tip by the way, hope I won’t need it soon. The only thing I dislike about the MM is that now I constantly squeeze my mouse at work (there’s a dirty joke in there somewhere) whereas before I was just ramming my pointer into the corner of the screen. Damn backwards Windows.
Have fun running a hacked, unsupported copy of OS X that you can’t guarantee won’t be broken by an update.
Have fun running a hacked, unsupported copy of OS X that you can’t guarantee won’t be broken by an update.
Nah I have the real deal. God help me, I even fell for some kind of freaky reverse halo-effect and bought an iPod. I still think everyone else that has one is a trendy ass poser though 😉
Still I must admit a franken-mac has a curious sort of appeal, a bit like pear-pc does.
Well good for you.
Unfortunately, the halo effect worked quite well on me. First it was the iPod, then a Mac Mini, then an iBook. Then I sold my PC.
I’d like to know how you fair at installing OS X on a non-Mac computer using only a copy of OS X you bought (and Linux if you want since it’s free). If you can do it I’d consider giving it a shot.
Last time I heard the only way to install a legal copy of OS X on a non-Mac machine was with pre-patched pirated disks, or recovery disks from the p4 development boxes. If you can find a way to do it legally and without too much hassle, please tell us how it’s done.
To be honest, I’m really surprised that someone hasn’t worked out a legal way to get OS X installed on non-Mac hardware. I suspect it’s possible to use Linux as a middle man to get OS X to the point where it can continue on it’s own. I also suspect it may be possible simply to install OS X on a real Mac, and then transplant the hard drive, but I’m not so sure about this one, and it would cost an arm and a leg if you don’t already have an Intel Mac.
A legal way would be to distribute a diff of the patched ISO and the ISO ripped from the “official” install DVD. You could rip your copy of the real DVD, patch it, and burn it, and then install from there.
As far as I know, the patch *shouldn’t* infringe on the copyright, if you’re careful about what you put in it. Copying and burning the DVD (without redistributing it), is legal, so you’re safe there. You’re not defeating any copy protection mechanism, so you’re safe there.
That should be legit, as far as I can see.
Exactly. You would only be in breach of the eula, but we have said many times that breaching an eula is hardly a crime.
Well, Windows pirates doen’nt seem to have any problem with that.
A pirated copy of Windows is no different than a retail, purchased copy as far as hardware support and stability go.
The same can’t be said for development version of OS X x86 hacked to run on unsupported hardware.
You can’t know that till you really use a clone like this one and who knows it could be even better than the Original Mac.
No, I can tell you for sure that it’s nowhere close to as good as an original Mac.
I suggest that you do a bit of research about the OS X x86 “project”.
I suggest that you do a bit of research about the OSX86 project. They are not using just the single leaked build, for example, from the intel test machines.
10.4.3 has been available for a while now for Non-Apple users.
My computer doesn’t have the required (SSE2/3) instruction sets, so I’ve never been able to attempt this, but…
From many forum posts, those that have the proper hardware seem to have wonderful experiences. Some experience far better performance on, say, an Athlon than many G4/5 users do (particularly in benchmarks).
While it certainly isn’t as “just plug it in” (as is the case often with Apple hardware), it’s not by any means meant to be. It’s a hobby, geeky, nerdy thing that few people will likely ever attempt.
Think twice before telling OTHER people what to do.
I’m not telling anyone to do anything other than to educate yourself. Hobby, geeky, nerdy thing is right. We’ll ignore the fact that it’s also piracy, but hey.
Now tell me, how many users want a computer that runs an OS as a hobby, geeky, nerdy, pirated thing?
And the 10.4.3 version WAS a development version.
They haven’t hacked just the development version, they have hacked every single version of OS X x86 all the way up to 10.4.6
You can also hold the mouse upside down and scroll it back and forth on your trousers. You do not need to dismantle it just because scrolling down won’t work. It’s probably just a piece of dust stuck in it.
Edited 2006-05-10 19:03
No need to dismantle it, just because scroll down does not work.
That’s what Apple tells you– but for most people, this solution simply doesn’t work. If you see the inside of a MM, you’ll immediatly know why (dirt gets stuck behind places the ball can’t reach).
By the way, the MM is a piece of crap from an engineering p.o.v. It uses glue where screws ought to be used, and where it uses glue, it is always overdone. The three screws keeping the scrolling thing in place are screwed on way too tight, and the screw screw into plastic instead of in a piece of metal embedded in the plastic.
It’s a crappy piece of engineering– esp. since you pay E59,- for the damn thing.
It worked for me. It still is wise to try this before opening the mouse. Well, if it does not work, of course you can try other measures.
I agree the Mighty Mouse is the worst product Apple ever released.
Some simple research even in their own history would have revealed that ball mice tend to get dirty from the natural oils spread by our hands as well as dirt and hair, getting caught and building up on the rollers.
We used to have to clean our ball mice quite regularly, why did Apple seal the enclosure so access isn’t (really) possible is beyond me.
On top of that we can’t right click and left click at the same time, we have to lift the left finger to do a right click, the sideways click is worthless as well as the ball click.
The scroll ball doesn’t work in a diagonal fashion, so if I want to scroll left and down at the same time it’s impossible. The ball and rollers are weak, just plain weak.
I screamed bloody murder when this thing was released. Apple had the opportunity to create a mouse that would have been the envy of the computing world, being bought in droves by both platforms, but instead they produced garbage.
It’s a real shame that Microsoft produces something better than Apple.
odd for a company who OSes rely so heavily on mousing… but have apple’s mice _ever_ been good? single button hockey pucks anyone?…
(happily using a logitech on a mac here 😉
Thanks for the tip — I was going crazy when the damn thing stopped scrolling properly after just half a year of use!
Here’s hoping Apple puts out a completely solid-state mighty-mouse for the next generation (touch sensitive scroll wheel!)
I found a tip a while back about cleaning with a bit of water while holding it upside-down, and it worked great. My MM is as good as ever. Best mouse around except possibly for the Logitech Click! IMHO.
If one is an industry observer, and taking an interest in business models, the question is not so much about the merits of this offering, but what will follow it. This one seems a little absurd. But consider what has happened.
There used to be two protections against clones. Maybe three. There was binary incompatibility with anything but PPC. Then there was the price that PPC boards went for at retail – prohibitive. Then there was the software ROM. Now there is only one, the DRM features of OSX for Intel.
The two questions that spring to mind are, will it be enough? And is there really any demand for OSX on cheaper and/or user provided hardware? I suspect we will find out together in the next six months, and that that is why Maxuss has vanished from view. Someone who thinks there is a real market outside the OECD has recruited him, and they are going to try it. No, DRM is not going to be enough. But demand is a different issue.
Personally I have moved from conviction to scepticism. I used to believe OSX was the crown jewels, that there was huge demand, and that clones would sell like hot cakes. Now I suspect that OSX is the main negative about Macs, that people buy them for the designer hardware aspect, and that if they would just ship them with Windows they would sell far more. But whatever, its going to be fascinating, because someone is going to try it on and we will all find out together.
Edited 2006-05-10 19:24
“Apple G6 Macintosh-Clone Computer
G6 CPU:90nm 3800MHz SSE3 Central Processing Unit Intel Pentium4 3.8GHz SSE3 Prescott 64-bit PowerPC-G6 Processor Intel Inside 284KB Memory On-Chip ”
LOL! Who here is not confused, raise your hand.
<cynical> Finally Apple found some dirty sweatshop in China to license Mac OS X to. We all know Dell is not worth trading Apple-Software. The clones are in good hands. </cynical>
I was browsing a local shop, when I experienced the attack of the clones first hand.
http://www.memoryexpress.com/index.php?PageTag=&page=file&memx_menu…
At least they could _try_ to not rip off the design so much.
The clones aren’t all bad, as since the mac mini is x86 now, it can compete on it’s own merits instead of being excused by Apple fans. mini-itx.com is still the way to go for me personally.
They are not going to try too hard to stop cloners and pirates; at first.
Just wait till a mini underground industry is built around installing OS X on vanilla PC’s and increases the OS X userbase. THEN they’ll throw a wrench in . . .
I can’t remember the last time I cleaned any mouse…
what G6 clone? inorder to be a clone an original has to exist and i have never heard of an apple g6 system. this as has the same value as a pc running a version of linux
Interesting question you pose. For me it is a combination. I enjoy the good looks of Apple hardware and the good looks of OS X. I like the fact that I am running a unix-like system that has such a good looking GUI (but KDE and GNOME are catching up)… and my core duo mini is a sweet little machine (not super advanced technology, but nicely packaged).
… and people wonder why from an engineering standpoint I consider Apple products to be some of the most cheaply made and poorly designed items on the market.
A trackball you cannot even open up to clean without risking breaking half the plastic clips that hold the damned thing together (again, what the hell is wrong with a phillips head screw? Something even KRAFT figured out back in the 80’s) – and that you have to re-attach one of the parts with SUPER GLUE meaning you’ll not be able to clean it a SECOND TIME…
Lightweight rinky cheap plastic crap you can’t even clean. BRILLIANT, and typically Apple – which is why my advice to ANYONE with a Mac is to throw away the stupid little one button or overpriced mighty and buy a damned LOGITECH.
Ah, that Apple quality people tout so highly. I’d consider going OSX if I could get a box that wasn’t built by Apple… OH WAIT!
the last place where you get ripped off 🙂