If Mac OS X Came to x86, Would You Switch?
 

I am just curious that if Mac OS X were to come out for the x86 architecture, would you be one to switch to it? I know there is PearPC out there, as I help develop drivers for it some, but I am more interested in Apple actually designing OS X to work completely on an Intel, AMD, Via chip instead of IBM/Motorola chips.

I'm not wanting another mac vs. windows war, that's not what this thread is about. I am mainly just interested whether or not this is something people would like to see as well as be able to use.

If it had the same compatibility as a Windows machine, for sure. If not, I'll stick with having a Mac for my graphics, word processing, and a PC for gaming (my current setup).

No. I have run PearPC and while I could easily use OSX I just don't need a pretty GUI. I'm not interested in another pay OS. I figure with the exception of windows if an OS is free it's for me.

Wouldn't it be relatively easy to port OS X over anyway since it's built on top of BSD? I was under the impression that OS X was a windowing system for BSD, not a complete OS.

I would switch only if it worked as well as it does on Apple hardware. But it wouldn't. The reason OS X is so smooth and solid is because Apple knows precisely what hardware they are building it for. There aren't many different things to be taken into account when compared to PC hardware.

But, if it worked just as well, then yes. I would still use Linux primarily though.

I wouldn't consider replacing my Windows XP desktop with it, but I might think about replacing one of my BSD systems just for fun. However, I much prefer Fluxbox to the MacOSX GUI - so I don't think I'd replace it.

I might, however, use VMWare to run it just for fun :)

Sure turn the most stable operation system in history into something that can be bombarded with spam, attacks, spyware, adware and everything else. No, I'll keep my os x where it is.

I prefer my gentoo system....I like to play with it's internal workings...

I'd find it interesting to see what I could custom build on a PC platform for OS X in regards to the hardware. Being able to pick my own components to completely build my system seems a bit more appealing than being forced to use certain itmes like Apple makes people do. On top of that I'm able to find the best prices for my components as well without having to deal with Apple's fixed pricing methods.

All that stuff has to do with software, not hardware. If Mac OS X were on x86, it would not be any more vulnerable than it is now.

Yes, but you know there is Gentoo for OS X now too, right? :)

If I had the spare time to do it, I'd certainly run OS X on an x86 platform for fun. I guess it really depends on hardware support. Hell, with a little more spare time I'd slap OS X on the X-Box. For now I'm happy dual-booting Windows XP and Fedora on my primary machine.

Acording to a someone I spoke to who works for Apple (he was a customer at Radio Shack when I worked there, so you judge the validity of what he says,) Apple is fine-tuning a release of OS X that will run on the x86 architecture, and has been doing so secretly for years. According to the man who told me this, they will wait until a release date is scheduled for Windows Longhorn, and saturate media outlets with advertising one week beforehand, and finally release their OS the day before Longhorn debuts. Ads will allegedly focus on Longhorn's big-brother-like features, especially its ability to automatically delete non-licensed media.

MrSelfDestruct, I hope the madman you spoke with was speaking the truth! haha, that would be an awesome burn to BillyG.

If OSX came and could run on PC hardware, I would definitely give it a chance. If I'd switch would depend on how it ran, and if I could get used to the features of MacOS. Only time would tell.

Not possible, and no. I don't like to have to use a drop down menu to close my programs.

Apple has been working on such a project ("Marklar" - look it up), but there is no way they would release it unless they were in big trouble. In any case, if they did release it, it would only run on Apple X86 machines - they make their money from hardware, not software.

I'd probably switch somehow to just give it a try... see how I liked it. I currently run Linux and no Windows boxes. If I was on Windows all the time, I definitely think I'd switch (it's built off BSD hehe).

I use mac at work and windows at home. Given the chance to run Mac OS X on x86 architecture, I would definitely use it albeit in a multi boot environment. I have no preference Mac or Windows, but would love to have the utility of being able to run either environment without having to incur the high costs of Apple hardware for home.

I think running OS X on x86 would be better than running XP on x86. lol

Of could I'm using XP on x86, but I'd love to try OS X on Mac. I'd give it a try if it got ported as an open source project for sure.

Herk

Oh hell no.

technically no...gentoo runs on ppc which is the cpu arch apple uses ...it also runs on amd64(native) alpha, sparc, and beta mips support... :D of course x86 too....
sorry to be a stickler for correctness... :p ^_^


and also..I really really don't think it will ever happen. Apple is a hardware company. They sell software to work with their hardware. All their money is in hardware therefore to release OSX on x86 would be shooting themselves in the foot to a degree.