OS X Killing Intel Atom Support– No Hackintosh for You!
What is the most definite way that Apple can convince the netbook crowd that there will never be a Mac netbook? By killing off support for the Intel Atom processor family that powers virtually all netbooks. It is being reported that Apple is going to do just that, in the next version of Snow Leopard, 10.6.2.
It is easy to speculate that Apple is trying to kill off the growing Hackintosh movement. Just about every netbook out there has been hacked by someone to install OS X to create what has come to be called a “Hackint0sh.” Kevin even gave that a spin, and it’s pretty cool to have a little Mac netbook. That will be impossible once 10.6.2 is released, so those hardy souls who have created a Hackintosh better not update the OS once it is available. It is surprising that Apple would go to the trouble to remove processor support — it’s not often that a company will remove support that’s already included in an OS.
Image from OS X Daily
sounds to me like the removal is more a issue of putting a bit of code in the kernel that basically detects atom series processors and then refuses to boot, as in theory a kernel compiled for X86 should boot on both core and atom, or for that matter anything from amd…
Are they checking for Atom then refusing to boot or are they making use of some feature that Atom doesn’t support? These two are not the same thing but they tend to get conflated, especially when a behavior someone found desirable changes.
In any case, Apple never actually supported running OS X on Atom. (e.g., rigorously tested OS X on Atom based platforms to insure it behaved properly.) Since they don’t test to insure OS X works on Atom, that it would eventually stops working on Atom is expected.
It takes work to retain consistent behavior from version to version. Any behavior that never gets in-house testing will eventually fail from neglect as the software is continually revised. This is a general statement about development at any house, not about Apple.
If Microsoft did something like that there would riots in the streets. I smell an Antitrust lawsuit.
Oh please… make an appointment with your doctor to get your nose checked out…
If they sell an extra operating system for a netbook,
why should they care, it’s income.
It sounds lke CONTROL
“DO NOT tick off the GREAT ONE and do something we said you can not do…”
How many Hackintosh users do think spent money on a new license for OS X? (ignoring, of course, that you can’t actually acquire a license for a non-Apple computer in the first place).
Kevin, did you buy another Leopard box for your experiment?
I performed my OS X experiments on hardware I already owned — my Samsung Q1UP and my MSI Wind.
Well, nice
. But what I wanted to know is whether you bought a new (cardboard) box with Leopard in it so Apple would actually get some revenue out of your use of their software.
My bad — I misunderstood your question. No, I didn’t purchase a license to do my experiment. I had toyed with the idea of purchasing a copy of Leopard if I was going to keep OS X on my experimental hardware, but in the end, wiped the drives and went back to officially licensed software.
I think Apple is getting ready to introduce something that they feel will compete with netbooks. (Please note I did not say Mac Tablet or Apple Netbook.)
Looks like they want to generate some demand for the upcoming 10.7″ iPad tablet PC. After the Atom Hackintosh crowd starts suffering withdrawal symptoms they will gladly open their wallet for the REAL THING with full touch support, color eReader content and subscription model (think instant magazine and newspapers at the touch of your finger) plus leveraging iTunes, appStore and more. By next year the majority of the Atom Hankintosh crowd will be firmly nestled upon Apple’s voluptuous bosoms once again. Stay tuned as Apple will be bearing much fruit in 2010.
The windoze and linux crowd touted the netbook as their platform, yet many users have been using boot 132 to instead install a store bought Apple Snow Leopard. I think it shows, this tight, compact and speedy OS X to be in demand. With Apple market cap almost as big now as Microsoft, all the zunes, X boxes and microsoft keyboards and mice cannot keep it ahead for long.
They have upset too many users with their steep upgrade costs and requirement for full install of Windows 7. If you have to buy new hardware, why not switch to snow leopard and boot 132 for your PC instead, that or buy a used Macbook for $300 on ebay or just get a new Apple instead?
So I guess my 2133 is more future-proof than expected!
Never tried installing OS X on it but I’ve seen it done. I’m happy with XP right now, does everything I need well.
Really, a fully functional MacOS with support for all essential peripherals/devices such as WiFi, Ethernet, audio, and sleep? On the 2133?