Why would you want to install OSX on a computer that comes with WinXP, the best windows OS to ever come out. I can understand if it came with vista, but hell, Mac can’t possibly have that much going for it to make you want to install OSX on it, unless of course all your other computers are Macs as well, to which I say, WTF? I may not agree with Microsoft’s Ethics, but their product is more supported, so I don’t have much of a choice.

Posted at 3:10 pm on Feb 21st, 2009 by gordunk

“why” not really a question we like to ask on hackaday, if it were asked more often this site would be named hackamonth.

Posted at 3:48 pm on Feb 21st, 2009 by macegr

i agree with macgr,
and as a mac & windows & linux user ( in that order )
i can fully understand “why”
its because its a sweet hack!

and you can have your “more supported” software (read: computer games and trojans ), i on the other hand will take my lack of games, go down to my local coffee shop and pull chicks,

have a nice day,

Posted at 4:02 pm on Feb 21st, 2009 by nin9

“hackamonth”

Or indeed, slack-a-day

Posted at 4:06 pm on Feb 21st, 2009 by arkizzle

if i wanted to pull chicks, i wouldn’t count on carrying my laptop with me. with the dell mini 9 being so affordable, i can see this being a popular guide.

Posted at 4:19 pm on Feb 21st, 2009 by benji

what i’m curous about is this any different than the msi wind install described in an earlier hack

http://uneasysilence.com/archive/2008/10/13519/

Posted at 5:12 pm on Feb 21st, 2009 by h_2_o

I’ve had Leo 10.5.4 on my Dell Mini 9 since December. The only one problem I have is that the hibernation doesn’t work. Well at least not with the SSD that came with it. I knew about that before I bought it.
I have to say it’s a really nice machine, fast and works well with vmware “windows in unity” if needed. If you plug the LCD into the video out before booting it will support the higher resolutions.
I also have used it with a 17″ screen. Which I have modified with a 5-wire touch screen kit found on ebay.
So what I am saying is that you can use it as a desktop machine and then take it with you on the road.

Posted at 5:23 pm on Feb 21st, 2009 by paul

the summary is a little misleading
according to the article, you need at least a 16gb SSD to install OS X comfortably
i just calculated out on dell’s site that it would cost ~$400 not 200 like the summary states

Posted at 5:56 pm on Feb 21st, 2009 by octelcogopod

I have a mac. I love the workflow, and GUI design. I got used to mac… so it is in my interest to have a mac laptop too, no?
and if I cant afford one, then I get a mini with Mac OS X on it, no? :D

Cant wait to see someone using an aspire one with OS X on it.

Posted at 6:00 pm on Feb 21st, 2009 by abbie

octelcogopod: the summary actually said earlier this week but that particular sale is over. it won’t be long until they have another though and be sure to check dell’s outlet site, it has much better deals than you’ll find on the main site.

Posted at 6:07 pm on Feb 21st, 2009 by ehrichweiss

eliot writes so professionally, after reading just “installing osx on commodity” i knew it was him. “commodity” is too big a word for the other writers on here.

Posted at 6:08 pm on Feb 21st, 2009 by andrew

Its a cool hack, I mean ever see the price’s of a mac Book.

Bost of both worlds.

Posted at 6:29 pm on Feb 21st, 2009 by decius

Some of us like to drop to a bash shell now and then. I can get so much stuff done with perl, sed and awk.

Posted at 7:39 pm on Feb 21st, 2009 by larry

@ehrichweiss:
ah, i didn’t realize there was a sale on these things. thanks for clearing that up!

@larry:
that’s why i love OS X
it’s pretty, usable, user friendly, but you got the underlying BSD stuff and things like macports

Posted at 8:07 pm on Feb 21st, 2009 by octelcogopod

@abbie or anyone else for that matter…
i have an acer aspire one… if you hear about this hack on one let me know!! :)

Posted at 9:43 pm on Feb 21st, 2009 by dustin

I’ve had OS X on my Mini 9 for almost 2 weeks. I LOVE it. The default install of Ubuntu sucks. The wireless configuration panel is taller than the screen so you can’t click the OK button!

Anyway, everything works perfectly. It’s fast and convenient.

Posted at 10:28 pm on Feb 21st, 2009 by hpux735

Already been done on the aspire one too…

http://www.aspireoneuser.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=7679

Great little “hackbook” ;)

Posted at 6:03 am on Feb 22nd, 2009 by jeffers

i’m laughing at gordunk….sorry mate, but OSX makes WinXP look like an OS from the stone ages….there is simply NO COMPARISON between the glory of OSX vs. any versions of Windows…..once you use it, you’ll know.

Posted at 11:41 am on Feb 22nd, 2009 by iedei

@iedei – preference, not fact. i use both, and others. they’re all better for some things than the “other” OSes, so stuff the snarky coffee-shop crap. the only thing fanboy attitudes serve is raising the ire of rational, intelligent people.

on topic, anyone know whether this hack will allow you to use the iphone sdks without issue? a buddy of mine (rather poor) would like to know!

Posted at 1:20 pm on Feb 22nd, 2009 by scabby

@scabby:
Can’t you just get VMWare, put OS X on it and develop on the VM?

Posted at 5:15 pm on Feb 22nd, 2009 by octelcogopod

@octelcogopod: actually, i dunno. all i know is that he was b!^$hing about his hackintosh and how it wouldn’t let him make iphone apps that could actually be submitted as official (non jail-broken) apps.

i’m honestly not sure what the rules are behind it. i’ve actually never used a mac to do any coding, and i wouldn’t be caught dead w/ an iphone, so not sure. was just hoping that someone here would be in the know, and i could help a brotha’ out.

i’ll ask him about that idea though.

Posted at 5:48 pm on Feb 22nd, 2009 by scabby

Just you wait. Apple will release a netbook in the near future it’s inevitable. Netbooks have become very popular and apple are always on the heels of anything popular.

I personally would love to see a netbook as thin as a macbook air, just as small as a regular netbook and with great battery life. I’d buy one in a second!

Posted at 6:54 pm on Feb 22nd, 2009 by Justin

@jeffers

thanks

Posted at 9:59 pm on Feb 22nd, 2009 by dustin

why ‘at least its not piracy’? piracy = break law. break eula = break law. whats more heinous? simply disagreeing? or saying you agree, then breaking that agreement?

Posted at 2:47 am on Feb 23rd, 2009 by lazylizard

apple might make a netbook in the near future, but you wont find one for $200, and probably not $300 or even $400. So this little Dell really fits if you are cheap. I have been tempted to buy one just to play around with at that price.

Posted at 3:49 am on Feb 23rd, 2009 by Paul

Why the hell would you break that laptop?

Posted at 7:25 am on Feb 23rd, 2009 by Rob Clifton

This sounds like a great idea, only problem is I don’t own a computer which I don’t mind breaking.

garethtech.com

Posted at 2:54 pm on Feb 23rd, 2009 by GarethTech

OSX on a Mini9 is quite a good solution to get a so small machine able to perform moving business and pleasure functions…
Logic Pro allows around 30 instances of platinum verb… not bad isn’t it ?

And indeed, all this is a message to Apple…
Give us a microBook, with a 10/11″ 720p screen, an HDMI out, a DVB-T/H tuner, a low frequency (1,4G?) dualcore (not Atom), 2G of Ram, and 128G of flash.. well.. in fact, a turbocharged Dell Mini 10 ;-)

Posted at 8:15 am on Feb 25th, 2009 by John Who

lazylizard
Breaking an eula is not the same thing as breaking the law. If you break the law, you can be arrested. If you break an eula, the other party can sue you. These are two very different outcomes.

Posted at 9:33 pm on Feb 25th, 2009 by 00cho

I’ve been running OS X on my Dell mini 9 since the 1st of December. I started out with the MSIWindozx86 install (10.5.4) but too many things didn’t work. Finally got around to doing a proper Type11 install from my retail DVD, upgraded it to 10.5.6, & have been happy with it ever since! Software Update works & so far hasn’t broken anything & the computer sleeps when you close the lid & behaves after it wakes up. Mine has a 32 GB Runcore SSD, 2 GB RAM, & a 16 GB SD card for extra storage space.

Posted at 12:41 pm on Mar 2nd, 2009 by emdc

i swear i can do it

Posted at 11:29 am on Mar 6th, 2009 by Pro

I have a friend in Japan (in on Maui) who took 3 hours and turned his Dell mini into a Mac OS Machine. We even used iChat for video conferencing and it worked! The image was clearly not up to spec as was using a full fledged Apple computer, but it worked really well despite a little fuzziness around the edges.

Posted at 1:35 pm on Apr 25th, 2009 by peter

I made the switch to OS X last year on Apple hardware. It is so addictive, I can never see myself going back to Windows. I do tech support work and have to support windows. Everything time I have to reboot to install something, it is like a poke in the eye. Only rarely do I have to reboot OS X on a software update or change. Most often I simply shut down the one application and then reopen it. Fast Painless, Fun. Windows, is Painful, Slow, and Boring.

Posted at 11:41 am on Apr 30th, 2009 by Conrad

I too installed OSX on my Mini 9 five months ago – here’s my review – http://www.mobilebroadbandrocks.com/dell-mini-9-with-osx-5-month-road-test/

Posted at 2:26 am on May 6th, 2009 by mbbrock

I can’t believe how well the Dell Mini9 runs OS X and how easy it is to install. I’ll be purchasing at least 4 more for the family.

Posted at 4:34 am on May 31st, 2009 by hwood

I bought one of these for my father and put mac on it and he loves it!

Posted at 3:16 pm on Jun 17th, 2009 by sybbian