Apple blocking Atom support in OS X 10.6.2

Apple may be reluctant to launch a netbook – and given their financial success selling mid- to high-end notebooks we can't really blame them – has spawned a busy community of Hackint0sh creators, many of whom turn to humble Atom-based netbooks such as the MSI Wind for use as donor machines for OS X.  All that might change, however, with the news that Apple have tweaked Mac OS X 10.6.2, their upcoming operating-system update, to prevent installation on Atom-based computers.

According to users at OS X Daily, Apple have blocked Atom processors from running OS X 10.6.2 correctly, in a move that is being seen as a strike against not only those individual consumers using the software on non-official machines, but against companies such as Psystar who attempt to sell OS X based non-Apple computers.  Apple does not have any Atom machines in its own line-up, and if recent rumors are true are unlikely to have any Intel Moorestown based machines at any point in the near future.

Current advice to Hackint0sh users is to stick with OS X 10.6.1 and wait for the developer community to tweak Atom-blocking out of future versions of the OS.  Apple themselves are yet to comment on the rumors.

[via Apple Insider]