6 ms·

My Life With a Hackintosh

12 points by auferstehung 17y ago

pyre 17y ago
> Apple didn't make it. I did. The machine I'm using is known as a "Hackintosh" -- actually a 9-inch Dell netbook that I've hacked to run Apple's Macintosh operating system. > In the end, I had a crude version of the Mac tablet computer that the rumor mill always says is just around the corner. When did Dell come out with a 9" TabletPC? > Turning a netbook into a Mac certainly isn't a task for technical naïfs [...] Oh... that 'Tablet' PC.
- fatdog789 17y ago
  A netbook is not a tablet pc; it's a mini-laptop. Nowhere does the author refer to a tablet pc. Indeed, he specifically mentions the Dell Mini 9 netbook, which has been on sale for the past year.
  - pyre 17y ago
    Sarcasm... The 'Mac Tablet' that has been rumored forever is an Apple version of the TabletPC. He claimed to have a 'crude version' of a the rumored 'Mac tablet.' It's hard to have that when the Mac tablet's main feature is a touchscreen. I doubt the Dell netbook has a touchscreen. Ergo, he does not have a 'crude version' of such a device unless your definition of 'crude' includes 'missing the most important feature.'
  - rewind 17y ago
    "In the end, I had a crude version of the Mac tablet computer that the rumor mill always says is just around the corner."
deleted 17y ago
[deleted]
joshhart 17y ago
Hackintosh's are pretty old news. I'd love to see an article detailing some of the challenges in the actual hacking of it.
hotstyle765 17y ago
I wonder how many of the Hackintosh people have tried Linux. I would say it is much simpler to setup a nice Linux distro and make it look like a Mac... That is if you are into that sort of thing. All you would need is Gnome, an OS X theme and AWN. It is free and legal. I ran a Macbook pro for a few years in college and I cant bring myself to switch back from Linux. The only thing that might put me on Mac is developing an iPhone/Touch app. I feel Linux is on par or somewhere not too far behind. Am I wrong here?
- ardit33 17y ago
  I felt the opposite. I started a new job, and have both a linux (ubuntu/kde 4.3) and a mac machine. I have developed mostly on windows (in mobile, you almost have to, as a lot of emulators are windows only, except iphone), and at home I have windows XP. I wanted to like linux, but I couldn't. Too many little things that were just not right, There is nothing like "major" that doesn't work, but it is more like death from 1000s cuts. Even repositioning the taskbar on the top, and making it the siz you want, and have the other menus down, was a pain. Ejecting a USB device, doesn't quite work. Tranfering files through usb is more like magic. There is a progress bar, but at some point it dissapears. You would thing that it is b/c the transfer is done, but no. It is just a bug. You disconnect your usb, and the file is not there. The whole experience is a pain. Switched to mac as fast as I could. My preference so far: Mac Os Windows XP Linux/ubuntu - Vista (draw) If windows 7 was available, perhaps it would have been on pair with MacOs. I understand that for server development, linux is great, but for mobile stuff, it is just not needed at all. I'd rather have a system that just works.
  - rbanffy 17y ago
    "Tranfering files through usb is more like magic." It sounds like you have a major problem with your install. I use Ubuntu daily and never experienced anything close to it. My biggest problem is to remember what package to download to make my Atheros wireless work again. And what's the pain in middle-button-dragging the bars to wherever you want them to be?
- JeremyChase 17y ago
Tichy 17y ago
Why did this get any votes? The information boils down to "you can install OS X on a netbook with some effort", which surely is very old news? Is it enough to sport the word "Hack" in the title to get on Hacker News?
- mattyfo 17y ago
  I agree, this article hardly provided any useful information or anything relatively new. It hardly even discussed the hack of it.
joezydeco 17y ago
So I'd like to hear what people would actually DO with a mac tablet.... Are you going to use it like an oversized iPod? Type large documents with the touchscreen? Watch movies? Read books? I took Spindler's comments during the presentation as a thinly veiled message of "look, the iPod touch/iPhone can do most of what you want here, so don't hold your breath for a tablet". Then again, that's usually a sign there's one around the corner...
jhancock 17y ago
My MacBook Air went belly up two days ago. For that kind of money, I'd expect better than 14 months of life and I've treated it like a museum piece. Our little $200 lenovo netbook is durable, we caught my son jumping on it on the bed yesterday. We scolded him but he did no damage to the laptop. My 6 year old ThinkPad churns away and has been used and abused. I am seriously considering putting together a hackintosh before shelling out more to get my Air fixed.

12 points by auferstehung 17y ago

pyre 17y ago

> Apple didn't make it. I did. The machine I'm using is known as a "Hackintosh" -- actually a 9-inch Dell netbook that I've hacked to run Apple's Macintosh operating system. > In the end, I had a crude version of the Mac tablet computer that the rumor mill always says is just around the corner. When did Dell come out with a 9" TabletPC? > Turning a netbook into a Mac certainly isn't a task for technical naïfs [...] Oh... that 'Tablet' PC.

fatdog789 17y ago
A netbook is not a tablet pc; it's a mini-laptop. Nowhere does the author refer to a tablet pc. Indeed, he specifically mentions the Dell Mini 9 netbook, which has been on sale for the past year.
- pyre 17y ago
  Sarcasm... The 'Mac Tablet' that has been rumored forever is an Apple version of the TabletPC. He claimed to have a 'crude version' of a the rumored 'Mac tablet.' It's hard to have that when the Mac tablet's main feature is a touchscreen. I doubt the Dell netbook has a touchscreen. Ergo, he does not have a 'crude version' of such a device unless your definition of 'crude' includes 'missing the most important feature.'
- rewind 17y ago
  "In the end, I had a crude version of the Mac tablet computer that the rumor mill always says is just around the corner."

deleted 17y ago

[deleted]

joshhart 17y ago

Hackintosh's are pretty old news. I'd love to see an article detailing some of the challenges in the actual hacking of it.

hotstyle765 17y ago

I wonder how many of the Hackintosh people have tried Linux. I would say it is much simpler to setup a nice Linux distro and make it look like a Mac... That is if you are into that sort of thing. All you would need is Gnome, an OS X theme and AWN. It is free and legal. I ran a Macbook pro for a few years in college and I cant bring myself to switch back from Linux. The only thing that might put me on Mac is developing an iPhone/Touch app. I feel Linux is on par or somewhere not too far behind. Am I wrong here?

ardit33 17y ago
I felt the opposite. I started a new job, and have both a linux (ubuntu/kde 4.3) and a mac machine. I have developed mostly on windows (in mobile, you almost have to, as a lot of emulators are windows only, except iphone), and at home I have windows XP. I wanted to like linux, but I couldn't. Too many little things that were just not right, There is nothing like "major" that doesn't work, but it is more like death from 1000s cuts. Even repositioning the taskbar on the top, and making it the siz you want, and have the other menus down, was a pain. Ejecting a USB device, doesn't quite work. Tranfering files through usb is more like magic. There is a progress bar, but at some point it dissapears. You would thing that it is b/c the transfer is done, but no. It is just a bug. You disconnect your usb, and the file is not there. The whole experience is a pain. Switched to mac as fast as I could. My preference so far: Mac Os Windows XP Linux/ubuntu - Vista (draw) If windows 7 was available, perhaps it would have been on pair with MacOs. I understand that for server development, linux is great, but for mobile stuff, it is just not needed at all. I'd rather have a system that just works.
- rbanffy 17y ago
  "Tranfering files through usb is more like magic." It sounds like you have a major problem with your install. I use Ubuntu daily and never experienced anything close to it. My biggest problem is to remember what package to download to make my Atheros wireless work again. And what's the pain in middle-button-dragging the bars to wherever you want them to be?
JeremyChase 17y ago

Tichy 17y ago

Why did this get any votes? The information boils down to "you can install OS X on a netbook with some effort", which surely is very old news? Is it enough to sport the word "Hack" in the title to get on Hacker News?

mattyfo 17y ago
I agree, this article hardly provided any useful information or anything relatively new. It hardly even discussed the hack of it.

joezydeco 17y ago

So I'd like to hear what people would actually DO with a mac tablet.... Are you going to use it like an oversized iPod? Type large documents with the touchscreen? Watch movies? Read books? I took Spindler's comments during the presentation as a thinly veiled message of "look, the iPod touch/iPhone can do most of what you want here, so don't hold your breath for a tablet". Then again, that's usually a sign there's one around the corner...

jhancock 17y ago

My MacBook Air went belly up two days ago. For that kind of money, I'd expect better than 14 months of life and I've treated it like a museum piece. Our little $200 lenovo netbook is durable, we caught my son jumping on it on the bed yesterday. We scolded him but he did no damage to the laptop. My 6 year old ThinkPad churns away and has been used and abused. I am seriously considering putting together a hackintosh before shelling out more to get my Air fixed.