If Mac OS was offered on PC, would you buy?

[Rob Williams]

Wasn't the Mighty Mouse (or whatever it was called) the first Apple-developed two-button mouse? Sure you can use your own peripherals, but when the computer comes with a one-button mouse, it doesn't exactly give the impression that other mice are supported.

 

[MacMan]

Yes, of course, OSX on a PC!

In reference to the news post here, would you ever consider purchasing OS X if it was available on the PC?

I would. But what aggrevates me more, is the fact that Dell's customer base have been asking for AMD based systems for over a year now, and they have not budged. But all of a sudden, he states how much he would love to have Mac OS X available on the PC. I think he has his priorities messed up personally.

Either way, would you buy it?

Of course I would buy OSX if it was available on a PC the way Michael Dell dreams of. As a user of OSX for the past six years and running all five major flavors of OSX from Cheetah to Tiger, the system is so simple and intuitive that I buy it if it was on a toaster!

Seriously, as much as I love different OS's I think OSX is still by far the most advanced OS out there. Could be why PC World named it BEST operating system of the year three years running.

How great is OSX? Simple: look at Vista, Beryl, XGL, etc. They are all trying to wow people by copying some animated, 3D like, Open GL like interface that OSX created.

For example, the cube effect, zooming, transparency, etc. are all lifted out of OSX. It had all these features six whole years ago.

Two years ago Google had a special Mac page which featured the zooming effect of the OSX dock. Apple legal closed it down since they patented all of these features. What happen's to Beryl, XGL if Apple legal decides to go after them?

Unfortunately, for Apple, Microsoft has a five-year deal that allows both companies to copy the other ideas. Linux adds with some innovation of their own, but Microsoft shamelessly just copies OSX and then pretends that they invented it.

OSX is based on the idea that things should be kept simple and uncluttered. OSX follows those principles to a tee. The more I use OSX the more I appreciate the forward thinking of its developers.

As great as Tiger is, it is about to be blown out of the water with the latest upgrade, Leopard! Let's see what happens and how quickly the other OS's try to copy it the way they all did with the earlier versions of OSX.

I read in the New York times, I believe, that Apple innovates... the world follows! Every OS is nothing more than a Mac clone. Drag and drop, trash cans on the desktop, pull-down menu's, etc, they were all created at Apple or , at least, brought to the market first by Apple. You can also ad laser printers, mice (Xerox), CD's, DVD's, blue-tooth, Wii, etc. They all appeared on the Mac first, though, of course, not necessary on OSX.

 

[madmat]

It would be nice if you could run Windows games on OS-X though. I use my PC for gaming and not having many games to choose from would really cripple my desire to use my PC.

 

[MacMan]

Windows Games on a Mac, absolutely!

It would be nice if you could run Windows games on OS-X though. I use my PC for gaming and not having many games to choose from would really cripple my desire to use my PC.

Window's games on a Mac, why of course, my good man. First, you could always boot into Windows or use Parralell's, Cross Over or VMWare solutions, but then again, thanks to Trans Gaming out of Toronto, the full-range of Window Games will be available soon for the MAC.

How soon? Try this month. The first two games, Magic Kingdom V and another one, who's name I forgot, will be available.

Trans Gaming makes it possible for Window developers to easily add support for the Mac allowing the Mac to run Windwo games natively and at full speed.

How it work is quite simple and quite fastinating! By providing developers a Window API box, games think that they are running on a native Window's machine. The process works fantastically thanks to the hellp of Nividia.

The first two games is will be just the first of a avalance to quickly give the Mac the full benefit of the Window's gaming world.

I can't wait and I don't even care a toot about games! Also, remember that a very large selection of PC games have native Mac support already, plus the Mac has all kinds of really cool 'Mac ONLY games.' http://insidemacgames.com/

In the meantime, check out these videos of Window games running on a Mac:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xF_CoXsXtk4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rad1FdVhEk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPrWplpCQUQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGGtrkZ6088&mode=

 

[moon111]

I wouldn't buy Mac OS if it was offered on a PC because it's such an extreme security risk. The only reason they're secure is because they're so small nobody bothers with them. If OS X went mainstream, the hackers and viruses would severely handicap it.

And forget about AMD in your laptops, go with VIA instead.

 

[madmat]

Window's games on a Mac, why of course, my good man. First, you could always boot into Windows or use Parralell's, Cross Over or VMWare solutions, but then again, thanks to Trans Gaming out of Toronto, the full-range of Window Games will be available soon for the MAC.

How soon? Try this month. The first two games, Magic Kingdom V and another one, who's name I forgot, will be available.

Trans Gaming makes it possible for Window developers to easily add support for the Mac allowing the Mac to run Windwo games natively and at full speed.

How it work is quite simple and quite fastinating! By providing developers a Window API box, games think that they are running on a native Window's machine. The process works fantastically thanks to the hellp of Nividia.

The first two games is will be just the first of a avalance to quickly give the Mac the full benefit of the Window's gaming world.

I can't wait and I don't even care a toot about games! Also, remember that a very large selection of PC games have native Mac support already, plus the Mac has all kinds of really cool 'Mac ONLY games.' http://insidemacgames.com/

In the meantime, check out these videos of Window games running on a Mac:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xF_CoXsXtk4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rad1FdVhEk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPrWplpCQUQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGGtrkZ6088&mode=

I've said already I do not want to dual boot. If I've got to game on an OS I will only use that OS, I hate rebooting my PC just to swap apps... talk about a pain in the posterior.

Actually, I hate rebooting my PC period. My OS is stable enough that my PC will run as long as I care to keep it on with zero issues. The only time I reboot is due to software updates or driver changes.

That said, I like the idea of running Windows games on OS-X without a virtual machine, seeings as how the new Macs are just PC's with a different OS I don't see why this hasn't been done sooner. If it can be done for OS-X I hope it happens for all the flavors of Linux especially seeings how OS-X is basically a jumped up version of Linux anyways. A Linux version of that app would be perfect for people wanting to escape M$ and since Jobs is afraid of his software competing with his hardware (heh, his hardware... it's not his any longer now, is it?) it would be the only real alternative for Windows users.

 

[Rob Williams]

That said, I like the idea of running Windows games on OS-X without a virtual machine, seeings as how the new Macs are just PC's with a different OS I don't see why this hasn't been done sooner. If it can be done for OS-X I hope it happens for all the flavors of Linux especially seeings how OS-X is basically a jumped up version of Linux anyways.

I respect Macs, but higer-end gaming is one area where Linux will succeed. Why? The video cards. The -best- video card you can get for a mainstream Mac is an X1900XT. The next step down is a 7600GT and finally a 7300GT. The only card that blows all of these away is a $1500 Quadro.

Linux on the other hand, supports -all- video cards. I am running Gentoo on an 8800GTX at the moment. We should be seeing support in Apples for that card in around 5 years ;-)

If emulation becomes a huge thing on Macs, then I could see companies shifting their focus there, and pushing out more video cards. Because at this point in time, -no- video card for the Mac would play a brand new game at full resolution, irregardless of how good the emulation is.

MacMan, you mentioned Trans Gaming, and I agree, they are pushing out some impressive stuff. Don't forget Wine though either, a completely free Windows emulator (of which Trans Gaming utilizes in their engine). Last night while bored, I actually managed to get my favorite MMO (Asheron's Call) of five years working:

http://deathspawner.net/aclinux.png

This was the fourth time in over three years that I've tried, but this is the first time I've actually been able to make it inside the game and play it at full speed. It just goes to show how fast we really are moving along. The game still has a few issues, namely with core Windows features that Wine doesn't support yet, but progression is evident.

As for Trans Gaming, I have been using the upcoming Cedega 6.0 for the past few days, and it runs both NFS: Carbon and Oblivion nicely. NFS: Carbon runs just as well as it does on Windows, but Oblivion is a little more finicky. Once you make it into the game, it runs really well though.

I think game developers should begin to get a clue and start coding their games for more than just DirectX though. If Linux has native clients of big games like Unreal Tournament, Doom III and Quake IV... why don't other companies follow suit?

I am not trying to compare the Windows market to the alternative OS market, because they dwarf it. It would just be nice to see some better support, so people wouldn't always have to run a VM or reboot their machine each time they want to run something.

 

[MacMan]

OSX a security risk, you got to be kidding?

I wouldn't buy Mac OS if it was offered on a PC because it's such an extreme security risk. The only reason they're secure is because they're so small nobody bothers with them. If OS X went mainstream, the hackers and viruses would severely handicap it.

And forget about AMD in your laptops, go with VIA instead.

OSX a security risk, you got to be kidding? OSX is built on Unix, just like Linux and is highly recommended by the US government as a very secure system.

After a full six years of use there has yet to be one system that has been reported infected, just a lot of so called 'proof of concepts.' Remember, a full half of the Macintosh's user base of 55-60 million users are using OSX! You would think that after all of Apple's bragging that some one, some where would have seceeded in getting one measley virius on the thing?

If OSX is too much of a security threat, then by all means what do you suppose is more secure? Window's? Ha, ha, that's rather funny now that I think of it. Vista has already been infected with the 'cursor' curse! Black eyed Vista has only been out two measley months too!

True, Linux with approximately 30-million users is very secure, but then again, its based on the same Unix underpinnings as OSX. I am always amazedl to see just how alike they are in so many ways.

As much as I repect your opinion I think you are wrong. Very, very wrong and I just wish more people would get the opertunity to actually sit down and play with OSX for a couple of hours. Then, I am sure, you would be singing a different tune.

 

[MacMan]

Think again about Mac video cards!

I respect Macs, but higer-end gaming is one area where Linux will succeed. Why? The video cards. The -best- video card you can get for a mainstream Mac is an X1900XT. The next step down is a 7600GT and finally a 7300GT. The only card that blows all of these away is a $1500 Quadro.

Linux on the other hand, supports -all- video cards. I am running Gentoo on an 8800GTX at the moment. We should be seeing support in Apples for that card in around 5 years ;-)

If emulation becomes a huge thing on Macs, then I could see companies shifting their focus there, and pushing out more video cards. Because at this point in time, -no- video card for the Mac would play a brand new game at full resolution, irregardless of how good the emulation is.

MacMan, you mentioned Trans Gaming, and I agree, they are pushing out some impressive stuff. Don't forget Wine though either, a completely free Windows emulator (of which Trans Gaming utilizes in their engine). Last night while bored, I actually managed to get my favorite MMO (Asheron's Call) of five years working:

http://deathspawner.net/aclinux.png

This was the fourth time in over three years that I've tried, but this is the first time I've actually been able to make it inside the game and play it at full speed. It just goes to show how fast we really are moving along. The game still has a few issues, namely with core Windows features that Wine doesn't support yet, but progression is evident.

As for Trans Gaming, I have been using the upcoming Cedega 6.0 for the past few days, and it runs both NFS: Carbon and Oblivion nicely. NFS: Carbon runs just as well as it does on Windows, but Oblivion is a little more finicky. Once you make it into the game, it runs really well though.

I think game developers should begin to get a clue and start coding their games for more than just DirectX though. If Linux has native clients of big games like Unreal Tournament, Doom III and Quake IV... why don't other companies follow suit?

I am not trying to compare the Windows market to the alternative OS market, because they dwarf it. It would just be nice to see some better support, so people wouldn't always have to run a VM or reboot their machine each time they want to run something.

It is true that Apple itself only gives Mac users the choice of a few different video cards, especially on the all-in-one machines, but the Mac PRO will take any video card that runs on Intel hardware. All-in-one machines like the iMac and Mini can, of course, be updated, but the hassle involved isn't worth the effort. You really have to know what you are doing and it is not recommended except for the serious geek or technicians.

Hopefully, one day soon, Apple will be selling tower-based consumer Macs, but for now, if you want complete hardware expandibility, you have to go with the Mac Pro. These systems are high-end and as such...expensive.

 

[Rob Williams]

Hopefully, one day soon, Apple will be selling tower-based consumer Macs, but for now, if you want complete hardware expandibility, you have to go with the Mac Pro. These systems are high-end and as such...expensive.

Yes, that's the thing. Mac Pros cost $2,500 for starters. Most PC enthusiasts can build an absolute kick ass machine for $1,500 and have more overall freedom. If Apple wants the Mac to truly go mainstream, a lot of changes will need to be made.

The question is though... is that what they want? If they start opening up OS X on all angles, that might lead to even more exploits and we might see a Windows XP all over again. Who knows.