MAC OS on PC

Hackintosh.com provides links to everything you need to build your own Hackintosh and get Mac OS X 10.7 "Lion" or Mac OS X 10.6 "Snow Leopard" running on an unsupported computer — instructions, step-by-step "how to" guides, and tutorials — as well as installation videos, lists of compatible computers and parts, andcommunities for support.

Also interested in Mac hacks, tweaks, and themes as well as Mac and Hackintosh case mods? VisitMacHacks.com.

For Mac specs, prices, answers, side-by-side Mac comparison, tools to lookup Macs by serial number and sort Macs by tech criteria, and much more, see EveryMac.com, too. For iPod, iPhone and iPad specs and more, hitEveryi.com.

Want to share Hackintosh.com or save a link for future reading? Options to Bookmark & Share abound.


Hackintosh Instructions & Tutorials

Helpful individuals across the Internet have written a number of step-by-step "how to" guides, tutorials, and general advice on installing Mac OS X 10.7 "Lion," Mac OS X 10.6 "Snow Leopard" and Mac OS X 10.5 "Leopard" on self-built systems, Dell and HP Mini netbooks, and more. Also see the Hackintosh video tutorials, below.

Good Hackintosh tutorials for Mac OS X 10.7 "Lion" include:

Modified OS X 10.7.3 Kernel for Ivy Bridge CPUs – Although Apple does not yet support the Intel "Ivy Bridge" processors, this "BridgeHelper" kernel modification from MacMan makes it possible for a Hackintosh.Please note that this kernel mod is highly experimental.

Install OS X 10.7 Lion via Download – The quintessential tutorial to install the download version of Mac OS X 10.7 "Lion" on a PC with compatible hardware using the xMove and Multibeast tools from the legendary tonymacx86. The same site also covers upgrading a Hackintosh to OS X Lion 10.7.1, 10.7.2, and 10.7.3.

Install OS X 10.7 Lion via Apple Thumb Drive – A simple tutorial to install OS X Lion from the retail Apple USB thumb drive on a Hackintosh, also from tonymacx86.

Install OS X 10.7 Lion via All-In-One Bootable USB Drive – A detailed tutorial to install OS X Lion from a bootable USB drive using the UniBeast tool, yet again from tonymacx86.

Buying Lion on a Hackintosh – A short, but vital, post on upgrading a Mac OS X 10.6 "Snow Leopard" Hackintosh to Mac OS X 10.7 "Lion" via the App Store from the always excellent Bassheadtech.

Building a Hackintosh Mini ITX Server – A helpful post on building a "Hackintosh" Mac mini running Mac OS X 10.7 "Lion" Server. Also from Bassheadtech.

Lion on the Hackintosh – An insightful and detailed post from photographer Thomas Pindelski. Covers OS X 10.7 "Lion" installation, workarounds, limitations, benchmarks and more.

Always Up-to-Date Hackintosh Guide – A noble effort to write an "always up-to-date" guide to building a Hackintosh from Lifehacker. Covers hardware selection and construction as well as installing OS X Snow Leopard and Lion. Recently updated to cover UniBeast and OS X 10.7.3, too.

Note that Mac OS X 10.7 "Lion" does not support "Rosetta" and cannot run older Mac OS X software written for the PowerPC processor. Those who need older software should instead consider Mac OS X 10.6 "Snow Leopard."

For Hackintosh "case mod" tutorials — which cover hardware construction and modification rather than software installation — be sure to also see MacHacks.com. In addition to collections of Macintosh and Hackintosh case mods, MacHacks.com covers Mac OS X hacks, tweaks, and themes as well.


Hackintosh Compatible Computers, Parts & Drivers Listings

You can’t just shove a Mac OS X DVD into any old PC and expect it to work like it does on a Mac. Let’s face it, given the vast assortment of configurations, you can’t put a Windows DVD into any old PC and expect it to work like Mac OS X does on a Mac. Fortunately, many have experimented with Mac OS X on a wide variety of PC hardware and have shared their findings with the world.

The following listings of Hackintosh compatible computers, parts, motherboards and drivers (kexts) should be helpful:

OSx86 Project – The original wiki that lists desktop and notebook computers, as well as parts, that are compatible with a variety of versions of Mac OS X.

DSDT Database – A database of "Differentiated System Description Tables" to make many motherboards from Asrock, ASUS, EVGA, Gigabyte, Intel and MSI "aware" of Mac OS X. In turn, this is promised to make it possible for the operating system to "utilize more of your hardware" — from the excellent tonymacx86.

Kakewalk Compatible Motherboards – A list of motherboards compatible with the Kakewalk software application designed to make it easy to install Mac OS X on select systems.

OSx86.net – A database of official and unofficial Mac OS X drivers from the Dutch Hackintosh community.

Mac OS X Netbook Compatibility Chart – A Mac OS X 10.6 "Snow Leopard" compatibility chart of dozens of netbooks from myMacNetbook.com, a spin off of InsanelyMac.


Hackintosh Support Communities

There are a number of vibrant and active communities that focus on helping one another to configure, build, and troubleshoot Hackintosh systems. Notable Hackintosh communities such as the following may be useful to you:

Hackint0sh.org
Hackintosh.org
InsanelyMac
Tonymacx86 Forums

Kakewalk Forums
AppleCentral Hacks
InfiniteMac
AquaMac

Before posting a message in any of these forums, it always is good form to first search and see whether or not your question has been addressed previously. Those who do not do so can expect to be dismissed as "noobs" or ignored.

 

 


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