It’s pretty official at this point — update version 10.6.2 DOES NOT support Intel’s Atom processor. And so every single one of you too cheap to buy Cupertino’s hardware and are running Snow Leopard pre-10.6.2 on your netbooks, this update is NOT for you. We found this via Geek.com and TheRegister.co.uk. Read on:
…the venerated OS X operating system has often functioned in the past as the reason behind the Macintosh premium on hardware. Apple once had a comfortable lock on OS X, but the 2005 transition to Intel CPUs meant that, for the first time ever, OS X could be run natively on PCs. Fast forward a couple of years and you have the latest version of Snow Leopard running on pretty much every flavor of Intel CPU out there, and Apple fighting a lawsuit against Psystar, a company that sells Hackintoshes.
In truth, the reason behind this all is obvious: Apple doesn’t want to dilute the Mac experience by not crafting each and every Macintosh out there around the OS X operating system. But while they’ve done what they can to throw a spanner in the works of the Hackintosh OSx86 project in the past, with the forthcoming Snow Leopard 10.6.2 update, it looks like they might be taking specific aim at taking OS X off netbooks… once and for all.
And from TheRegister:
Now that Apple has released the final version of Mac OS 10.6.2 Snow Leopard into the wild, it appears that the shipping version does not support Intel’s Atom processor after all.
But according to Apple, it does fix the home-directory-eating Snow Leopard bug that has plagued many a fanboi in recent months.
In recent days, there’s been some confusion over whether the latest version of Mac OS X would support Atom. First, it was reported that a developer’s build of 10.6.2 cut Atom support. Then came word that it continued to support Intel’s netbook processor. And now we’re back to the original “nuh-uh!“
Read the full accounts from Geek.com here, and from TheRegister here.
Apple has always been iffy about hardware that’s not their own — hence the strategy of selling both hardware and OS bundled together. You can also see this in the iPod-iTunes strategy. But as with the iPod being hacked to run on simple firmware, Apple’s switching to Intel meant a possibility of running Mac OS on PC hardware.
A few generations and here we are, in a world where Hackintoshes abound — from desktops to netbooks. Rumors were flying around that Apple was keen to cut Atom support in this update, and we it would seem that we heard true. Running your Atom-powered netbook after the update would give you… errr, nothing, actually. Just a black screen.
And so for all you Hackintosh users thinking you are oh-so-cool, we suggest not running updates for your OS just now. Or actually, back up your stuff on with your external DVD drive (or a USB Blu-Ray drive, if you have one), and try the update and see for yourself. C’mon, you know you want to try it.
PS
A worthy postscript is that Atom-backlash excluded, the 10.6.2 update also includes 43 security fixes for OS X, a 400-plusMB download for everybody.
And just like that, Liliputing.com already has a fix for 10.6.2 bricked netbooks.
Check em out. More on this later.
Meanwhile, here’s another alternative external Blu-Ray drive for your Macbook