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MacBook Pro Reviews

By Swad, in OSx86, March 2, 2006

As more and more MacBook Pros (It’s not that I mind the name so much – it’s just that extra syllable…) come rolling in, we’ve got more reviews than you can shake a stick at. I’m not really sure what kind of quantifiable data stick-shaking creates, but let’s just say there’s a lot.
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Two of the best reviews are those from MacWorld (Pro?) and Ars Technica. Ars usually does a good job with their reviews but this time they threw us a bonus: they compared the MacBook Pro with an old Powerbook and a hacked Dell running 10.4.4. Although the Dell fared poorly in the UI test (using a ATI Mobility Radeon 9700), it held its own and actually beat the MBP on a few tests. Sans the UI test, the Dell was roughly on par with the Mac with xbench scores. It didn’t do so well with the other tests.
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Have you gotten your MacBook yet? If so, let us know your impressions here!
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IRC is Back!

By Swad, in OSx86, March 1, 2006

Well we’ve been without an IRC channel for a few weeks now as we sorted a few things out with staff, servers, etc.
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[Mashugly clears his throat and prepares his best Steve Jobs impression, complete with black mock turtleneck and jeans…]
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We know you’ve wanting IRC. It’s big. Real big. So big in fact that it’s taken us this long to make sure we had it all right. But I’m happy that I can announce today… MacSpeak.net. MacSpeak is going be a great new hub for your daily Mac fix. Right now it’ll be the home of the OSx86 Project’s IRC channel, but we’ve got a lot of really exciting things planned like integrated RSS feeds and whole bunch of other stuff.
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It’s gonna be great. Insanely great. It’s available today – to connect with your IRC client just point it to irc.macspeak.net. The official channel is #osx86 just like in the past.
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I know you’re going to love our improved IRC setup. Enjoy.
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Apple Introduces Intel Mac Mini

By Swad, in OSx86, February 28, 2006

Apple today introducted a new Mac Mini with an Intel processor. Steve claims it’s “4.8x to 5.5x faster.” It is available with either an Intel Core Solo or Core Duo chips.
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$599.00
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1.5GHz Intel Core Solo processor
2MB L2 Cache
667MHz Frontside Bus
512MB memory (667MHz DDR2 SDRAM)
60GB Serial ATA hard drive
Combo drive (DVD-ROM/CD-RW)
Built-in AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth 2.0
Apple Remote
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$799.00
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1.66GHz Intel Core Duo processor
2MB L2 Cache
667MHz Frontside Bus
512MB memory (667MHz DDR2 SDRAM)
80GB Serial ATA hard drive
Double-layer SuperDrive (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
Built-in AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth 2.0
Apple Remote
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Also released were a few iPod cases and a new "iPod Hi-Fi" stereo, which Steve apparently said was so good he's going to give up his stereo. We'll see.
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Were these the "fun" products you were expecting?
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Install OSx86 on your iPod

By Swad, in OSx86, February 28, 2006

I'm not sure how useful this is, but it's got all the geek-ness we’re a fan of here. Check out this guide at Mac OS X Hints on booting your Intel Mac with your iPod. From the article…
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Curious about how to booting your Intel iMac from either a USB2.0 iPod or an external Firewire drive? It is possible, and here's how. This has been tested with a 5G 30GB USB2.0 iPod with Video and an external FW400 60GB hard disk enclosure.
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The key issue is the disk partioning scheme that Intel Macs expect to see. GPT (or GUID), remember? Well it appears that the EFI in an Intel iMac also supports booting from Apple Partition Map (APM) partitioned disks as well. The Intel iMac's Install DVD Disk One, for instance, uses an APM and NOT a GPT scheme.
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I vote that the new Slashdot joke be “Yeah, but does it run OSx86?” Linux is SO 1990’s…
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Geeks and Greed: A Cautionary Tale

By Swad, in OSx86, February 22, 2006

Someday I may publish a history of how OSx86 was originally hacked to run on PCs. I was privy to many of the conversations between those working on the hacks, and it makes for a fascinating story – one of teamwork, secrecy, and intrigue. There are obviously some serious moral (and legal, as we all know…) issues with the x86 hacks, but the way it happened deserves its place in the annals of computing history.
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Those events last summer remind me of the effort to get XP booting on the new Macintels. In theory, running XP should be significantly easier than surpassing the TPM restrictions on the Developers Transition Kits. This is the case for a host of reasons, not the least of which is that it’s legal! There should be no secrecy regarding the attempts at getting XP to run – there’s no need for it.
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Yet why aren’t we dual booting already? Money. Most of you are undoubtedly aware of “The Contest,” a 12,000 dollar pot that will be going to the first person to provide a viable dual booting method to the site’s owner Also note the “onmac” network - and advertisements - that the contest has bequeathed to the once minimalist site as well… another interesting commentary on money.
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Now I have no problem with the idea of a contest, nor the site owner (Colin… who is also a member in our forum) wanting to capitalize on some great site traffic and press.
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The problem with the contest is that it encourages poor geeks (like me) who could use the extra cash (like me) to try their hand at fixing the problem. In theory this would speed up progress. But in fact it’s had the opposite, somewhat paradoxical effect – it’s slowed things down.
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This has occurred because said poor geeks (like me) who are working on it know that if they post on a forum with some ideas, those ideas could be taken and used by someone else to earn the money.
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It’s happened in our forum already – accusations of “don’t expect me to help you - you’re only doing this to win the prize!” have flown with all the certainty of someone who is secretly jealous they didn’t come up with it first. The technical barriers, while substantial, are not the thing that's keeping us from dual booting.
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It’s all quite predictable – nothing is getting done because the sharing of information has stopped. Were there no contest, IRC channels would be full of dedicated developers sharing what they’d learned through trial and error, swapping ideas and encouraging each other. I've talked with some people who are very close to success... but their efforts are not public. As it stands, sharing what you’ve learned could cost you $12,000.
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The Treasure of the Sierra Madre is a wonderful Humphrey Bogart film from 1948 – it’s one of the best in cinema history. It tells the story of 3 gold prospectors and the ways in which greed can destroy common goals. When it comes time to share with the others his spoils, the character realizes it's much more advantageous to keep his knowledge to himself. I see this situation as much the same.
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Money makes it anything but a team effort.
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MacBook Pro Dissected

By Swad, in OSx86, February 22, 2006

Although Ars usually does a full tear down and review, this dissection of the new MacBook Pro should be enough for awhile.
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Why is it that we geeks enjoy seeing things all strewn out and exposed? We were the same kids who would rather take apart the toy than play with it...
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Linux & iMac II: Knoppix

By Swad, in OSx86, February 21, 2006

Yesterday we reported on some success in booting Linux on an iMac. Today brings news of Knoppix 4 booting on a Macintel - the first time of which we're aware that someone has gotten X to work.
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According to the site, "we have been looking at Linux on this hardware some more, and we are glad to report that we now have a full-fledged Knoppix distribution working, complete with the X Window system.
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Once we have tested the system a bit more, we will try to release a full Knoppix distribution through Bit Torrent. We also have to trawl through the kernel source and the umpteen kernel "config" files so that we can release a coherent set of patches."
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The pictures show that while they're close to having it work perfectly... they’re not quite there yet. Nevertheless, great work guys.
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EDIT: Here is a page where they go into great depth as to how they've progressed. Interesting reading.
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MacBooks Ship, Plus Package Porn

By Swad, in OSx86, February 21, 2006

The MacBooks have begun shipping (for some people), inciting shouts of joy and triumph from (a few) new and old Mac users alike (in a couple of lucky places around the globe).
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While many soon-to-be-MacBook-owners have had their notebooks delayed by a week or so, a few people – such as Jason O’Grady – are busy freeing their new toys from their origami packaging and taking them for a drive.
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If you aren’t getting a MacBook, or if the one you’ve ordered is delayed, check out O’Grady’s pictures of the MacBook’s packaging in the meantime. Apple does a lot of things right, and one of those is packaging.
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Are you getting a MacBook? When you do, tell us what you think!
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Linux and the iMac

By Swad, in OSx86, February 20, 2006

Our friends over at the “Mactel-Linux Project” (well, ok, we don’t actually know them – but with the commonalities in our name, how can we not love them?!) have revealed their success with booting linux on one of the new iMacs. From their wiki:
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Using elilo and a modified Linux kernel, we can boot from a USB hard disk on the 17" iMac Core Duo. We are using the hacked vesafb driver to inherit the bootloader's framebuffer. Gentoo runs and can compile the Linux kernel.
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They also have an FAQ and HOWTO on their site, so check out their progress and see what you think!
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EDIT: Haha - I actually did know the guy who runs that site and didn't know it!
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Reports of our death have been greatly exaggerated...

By Swad, in OSx86, February 18, 2006

As most of you know, two days ago we were contacted by an Apple representative concerning links, posted by our members, to the newest patches by Maxxuss on his site. Since the beginning, we have made it known that we would be very willing to work with Apple regarding any concerns they had with their intellectual property and this site (I actually wrote Steve about it a few months ago… but that's another story...). After speaking with the lawyer representing Apple, we've removed the handful of links to Maxxuss' website from the Forum.
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Apple is certainly well within their rights to protect their OS and we have always supported them in this effort. Our first-class moderating staff has helped ensure that direct links to any patches are not allowed. We have in the past linked to the homepage of Maxxuss - but not to the offending 10.4.4 patches - in the interest of news, but we've removed those links just in case.
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News of Apple's DMCA concerns with the links on our site have traveled far and wide over the past 24 hours. Most major tech news site have covered it in one way or another, some accurately, some not. I'd like to be clear regarding the history of this site. Back in the summer, after Steve announced the Intel transition and the Net was filled with rumors of faked leaks, it became apparent to a few of us that the transition was one that many people would want to discuss. We first started the wiki, then the forum, then the full-fleged news portion of the site. Since that time, we've been recognized as the leader in discussion of all things "OS X on x86" related.
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This site was not founded to be a "watercooler for hackers" as CNet posited. Instead, it was simply meant to be welcoming Mac community for switchers and experts alike. We think that we've accomplished that goal - a large portion of our forum membership is comprised of new iMac users who have commented on the accepting ethos of our forum. We welcome everyone. Of course the hackers came (as we knew they would) but as long as they accepted the rules, they were welcomed as well. It's also important to note that situations like this, in which members post questionable material and the site is served with legal notices, are not uncommon; a similar situation occured in the early days with Neowin and Microsoft.
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So that's the story. Apple doesn't "have it in" for our site; they were simply concerned with a few links posted by our members. Those links have been removed and we're back.
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Thanks for your patience with this matter, and to those who are new... welcome to the most talked-about forum on Earth right now.
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