SlashGear JP
Having heard earlier this week that Apple had blocked Atom processor support in their latest build of OS X 10.6.2, we’re now being told that the low-power Intel CPU has once again been welcomed back into the Mac fold. A newer 10.6.2 build, 10C535, has restored Atom support, meaning owners of netbook-turned-Hackint0sh machines may not be left without the latest software in their DIY Apple ultraportables.
Of course, what Apple giveth with one hand they can quite easily taketh away with the other, and there’s no final conclusion to this until the release version of OS X 10.6.2 crosses the wire. It’s arguably not in Apple’s best interests to block OS X installs on individual netbooks – after all, users are unlikely to say “oh, I can’t hack it myself, I’ll just go spend three times as much as I did on this cheap netbook on a $999 MacBook instead” – but the tipping point might be whether they reckon third-parties such as Psystar are likely to put out OS X netbooks on a bigger commercial scale.
[via jkOnTheRun]
One Response to “OS X 10.6.2 reacquires Atom support in latest dev build”
Apple needs a netbook, they also need to port OS X to other netbooks with 100% compatibility. The Air is nice, but I’d buy a Macbook before I’d drop more on the Air. I’d prefer to multi-boot all 3 OS’s, OSX, Windows and Ubuntu on my Wind. As it stands, Apple OS X is the only OS missing from the lineup. I have XP Home and before I’d upgrade to Windows 7, if OS X were available, it would be my $ 100+ upgrade. Granted porting OS X to other netbooks would divert sales from an Apple netbook, but since Apple does do cases better than PC’s, there will still be a market for those products. While still capturing market share for the OS. 3rd party hardware will provide perfected drivers for non-Apple netbooks. I am falling deeper in love with the Wind, it’s quite a remarkable little computer. But by the same token, a unibody Apple netbook might very well replace this netbook ? It won’t last forever, so if Apple makes the product introduction, here’s at least one customer that would seriously consider the switch, minimally for the software and perhaps even hardware.
Would be interesting to compare the sales figures for the netbooks, unibody Macbook, Air and Macbook Pro ? At this stage, the netbook isn’t going to replace the core 2 duo, but AMD’s Neo with a dual core version challenges that assumption ?
Neutral