Apple’s latest update to their Mac OS X – Snow Leopard 10.6.2 – has intentionally changed the code so that it will not run on Intel’s Atom processors.
This move will no doubt cause much gnashing of teeth in the ‘hackintosh’ community who like to fiddle about, tweak parameters and dabble in code so that the OS X operating system will purr happily along on non-Apple machines.
Apple fans desperate to roam free amongst the hills and valleys currently occupied by forests of Windows and Linux netbooks will find themselves locked out again as the Atom processor is the de facto chip for the low-cost, small form-factor computers.
According to tech site Tom’s Hardware, anyone trying to power up an Atom powered PC running the latest Mac OS X will either find their machine failing to boot or going into a reboot loop.
However, there is a glimmer of hope for compulsive hackintosh tweakers in that machines using Intel processors are apparently not affected.
Rumour has it that Apple have decided on an arm processor (a la iphone) for the up and coming tablet, as opposed to a intel chip….