OSX on PC

Isn't OSX just a pretty BSD box anyway?
 
nah OSX is just coded with the stability and strengths of BSD as the underpinning. There are a few of the OSX features which are being integrated into BSD though. I think some of the msdosfs and somethings like that is better implemented in OSX than BSD so that is being imported into the FreeBSD kernel I think its a 5.2+ thing though. Its more like one of the features they would like to add, but cant really chuck anyone at it right now. Thats my understanding anyways.
 
The main reason why OSX will not run on the PC is because of digital hardware. Unlike the PC, which uses analog signals to create digital code, Apple's hardware runs completely digital. Information is handled digitally at the motherboard level, rather than analog like on the PC.

So, technically, it is possible (by use of some HEAVY recoding of the OS to run analog), but isn't very pratical. Personally, I would never buy an Apple OS to run on the PC hardware simply because I'm not the largest fan of CISC processors (although AMD processors are RISC-based, they are not true RISC processors). But don't get me wrong, I have several PC's, including a Windows 2K3 domain controller, a Windows 2K3 NAS server, and several Windows XP machines. My main machine is an iMac in my business office. I'm getting ready to by a G5 and iBook for my wife (don't ask me why she needs all that power :D).
 
Man you should just give her the iMac, and buy the G5 for yourself. And if she complains get an ipod mini in pink, that will win her over. LOL
 
Reg said:
I'm getting ready to by a G5 and iBook for my wife (don't ask me why she needs all that power :D).

Damn! I want to be your wife.
.
..
...
Erm, wait...that didn't sound right.
laugh.gif
 
Doesn't Apple have a OSX running on an intel. What's it called Meklar?

I think we can see OSX on something other than PowerPC. The thing is, and I think Steve Jobs said this, they are waiting until people are fed up with Windows in general. And that's starting to happen. That's why Linux is growing. I just don't know why Apple wasn't in the bidding with foreign nations (Indai, China, Germany, etc.) about using Mac instead of going the Linux route. Open software is great and OSX does have an open underpinning (if you can get to it).

Imagine if Apple were to conince them of doing this, when they were thinking of dumping Windows. Plus OSX has alot more commercial software. And with the G5's, wow.
 
rushm001 said:
If they kept going we must be up to 886 I suppose as the original pentium was nicknamed 586. I still remember my first pc a 386dx 32Mhz with 1MB of ram and a 40MB HDD!! It even had a special button to reduce the speed to 16Mhz for apps which couldn't handle the fast speed!

Atari 520ST, without the fabled 1mb upgrade or 20mb hard disk drive :D waiting for game to load from floppy was always a giggle.

Personally, I want a flexible XP desktop and a nice 17" Powerbook to meddle around with. Powerbooks are AWESOME, simple as. A friend of mine got a "refurb" one (£400 off because it has a barely perceivable scratch on the lid) and I meddled with it. Amazing.
 
"The main reason why OSX will not run on the PC is because of digital hardware. Unlike the PC, which uses analog signals to create digital code, Apple's hardware runs completely digital. Information is handled digitally at the motherboard level, rather than analog like on the PC."

PCs are not analog, that is why they are called DIGITAL computers. You may be thinking about the video output being analog. The last analog computer I used was in made by Heathkit in the 60's. The major reason that OSX, like all of the mac OS's do not port to the PC is that major portions of the I/O and processing functions are ROM based, and not coded in the OS, except as a function call. As Apple won't release such code, (Who can blame them) you cannot get a decent mac emulator without a copy of the ROMs. OSX is not functional without the additional code which is kept in the ROMs.
 
If only Apple hardware didn't cost 3x "PC" hardware (hate that term PC misused but as it has been used here I will continue). I think more ppl would be running Mac OS and Apple would have a greater market share for sure. I would ditch my computer today if I could get a G5 for the same price or even w/in a few hundred dollors instead of a few thousand. :/
 
Also another reason why Apple won't release OSX on "PC," is that Apple is a hardware company, not a software company. Meaning they are there to sell computers, not OPerating Systems.
 
wombat said:
"PCs are not analog, that is why they are called DIGITAL computers. You may be thinking about the video output being analog. The last analog computer I used was in made by Heathkit in the 60's. The major reason that OSX, like all of the mac OS's do not port to the PC is that major portions of the I/O and processing functions are ROM based, and not coded in the OS, except as a function call. As Apple won't release such code, (Who can blame them) you cannot get a decent mac emulator without a copy of the ROMs. OSX is not functional without the additional code which is kept in the ROMs.

I didn't mean that the computer is Analog. It is digital like I said. Information is recognized as zeros and ones which translate into binary coding that the machine can understand. I was actually talking about how the signals are handled physically by the system. In the case of the PC, analog methods are used to create digital signals. In the case of the Mac, it's a three step process (almost like how a video card works).

Quite frankly, I would not buy OS X for a PC. I rather have it on my Mac. Emulation for any of which, sucks.
 
Reg said:
I didn't mean that the computer is Analog. It is digital like I said. Information is recognized as zeros and ones which translate into binary coding that the machine can understand. I was actually talking about how the signals are handled physically by the system. In the case of the PC, analog methods are used to create digital signals. In the case of the Mac, it's a three step process (almost like how a video card works).
"analog methods"? I still don't understand what the heck you're talking about. It's digital all the way! What three step process? Terinary code??

Well you lost me. Anyway, what does that have to do with OSX running or not running on PC? The main reason today is that Apple doesn't run x86. That's it. Recompile it for x86 and it'd run on x86. Minormodifications includec of course, and som optimizations changed, but that's about it. Darwin runs om x86...
 
"PC" hardware is far more random then Mac hardware so getting it to run might be more of a challenge then just recompile.
 
HMM... "digital"??? Threestep process?? Sounds like marketing. How fast is the bus on the g5? 1Ghz, right?? Well, how is that speed calculated?

Nyquist formula for datarate = 2*bandwidth*log2(v)

you see.. the problem we have here is that BANDWIDTH is ANALOG. every system that has a speed rating USES this formula. Frequency is ANALOG. You can't get around this. In fact... CPU's are ANALOG! (build one... you will see what I mean.) Transistors are used in an analog system BECAUSE they translate VOLTAGE (which is ANALOG) into a binary system.

The ONLY way to change this is to use straight up optics (which doesn't exist...yet) If you still don't believe me. Check out what Layer 1 of the 7 layer OSI model does. In detail.

Sorry to jump the gun here on this one... but saying something is ALL DIGITAL is like saying you've found cold fusion.
 
silis said:
Sorry to jump the gun here on this one... but saying something is ALL DIGITAL is like saying you've found cold fusion.
I've found cold fusion!

( sorry someone had to do it :( )
 
hahahh.... Actually... I needed that.. I've had a stressful day. Stupid Numerical Analysis class.....
 
silis said:
hahahh.... Actually... I needed that.. I've had a stressful day. Stupid Numerical Analysis class.....
Allright, I won't bash you than. :)

Of course it's analog when it comes to extreme details, the world IS analog. Even optics. But that's, IMHO, being a bit of a picky harda$$. ;)

So, it's digital for all we care, both x86 and G5.
 
The better fight would be work done per clock cycle IMO.
 

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