OSX on PC. Anyone tried ?

[jangoux]

Th studio i am working on has a iMac and i am digging OSX a lot more than windows (even tho' I am struggling to figure out things...). So, i did a quick research and found out that a lot of folks are using OSX on PCs. Anyone tried that?

I was thinking of trying it, just to use Cubase and Office, internet browsing, listen to music..

Ivan

 

[abyssofdreams]

One word: slow.

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

One word: slow.

Get proper hardware and it's just as fast or faster than a modern Mac. Of course it's slow if you run it on crap hardware.

Installing OS X on a PC is rather easy, but you really need to build your machine with a correct combination of parts to make it work 100%. You can snoop around osx86project.org to see what kind of PC's have been able to run OS X perfectly.

If you're adventurous and don't mind tweaking and fiddling around with computers, go ahead and try it. I've had OS X on a couple of different spare computers, and it worked fine for surfing etc. on my Dell Latitude laptop, but there's no video drivers for it so no QE/CI :/

 

[jangoux]

Well, I browsed insanely mac forums a couple nights ago, and it looks all my hardware is supported (Asus motherboard with intel chipset, core 2 quad, Rme Fireface, ATi Radeon 7500 video card, a bunch of S-ATA disks...). The only thing that may give me problems is the Raid controller on my motherboard, which I was planning to use to mirror one of my hard disks.

What distribution did you try ? There are a bunch of them, but I really didnt see one that stands out from the rest. I can also get an osx retail cd from my job, but i really didnt understand if only the PC EFI thing is needed, if I have to do a CD swap thing everytime or just for install, etc..

I dont play games, so it works for recording, writing text, surfing, it´d be awesome.

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

What distribution did you try ?

I've used JaS 10.4.8, Kalyway 10.5.2 and 10.5.4 IIRC.

 

[Carcass29]

yes...I have a Macbook Pro, I run bootcamp so I can use both OS...alot of my plugins are for PC...still struggling to figure out OSX but I go back and forth. I've heard of a few people on this forum that have built PC's and run OSX for recording but having a few hardware issues.

 

[jangoux]

I've used JaS 10.4.8, Kalyway 10.5.2 and 10.5.4 IIRC.

I still havent understood whats the difference between those distros and a vanilla install. I´ve even read something about guys using Kalyway to make a vanilla install....Whats the difference between those you mentioned ?

 

[Noumenon]

"vanilla install"?
if you mean install from the original cd you're in for trouble, unless you get that EFI-X chip.

 

[jangoux]

Vanilla install is what they call the osx without modification to the kernel or that kedx or whatever files.

 

[dani]

running os x on a pc isn't mega easy, but its not difficult at the same time. the last release i used was JaS 10.4.8, i've not tried any leopard ones, but i can only assume its gotten easier to do. i have a mac anyways, so it was out of curiosity. there are some things with os x though, which i find VERY annoying for running cubase in;
a lot of free mac plugins are for the older, power PC hardware, and as such, they have to be run in a seperate VST bridge app, which runs through rosetta (a power pc emulator). THIS IS SLOW. also, the vast majority of free VSTs are for windows only, so i find myself moving back and forth between windows and os x.

one last thing, for running the same plugins, i find windows to actually give slightly better performance.

its definatly worth a try though

 

[abyssofdreams]

Get proper hardware and it's just as fast or faster than a modern Mac. Of course it's slow if you run it on crap hardware.

Installing OS X on a PC is rather easy, but you really need to build your machine with a correct combination of parts to make it work 100%. You can snoop around osx86project.org to see what kind of PC's have been able to run OS X perfectly.

If you're adventurous and don't mind tweaking and fiddling around with computers, go ahead and try it. I've had OS X on a couple of different spare computers, and it worked fine for surfing etc. on my Dell Latitude laptop, but there's no video drivers for it so no QE/CI :/

It is? Last time I checked it was still emulating slow, even on a dual-core PC not too old, what's proper hardware then? I'd take a look if they got it faster...

 

[Kadmium]

It is? Last time I checked it was still emulating slow, even on a dual-core PC not too old, what's proper hardware then? I'd take a look if they got it faster...

It's not emulating anymore, now that a Mac is just an Intel notebook / server PC. The Intel versions of Mac OS X run natively.

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

It is? Last time I checked it was still emulating slow, even on a dual-core PC not too old, what's proper hardware then? I'd take a look if they got it faster...

Here's one example: http://lifehacker.com/software/benchmarks/hackintosh-vs-mac-pro-vs-macbook-pro-benchmarks-322866.php

 

[Baron of Norsworthy]

Just wondering how does protools 7 work on pc with OSX ??

 

[Noumenon]

Vanilla install is what they call the osx without modification to the kernel or that kedx or whatever files.

Can't see that working, unless you use the EFI-X chip.

 

[jangoux]

There's a boot thing that emulates the EFI, just like people use bootstrap to run XP on Macs. SOmething like a boot loader thing.