[dontKnowJava]

so ive noticed that mac now makes intel based notebooks, but still rape you on the price. my question is can i get mac os and install it on a system that runs windows? or the intel chips they run are moded to work with mac os?

[ferrari12508]

I don't know the answer to that, but I highly doubt that they mod chips for their comps. If anything they just get normal chips else they would get specail made ones.

[dontKnowJava]

ferrari12508, on 9 Dec, 2007 - 08:39 PM, said:

I don't know the answer to that, but I highly doubt that they mod chips for their comps. If anything they just get normal chips else they would get specail made ones.

i know they dont mod them at apple. thats what i was trying to find out if they order special chips straight from intel that only work for mac or its exactly the same chip and main board. ive installed red hat on a windows system and it worked fine, but that was free. i dont want to spend 100 bucks for mac os if it wont work. and i definitely dont want to pay 1k+ for a mac when i can get a nicer pc for less.

[MorphiusFaydal]

OS X does run on generic PC's, the project to do it is called "osx86". That being said; it's very illegal to do. The EULA for OS X says it MUST be run ONLY on Apple computers.

Also; the generic OS X install disk does not work on a non-Apple box. The disk is mastered to look for certain hardware; that you won't have.

You want OS X, buy an Apple box. Mac Mini isn't that expensive.

[GWatt]

I'm positive that Apple doesn't mod the processor. However, they do run different BIOS. Also, their install CDs don't boot on normal desktop PCs. SO, if you could write a new BIOS that would support the special Apple bootable CDs, you could very conceivably run Mac on a standard PC.

[MorphiusFaydal]

GWatt, on 9 Dec, 2007 - 11:18 PM, said:

I'm positive that Apple doesn't mod the processor. However, they do run different BIOS. Also, their install CDs don't boot on normal desktop PCs. SO, if you could write a new BIOS that would support the special Apple bootable CDs, you could very conceivably run Mac on a standard PC.

The Apple systems use EFI, which is about 90 times better than BIOS.

[lockdown]

Yep Mac OS X can run on any computer that meets the minimum requirements. The project as stated above will allow you to run it but some features are a little weird. Such as you only have 1-click instead of the normal two windows uses. I believe also Virtual PC 2007 supports MAC OS X as one of the operating systems. I currently run Fedora on my windows desktop and uses Virtual PC to run my Fedora while in windows.

Also apple dose not do anything to their intel chips inside their systems. If you were to take the chip out you could place it right into a socket 775 motherboard that works with Core 2 Duo chips. Apple dose have their own motherboards and northbridges that handle the data differently but the chip is all the same.

Also the EFI is efficient but some of the features are kinda lame in it. Since its apple based everything is made for a mac so some cool features are not in it.

This post has been edited by lockdown: 10 December 2007 - 06:25 AM

[GWatt]

I kind of like the Mac firmware. Since I don't futz around in BIOS too much I 'd rather not see it. However, if you must access the firmware, Try this website

[MorphiusFaydal]

lockdown, on 10 Dec, 2007 - 07:23 AM, said:

Also the EFI is efficient but some of the features are kinda lame in it. Since its apple based everything is made for a mac so some cool features are not in it.

Actually, EFI is originally an Intel project, that is now managed by the UEFI Forum. Apple is the first to use it, because they don't need to backwards compatibility of BIOS.

[ferrari12508]

i dont know where my friend heard it, but he said Vista on HP computers use EFI instead of BIOS, can anyone verify this?

This post has been edited by ferrari12508: 10 December 2007 - 02:39 PM

[lockdown]

I know HP did change their BIOS interface along with Dell not to long back. So its possible he is taking about that buts its just a new interface. Still the same old BIOS.

[MorphiusFaydal]

Some of the HP computers use the EFI Framework, but not EFI itself. It's still essentially BIOS with an updated undercarriage. I'm not sure about Dell.

[lockdown]

I just checked with one of our Dell reps at work and he told me as of their current 2007 line up they are using just standard BIOS.