Policy regarding OS X on non-Apple Hardware

[dyn]

Full citation is Digidyne Corp. v. Data General Corp., 734 F.2d 1336 (9th Cir 1984), cert denied, 473 U.S. 908 (1985)

DATA GENERAL CORP. v. DIGIDYNE CORP. , 473 U.S. 908 (1985)

Thanks for the link!

From what I can tell this means that Microsoft is also being illegal with their OEM licensing as are others. The OEM license ties their software to a specific piece (or pieces) of hardware which is not allowed if you read the ruling. It makes it very strange though because no one has been sued because of that ruling. So the next question will be why and does that ruling even have a meaning nowadays (in other words: will a judge/jury follow that ruling)?

[Hurmoth]

^ How exactly does Microsoft tie their software to a specific piece of hardware? It ties it to a platform (x86), but not specific hardware (i.e. Apple requires you to have their hardware).

[Frankenb34nS]

Thanks for the link!

From what I can tell this means that Microsoft is also being illegal with their OEM licensing as are others. The OEM license ties their software to a specific piece (or pieces) of hardware which is not allowed if you read the ruling. It makes it very strange though because no one has been sued because of that ruling. So the next question will be why and does that ruling even have a meaning nowadays (in other words: will a judge/jury follow that ruling)?

While yes and no, with Windows at least you can go out and purchase a retail license of the software and install it on any computer you want including MACS. I like to see if you can do that with OS X. I can't go out to the store and purchase a copy OS X and legally install it on my franken machine, at least according to EULA for Apple.

[markwolfe Veteran]

Thanks for the link!

From what I can tell this means that Microsoft is also being illegal with their OEM licensing as are others. The OEM license ties their software to a specific piece (or pieces) of hardware which is not allowed if you read the ruling. It makes it very strange though because no one has been sued because of that ruling. So the next question will be why and does that ruling even have a meaning nowadays (in other words: will a judge/jury follow that ruling)?

I think that what it means is that this case may be dated, but is a precedent. If anyone feels that a company is violating this, or (the other way around) that the precedent should not apply to other situation variants, then another suit will have to be brought up to clarify.

That is, if you think that Microsoft is in violation, consult an attorney that specializes in this area of law, and see if they think there is a case there. Layperson opinions may seem to make sense, but other facets of the law may be unknown and change the legal situation completely.

[Arch]

While yes and no, with Windows at least you can go out and purchase a retail license of the software and install it on any computer you want including MACS. I like to see if you can do that with OS X. I can't go out to the store and purchase a copy OS X and legally install it on my franken machine, at least according to EULA for Apple.

You can purchase A version of Windows to install, but not any version. Read here about how Vista's Home version's EULA disallows you from installing it under visualization. As it states only Vista Ultimate may be used with software like VM Ware or bootcamp.

[Southern Patriot]

As it states only Vista Ultimate may be used with software like VM Ware or bootcamp.

Just to clarify something for you: Bootcamp is NOT virtualization software, therefore it does not fall under this clause. You can use any version of Vista with Bootcamp. VM Ware and Parallels ARE virtualization software, and they do (by the EULA) require you to use Vista Ultimate.

[4A4350]

First I'd like to say that Macs are definetly overpriced and OSx86 is definetly a great choice for people that don't want to pay Apple's over priced hardware (if you can save a buck save it) and like messing with computers, if you are not those kinds of people you shouldn't try it.

Then I'd like to clarify some misunderstandings:

Darwin the open source part of Mac OS X wasn't based on FreeBSD alone they used the mach microkernel with a FreeBSD layer to have posix (Unix) compatibility and the I/O Kit for drivers (which makes FreeBSD drivers useless unless taken as reference for Mac OS X drivers). The R & D that apple did are the things wich are not open sourced like the Cocoa API (which they bought with NeXTSTEP), Quartz Compositor, Aqua, etc.

P.S. This mix is what makes OSx86 (non over priced hardware included) the operating system we all like.

Edited January 10, 2009 by 4A4350

[Thirtythree]

Ive been running OSX on my Dell laptop :)... thanks to this I've decided to get a macbook pro soon... very soon :)

Same here, But on my ThinkPad. Im going to get a Mac mini soon. :D

I have been the complete opposite. Thanks to OSx86 I have seen how dull and lifeless Mac OS X really is. Of course going through AppleCare Tech training at work helped as well. I have no desire to ever spend the price premium on a Mac. Thanks to all that support OSx86 so we can all see the truth!

[Rudy]

I just reinstalled OSx86 on my PC, it's nice to see I could finally use my retail DVD instead of Kalyway (or other downloaded versions). I had a bit more trouble this time but after I got everything fixed it's working much better than my old one was. So now I have my dual screen PC and my macbook pro beside using teleport I have a 3 screens setup ;) (teleport is a software similar to Synergy but it's a bit more mac friendly)

[-Hiroshi-]

Ran OS X on my machine for a while, but then gave it up to run Windows. OS X is a great operating system, and it's innovative and productive, I'm just a Windows user, and always have been.

[insanelyapple]

OSX86 was on my machine also, but ive gave up after fighting with lots of kext, efi, kernels and gpu card (ATI X1600 PCI-E isnt fully suported, cant enable QE and CI); if OS X would be avaible without hardware, will be my main OS...

i love OS X simplicity, especially GUI, software installing etc.

[Des]

I've tried Kalyway 10.5.2 on my system. Worked great, my only downfall was my XFX Nvidia GeForce 8500GT Silent could only be used via VGA. I couldn't get my DVI port working or duals running no matter how many different Kexts and modifications to them. I hope my card will work in the future.

[fix-this!]

osx on a pc isn't even worth it IMO. just install linux or windows and make it look like a mac somehow !

[kyro]

i cant ****ing believe i missed this thread, going to read 20 pages, super-fast reading style. 3.2.1...

[LTD]

osx on a pc isn't even worth it IMO. just install linux or windows and make it look like a mac somehow !

I used to do that. Felt kind of silly after a while.

[HellboundIRL]

osx on a pc isn't even worth it IMO. just install linux or windows and make it look like a mac somehow !

I've had OSX86 running as stable as a rock on a PC so I don't see how its not worth it - I don't care for linux as it just doesn't suit me, but its great to have OSX and Windows side by side and still have the choice what hardware I want to run it on.

[Chicane-UK Veteran]

I'm a Mac user.. keep debating going and building a PC that's known to work well with OSX though as I'm bored of the performance of my iMac.. I'm sure there was a really reccommended spec of a system somewhere (specific motherboard was meant to work brilliantly, etc).

[Melfster]

Whats funny is on my PC OSx86 runs better then Linux. Software wise its really hard to find software drivers for several peripherals on Linux where as they are available for OSX. I have Vista, Windows 7 (64 bit) and OSX86. I have to say OSX does wake up faster I then either OSX86 or Windows 7. Also USB and Firewire and my Web cam work for me. However Windows 7 does feel a little bit snappier and really like the the Library feature. The finder in OSX looks dated and is hard to use.

Edited January 20, 2009 by Melfster

[Death Proof]

OSX86 , if run on the correct hardware is as good as running it on the real thing itself, i got myself a powerful quad core Hack running smooth as butter.

but hey , i do own a real mac as well , so i do feel that my suedo 1337ness is doubled with this .

[SMELTN]

I really want to load it back up on my HP Dv6000 laptop... It's an AMD processor, I tried it before, but it was SOOO slow to start up it wasn't worth it.. I also had the problem where it wouldn't detect my laptop keyboard, unless I plugged in an external keyboard while booting.... Which sucked!!!

I REALLY want to run it on my HP laptop, but with those 2 problems it just wasn't worth it.. Now of course this was mid year last year, so things could have changed since then, but I dont know..

Kyro any ideas?

[giga Veteran]

Admitting to downloading various illegal OS X distributions counts as warez. Enough of that.

[kyro]

I really want to load it back up on my HP Dv6000 laptop... It's an AMD processor, I tried it before, but it was SOOO slow to start up it wasn't worth it.. I also had the problem where it wouldn't detect my laptop keyboard, unless I plugged in an external keyboard while booting.... Which sucked!!!

I REALLY want to run it on my HP laptop, but with those 2 problems it just wasn't worth it.. Now of course this was mid year last year, so things could have changed since then, but I dont know..

Kyro any ideas?

better off at insanelymac regarding this Q.

[SMELTN]

so I see

[freeza]

I bought Leopard just for this purpose, lol.

After many hours of research at insanelymac, i'm finally running a purely vanilla install of 10.5.6 with absolutely no replaced kexts, hacks, or anything other than chameleon bootloader.

Talk about awesome.

Dual booting Windows Vista & OS X with vista's boot manager and "iReboot" from EasyBCD.

[SMELTN]

thats awesome freeza. Honestly I don't care if I dual boot or not.. Honestly I just want to try to run osx on my laptop, just to see what all the buzz is about.