Mac on PC

[thematrix]

Is there any way I can try any version of Mac OS on the PC (Intel) hardware. I wish to try this OS but cannot afford another computer for that.

[edX]

welcome newbie. ur thematrix.

as of yet no. in another week or so maybe, but not likely. at some point in the future, probably.

glad to see you're asking questions. generally you will get more responses if you do searches of the site and determine if a question has been answered before. this is especially helpful advice for potential pc converts as it is annoying to many mac owners how little you guys bother to know about macs. there are lots of threads on the site that spending some time reading should give you some meaningful questions to ask.

but for now, if you want the advantages of a mac, you've got to buy a mac.

ps - thank you for not using numbers as words.

[allengoodman]

Hey Ed? Um, were you really offended he didn't "search before posting"?

I doubt you will be running any ppc based OS on x86 (Intel) hardware anytime soon (this includes MacOS X).

And I highly doubt OS X for Intel will be released next week at MWSF . . . So don't get your hopes up.

[efoivx]

There is no way to directly install a Mac OS on itel hardware but if your machine isn't too old or slow you can run an emulator like

Gemulator http://www.cix.co.uk/~stclub/gemul8r/gem98.htm
SoftMac http://www.emulators.com/

I think there are more but I can't locate them... also most of these emulate older Mac hardware so I doubt you will be able to play with Apple's Mac OS X current system. Find a friend with a Mac or visit an Apple store... that's is going to be the best way to check out the OS.


Good Luck
Happy New Year
Eddie

[edX]

no allen, i wasn't offended. i was just being nice and trying to protect our new friend from the hardcores and going thru the posts for the last month or so would be a good idea for anyone new, if for no other reason than to get a feel for the comunity and what to expect. there's good stuff to be learned in some of those threads.

i probably should have used more smilies

i think eddie's answer about finding someone with a mac and osx and getting the real experience that way is the best idea. second best might be to find an apple reseller and play with the display machines. this is somethng one would want to do before deciding what mac anyway.

[allengoodman]

Personally I don't like the idea of emulation of anything Mac related on an Intel platform . . .

I should also note, Gemulator is only used to read Mac written floppy's on a Win9x machine.

Oh, and SoftMac can only support up to system 8, so I doubt that is of any use either . . .

[vanguard]

I love products that let you run other OS. My favorite is vmware ( http://www.vmware.com/products/desktop/screens_ws.html ).

Unlike Wine (a linux effort to run windows programs) vmware implements an x86 bios. You then install windows, linux, beos, etc. on that virtual machine and whammo, you're running another OS.

Yeah, it's slower but it's faster than dual booting and it allowed me to run Linux at home when I needed windows apps.

If something like this was created that ran anything PPC under x86 it might help people try OSX, then move to PPC when they want native speed. It's just a thought, perhaps a silly one.

As far as the initial questions goes, you need to get your hands on a mac to try it out.

[efoivx]

I know I saw an emulator at the last MWNY for PC that was running OS X wish I could remember the name,

Emulation is great when used in perspective. You're not going to be able to play the newest games or reneder 3d animations. You will be able to 80 % pf te software on that platform with pretty good results.

Always keep in mind though, it's not the real thing and is not giving you th best representation.