I remembered making a vow years ago that my next laptop would have to run on a Mac. So I spent a week looking for the best deals.
One evening, I managed to find the laptop recovery discs, which allowed me to reformat the laptop to factory settings. After I did that, the laptop appears to perform better. Wifey was happy.
So it appears I managed to hold off the purchase - yet again.
During this whole purchase process, I came across some online articles about running Mac OSX on Intel-based PC. Upon closer study, it seems not that difficult. So I tried - and only got this far.
Installation got stuck at the Apple logo screen. After troubleshooting for 2 nights, I gave up, attributed to some hardware incompatibilities.
Incidentally, during these 2 days of online troubleshooting, I found another way to run OSX: using virtualisation machine running inside Windows OS. We all know that OSX supports running Windows OS using virtualisation software like Parallels. So the other way is technically possible. The only reason why this is not widely published is that Apple license does not allow.
So I decided to give this method a try. After spending about an hour, I got it running. This method is certainly much more safer as OSX is installed within a virtual environment. However, there exists several incompatibilities, so you can never achieve a full experience.
The objective of this exercise is
1. To experience the process of installing OSX in an Intel-PC hardware setup.
2. To try out the OSX if I do manage to install successfully (which I did).
As this is the first time I am seriously exploring and understanding the interface of OSX, I am surprised at the similarities with Windows 7, and concluded that Microsoft has indeed tried to mimic some of the user-friendly features from Mac. But I don't feel as efficient using OSX.
So would I convert to Mac OS? Certainly not completely, but at least I won't have to worry about not able to get used to OSX when the time comes for the switch.
Whether Mac or Windows, the value of the computer is not on the brand or the OS, but on the apps and the familiarity. Mac is consumer-friendly and idiot-proof, so it's probably good for non-techie users. But I am so used to the Windows platform, so it makes better sense to continue improving my quality of computing through hardware enhancements and software procurement. As of now, I find no tangible advantage of using a Mac.
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