Is it legal to install Mac OS X on a PC?

The Mac OS X EULA says something like "thou shalt not install OS X on non-Apple-labeled hardware". Does this make home built Macs or PCs running OS X illegal?

Or is that "-labeled" bit the key?


I got to wondering about this after reading about Psystar.

It is probably not authorized but illegal would be pushing it a bit far. Once you purchase the software (or as they like to say in most case purchase a license to run the software) you could still get away with using it outside the authorized scope.

The situation with Psystar is different. For one they're using code from Apple & modifying it to run on non-Apple hardware (in exchange for money which makes it even worse). Another problem is that it can be seen as dilution of the brand. If the existence of Psystar (& its advertising) can bring confusion to what is an Apple computer that's once again a no-no.

Basically if you purchase MacOSX Leopard & run it on a Hakintosh, good for you. Don't go after support in any shape or form, and sooner or later a system update will probably screw everything up. If you start a business of selling machines running MacOSX, that's where you're in troubled waters.

You can do what you want on your own hardware for your own use. You cannot sell or distribute it

Good to hear. Apple's software is great, but their proprietary hardware leaves something to be desired. It's just all built so cheaply!

I have yet to find a Mac user (me included) who found it to be cheaply built & believe me, when people pay a financial premium, they tend to be very finicky when it comes to build quality.

It isn't that I refuse to buy Apple hardware.

Let me be more specific: The MacBook seems to have a dismal reputation online. Everyone I've read says they constantly need repairs and that they're all soooo glad they bought the AppleCare. Many of them contrasted the MacBook with past iBooks and PowerBooks which worked fine for years and years.

I agree it's wise to get a good warranty with a notebook. Maybe I've been misinformed about Apple's hardware's reliability. And come to think of it, none of the six people I know who own MacBooks have ever complained.

The Mac Books are extremely well built, but they are not as well built as you pay for. You pay a premium for any well built notebook - laptop whether it is an Apple Macintosh or an IBM Lenovo Thinkpad... are there any others?

But I have had most of my Macs and Thinkpads a lot longer than most laptop owners.

You could try virtualization, Im not sure about the legal issue on that, or you could create some sort of live cd that would basically be OS X on a cd and try it out. Id go for it if you know what youre getting

My MacBook Pro is awesome. I got it last summer, and so far it and Apple has been great. I've dropped the laptop from 3 and 3.5 feet onto carpeted concrete, while open and on. It did get bent on the side of the screen, but everything has worked for the 7 months since it happened and it still shuts and latches, with no noticeable data corruption. Before that, I did have to get my keyboard and trackpad replaced at the Apple store (mysteriously stopped working...). The "Geniuses" were easy to work with, even though I didn't do what I was supposed to (back up my info and make an appointment). I had my computer back in 26 hours. Outside of Firefox crashing now and then (Safari hasn't crashed yet), I have no complaints about hardware being anything but fast and quality or any software issues.

iMacs these days are down to $1200 too.

Refers to "Windows Only" or some such labelling on an OEM registered PC/Notebook

i couldnt agree less with the aspersions about getting a warranty with a notebook.

the manufacturers ought to be making the bloody things up to scratch in the first place instead of putting profit before reliability; bar-stewards.

a one year statutory warranty for all, yes. but i think there should be banded statutory warranties tied to how much you paid for your machine. if you paid less than a G, well you'd expect to get at least a year out of it.. if you paid 5g, they should be covering you for a bit more automatically.

but back to the point of this thread!

i love trick stuff. mini with 7ltr V8 and so on.. so i think putting OSX on something other than a mac is pretty cool, and a big finger to those proprietary legal numbskulls at the big two!

they ought to remember the computing community is a resource and instead of trying to annihilate everyone who does something trick with their gear, embrace progress and move forward.

Of course it is legal to install it on your own... but probably not legal to sell it as a store package.... still there are no laws about how you can install software as long as it is licensed... Unless it has a written... license not valid on...

It is illegal to use a prepackaged osx on a pc

If you downloaded a precompiled version of a hackintosh OS then you are in violation of the Eula. You can compile the data yourself and then install.

Anyone who thinks an apple is worth should look at the hardware they come with a second time. It's a outdated cheap $500 dell repackaged in a shiny white cover and instead of a free 3 year warranty you have to pay for it. I am a tech at a school that has 300 macbooks and every single last one of them has had some issue or another. I've had 20 HD failures already and they are only 1 1/2 years old. There are also some dead monitors and some with bad ram. The last school I worked at had 600 dells that we only worked on about 20 a year. I have 60+ macs piled up in my office and it's only been two months. If you like the OS more power too you they have designed a fairly stable but not customizable OS that runs well for simple tasks. As far as their hardware goes, they should go back to the drawing board. Apple simply doesn't have the funds of most pc makers to design a computer that is up to date because the technology is changing faster than they can design.

Just my 2 cents, I don't mean to make anyone mad.

Most of the errors have been software based. The choices of hardware that mac has made have been less then good also. I've had a 20% hardware failure rate within 2 years on all the 1000+ mac I've managed. (The hardware fails with in two year not 1000+ managed in two years) Most of the hardware failure lie with the screen backlights, HD's, ram, and the shells cracking. We always buy the apple care plan and I'm apple certified to do the repairs on site so I don't have to wait as long as most people to get them back from repair. I also am not too impressed with their choice to switch to Li-on batteries before they fix the over heating and premature failure glitches. I'm not new to macs or pc's and as far as hardware goes it is the same as an out dated cheap dell and it's a waist of money. But again, it's software preference.