Mac OS X 10.4.3 [Slightly Hacked] :)

Well, I must say, it was with some surprise and not a few high hopes, that I discovered that there was a 'hacked' version of the BSD-based Mac OS X out there, that would run on the Intel chip.

As you may know, last year, Apple announced that they would be releasing a version of the Mac OS X for the Intel chip, but it is supposed to be in an Apple computer; so, the 'hack' enables the OS to work in a non-Apple Intel computer.

So, with the aforementioned high hopes, I downloaded the 'hacked' version of OS X [v.10.4.3 8F1111A, with the so-called Jas. Patch 4.2b] and popped it into my CD, rebooted and 'bingo!' it installed....no fuss, no muss!

An initial bug was with the NIC card, for which there were not drivers included in the OS, but a quick trip to Fry's resulted in a card that worked without a flaw.


Once I got onto the Internet, I began downloading the available updates for that version of OS X and playing around with it.

However, I must say, I was not very impressed with the UI [User Interface] in the GUI.

A couple points:

1. Programs were too hard to find--sometimes they were on the 'Finder' on the taskbar at the bottom of the screen, but more often they weren't.

2. Programs would seem to 'disappear' after being used; meaning, I couldn't find them anywhere, even using the various Search programs, like Sherlock.

3. I downloaded the Firefox browser and it 'disappeared' within minutes of being used.

4. Shortcuts or 'aliases' as they are called in the Mac world, would become 'corrupt' and unusable shortly after being used.

5. I tried the .Mac online storage program, which limits you to 100 megs until you 'pony up' $50/yr. membership fee. Wasn't very impressed with that.


6.I couldn't find a way to set up 'shortcuts' on the taskbar, so I was constantly hunting for the shortcut for the 'executable' for the program I had been using just a few minutes before that had disappeared without a trace.

7. But one of my main gripes was I also could not find a way to minimize all open windows at once, forcing me to minimize them one at a time, which is no big deal if you only have one or two windows open, but a lot of labor if you have half a dozen windows open at the same time.


Now, I'm sure a Mac Addict would scold me for not knowing how to do things that are actually quite simple in the Mac [I am SURE there is a way to close more than one open window at a time] and defend their beloved OS to the death and I would expect them to do that.

But, the fact remains I just didn't like the GUI/UI: it was just too much work finding things and getting things done.

So.........I scrapped it after about a day.

And, now I'm back to my beloved PC-BSD!

Note: if you prefer the OS X, more power to you--it just wasn't for me. :)