Switching Os help?

[Bidoing]

so I'm looking for help and all...

 

 

Heres my situation:

I have had it with XP I'm done with it , I want to switch to mac. So first of all here are my system specs (cause I wanna know if I can even use mac on this PC)

Intell®

Pentium® 4 CPU 2.8 GHz

2.79 GHz, 512 MB of RAM

supports SSE2

(I dont know what else is needed to know :/ )

 

I'm also wondering about my Ipod, Mouse, Printer, Keybord, Linksys Wireless internet (lynksys Wireless pci), And speakers and their ability to run on the Mac Os, if thats even an issue.

 

 

I want to delete everything on my comp (except maybe my Itunes Librairy...?)

 

I know I can dual boot, and if this isn't possible that may be the next best option, but I would really like to

1. Clear up all of my comp space

2. And start fresh with Mac

Please any help is welcome I really hope some one can help me.

And yes i already have the ability to have what ever version of Mac so that is not an issue.

[Chris Lockheart]

Hey!

 

Well, for starters, you can find a lot of wikis and walthroughs on the web about the subject. http://wiki.osx86project.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page is a very complete wiki, covering lots of aspects. There is also a list of compatible hardware, though, not all may work for you, as well as there may be some not listed that may work.

 

About your iTunes Library, I heard that Apple is allowing one to recover lost music in a once in a lifetime oportunity. Not sure how it works, though. Of course it will only work if your music was downloaded through iTunes. In case they are p2ped, you can allways burn a CD or DVD with 'em

 

 

Hope I helped giving you an overview of it all.

 

Cheers!

[jonz14]

Yes, your computer will run Mac, I know because my specs are exactly the same. You need to stick with iTunes 6 though because you only have sse2

 

Your keyboard and mouse will only work if they are USB but I think that you can get a driver to use the PS2.

 

I don't know about your internet but if it helps my internet is running through a Linksys router by cable.

 

If you want to move your iTunes library you should delete everything off your iPod, enable disk use, then put your iTunes music folder on your iPod if it will hold it all. When you get set up with Mac you can just drag and drop your iTunes folder into iTunes and they will automatically be copied and added. Then you can reformat you iPod for Mac. (I'm assuming all of your music can fit on your iPod). And don't forget to deauthorize your computer before you delete Windows.

 

Your printer will probally work with the supplied drivers that are installed when you install Mac.

 

I don't really know about your speakers though but I know mine worked.

 

Hope I helped

[Bidoing]

Ok, so far you have been an amazing help, actually! I do have a few more questions though. One being SSE2, since this is all thats supported (or the max) then does switching to mac make sense? i mean i dont want my comp to be unbelievably slow or anything like that :/. also i am disappointed that I can only use up to Itunes 6 but thats no biggy. Umm lets see, oh and so if I want windows GONE from my comp and all my disks clear how would I go about that? Thanks for all your help so far! hope you can provide a little more. (btw I have A C: drive and a D: drive that i can use.

[Chris Lockheart]

Hey ma'

 

Well, about the SSE2, for what I've read (note that I haven't been able to install OSX86 myself, but I've been reading a lot on the subject) SSE3 is required for Rosetta, that is, it is required to run apps compiled for PowerPC processors. For all Universal Binary apps, SSE2 should work fine (though, as allways, there may be exceptions).

 

About making sense. OSX86Project is an experimental unofficial unendorsed project. That means it is not a stable Operational System. You probably won't be abble to get support for any application you may use. If the thing is against Windows, well, I would sugest you to try Linux. I'm not telling you not to use Mac, I'm just saying that if you're not in the mood to maybe get system errors, freqüent reboots or even formats, you shouldn't use OSX86 as your primary Operational System.

 

But hey, lotsa people said "no way apple is swiching to x86!!!"... and look what happened. I mean, who knows if in the near future Apple won't decide to launch a PC version of Mac OS X?

 

Now, for instalation procedures... I've been trying myself to make a clean install of OSX on a clean HDD through Windows. Though as I said, I haven't have any success, I'm pretty sure it is possible. What you should do is use a .img file to make the instalation on your other HDD through windows or use a bootable disk to make a clean install. In any case, there are plenty of how to's around there.

 

 

Hope I've been of some help

 

Cheers

[Bidoing]

Now I'm having some last minuite questions

 

1.Mouse + Keyboard: I have one usb mouse and 1 ps2 keyboard + mouse, I have heard that ps2 stuff only works with a patch, correct? So im stuck with no keyboard untill I can get that patch after install?

 

2. Drives/patches: I am hearing about all these Drives I will need, so do I get these after Install, or before?

 

3.Internet: I have a Lynksys Wireless Pci card in my pc (which lets me connect wirelessly to the internet, my router is supported by mac...) Will the internet be working, or what will I have to go through to install.

 

4: If all fails, I can still put my windows cd back in and install windows right?

 

5. Since I only can do SSE2 not 3 will I only be able to run a few apps? Cause I wanna be able to like run Photoshop, finalcut, and a couple blizzard games, will those be workable? oh and the basics like word etc...?

[Chris Lockheart]

Hey!

 

Again, not not the best guy to answer, but as no one has aswered you yet, I'll try my best

 

1. - Yup, that's what I've heard. As Apple's computers do not use PS2 input devices, there shouldn't be an 'out-of-the-box' driver for 'em. But again, I'm not sure.

 

2. - About drivers, it'll all depend on your hardware. If your video card, for instance, is of a model shipped in one of Apple's computers, it should work fine. My guess is that a osx86 install on a pc should be like a clean windows install: the first time you run it'll be all screwed up (except with windows, it'll probably continue screwed up for the rest of it's existance ).

 

3. - I'm not sure about wireless. I've read some guy on the forum saying something about this. You should run a search on the forum. I'm sure one or some of the topics will help you with this.

 

4. - Maybe possibly, if you don't screw up your hard disk during the proccess... Again, not sure, but as I haven't read anything about this, it should be fine.

 

5. - Hmmm... about photoshop, CS2 is still only for PPC. No, you won't be able to run it. Final cut i'm not sure, but as it's Apple's, there should be arleady universal binaries. I know that Civilization IV, UT2004 and WoW are already available for x86, but you can check a list of Macintosh softwares here. It will show if the app is universal binay or PPC only.

 

Remember that if you install and the system is not abble to recognize you internet, you'll have to use another computer to find the drivers, burn a cd.... So it is a good idea to make a test install on a sepparate partition or have a spare hdd with your windows of *nix system.

 

 

Cheers

[Specsmacer]

Hey, im running mac osx on my HP and Dell Inspiron

 

HP specs

2.8ghz P4 SSE2

512mb ram

128mb ATI Radeon 9700pro

PS2 keyboard and USB mouse (i didnt need a patch )

 

Dell specs

1.6ghz Celeron M SSE2

512mb ram

128mb Mobile Intel 915gm

 

I would like some more specs... gfx card, audio etc, anything!

 

Wireless: well it depends. ive got a buildt in dell wireless card on my laptop which works. and i have a usb adaptor on my desktop but i couldnt get wireless there

 

Patches: well it depends, i patched my laptop but i didnt have to patch anything on my desktop.. but i didnt use mac on my desktop as much as i use it on my laptop (dont have it on desktop anymore got deleted because of a hard drive crash) because i thought it was better with my laptop since i use it more.

 

Applications: soo you have a SSE2 processor, no problem, usually the ¨hacks¨ have a SSE3 thingy. so you WILL be able to use PPC programs! (I´ve tried on my laptop and desktop) Word isnt SSE2 yet but it works. i dont really know what to say. word etc basics will work, Photoshop will work (tried) games.. ugh depends if its universal. ive tried BF1942 on my laptop got about 30-45 fps, on medium (not bad ^^ ) it wasnt universal but it worked!, some things will run slower, i would wait with photoshop, it was slow. but it worked for basic tasks.

 

My experience with mac on pc is quite positive! mac was actually faster and more stable than windows! even though it only is a SSE2 processor

 

ATI Graphics card isnt fully supported yet (i think you can get max 1280x1024x32) when it comes to resolution.. but i use a AGP card. so ask someone else when it comes to gfx, QE and CI is supported but i cant watch DVD and play games on my desktop, i get mouse flicker some times, i dont know about nVidia,

 

need more info, just ask

[Bidoing]

ok a few things, One I have 2 drives and I just thought of this, to test mac and all could i install Mac os X to my other drive (the one that windows is not on) and if so how would i go about dual booting, cause then I could get everything working on mac using windows.

[Specsmacer]

if its another hard drive i did this

 

have the ¨xp drive¨as master and the mac hard drive as cable select or master, switch off the computer, pull out the power cable for the xp drive, start up, install on the ¨mac¨hard drive and format it and stuff, and follow the stuff, when you want to go back to windows just switch off your computer, put back the windows hard drive power cable and boot. (xp will boot) if not switch off pc pull out mac drive power cable and boot windows should boot

 

 

this is what i did with my desktop, doo this at your own risk, pull out power cable for your pc aswell,

 

im not responsible for anything you doo, im just saying what i did!

[Latwithatt]

so I'm looking for help and all...

Heres my situation:

I have had it with XP I'm done with it , I want to switch to mac. So first of all here are my system specs (cause I wanna know if I can even use mac on this PC)

Intell®

Pentium® 4 CPU 2.8 GHz

2.79 GHz, 512 MB of RAM

supports SSE2

(I dont know what else is needed to know :/ )

 

I'm also wondering about my Ipod, Mouse, Printer, Keybord, Linksys Wireless internet (lynksys Wireless pci), And speakers and their ability to run on the Mac Os, if thats even an issue.

I want to delete everything on my comp (except maybe my Itunes Librairy...?)

 

I know I can dual boot, and if this isn't possible that may be the next best option, but I would really like to

1. Clear up all of my comp space

2. And start fresh with Mac

Please any help is welcome I really hope some one can help me.

And yes i already have the ability to have what ever version of Mac so that is not an issue.

 

Jumping right into removing XP from your drive may leave you stranded and create alot of work for you.

 

You should start out with a spare drive and see how far you get. Drives are relatively inexpensive these days. If you hit a block wall and can't get it installed then you have an easy way to go back to XP. You can use the spare hard drive to save extra data. (like viruses and spyware)

 

OS x86 from what I have experienced is a stepping stone for currious individuals that can devote a good week or two to installing it.

 

If you are successful then you get the free test drive.

 

If not then your situation may be trial and error. It sometimes take time and patience to get the basic items going. Be sure to look over the hardware compatibility lists.

 

With all that said... If you really want the whole Ball of Wax "OS X". I recommend saving up the cash and buying a true Mac. You will save yourself a lot of frustration and be very happy!

 

Good Luck in your quest...