Why can’t you install Mac OS X on a PC?
Why doesn’t Apple want its operating system, Mac OS X, to be installed on non-Apple hardware ie. on the majority of Personal Computers in the world?
Marketing (long term)
This article was written in response to Massimo Mantelli’s exhilarating post - I HAVE A MUTE HACKINTOSH
The text in italics serves only to contextualize the post, also in a temporal sense.
In January 2006, the transition from IBM PowerPC processors to Intel x86 began for Apple Computers. This occurred simultaneously with the presentation of Bootcamp, software that allows you to natively install Microsoft Windows XP and Vista operating systems on all Apple computers with Intel processors. In January this year, Apple Computers Inc. changed its name to Apple Inc., thus declaring that its core business (ie. the key activities that contribute the most to the company’s production and turnover) is no longer “only” the design, production and sale of computers and relevant operating systems, but also software, music, telephony and entertainment.

Currently, in September 2008, Microsoft Windows can be installed on the two main hardware platforms, PC and Mac, and the success of virtualization software allows nearly all operating systems to be run on nearly all hardware platforms. The lack of interaction between Mac OS X and PC hardware is therefore increasin
gly felt. Computing history shows us that when there is an obstacle to overcome, there is always someone who is willing to undertake pioneering research to try to solve the problem. Often the solutions either become standards, consolidated and adopted universally by whoever needs them, or the high walls set up by this or that company, seeking to limit the use of its products, crumble over time.
In my opinion, the most striking example of this is Unix and Linux. But that’s another long story.
In the story of Mac OS X, the pioneers are OSx86 project wiki, EFI-X, Psystar wiki – businesses, foundations, organizations, and individuals who believe that a path to overcome this obstacle, which has been created solely by Apple, exists, and are ready to pursue it.
If I were to declare today: “In the future, Mac OS X will run natively on PC platforms”, this would not be controversial because technically, the distance between the two worlds is now minimal.
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