James Emrich
Sunday, November 29, 2009
English 1101 – Research

OSX Bound To My Hardware
	In the computer world there are many different types of computer machines, and these machines all come standardized with different brands of hardware. Computer hardware is “the mechanical, magnetic, electronic, and electrical components making up a computer system.”  All computers require hardware, and there are many different types of computers and associated hardware, such as: Gateway, Dell, Intel, AMD, and Apple.  Each one of these computers has specific hardware inside of them – all with the pertaining drivers.  “A driver acts like a translator between the device and programs that use the device”, and all computers need its own specific driver. When a closer look is taken at computers there is one difference, and that is the Operating System. An Operating System is what talks to the hardware that controls the usage of the programs or applications, and provides a graphical user interface (GUI). The Operating System is also what allows the computer to function as it’s told too, and then boots the programs needed. So what is an Operating System exactly?
	The two main Operating Systems in the computer world are Mac OSX Snow Leopard and Windows 7.  Operating Systems are the most important thing on the computer because they run the hardware. The reason the Operating System is important lies in the fact that it runs everything the computer needs. Also, the Operating System talks with the hardware components (Hard-Drive, DVD-Drive, Processor, RAM, Graphics Card, Motherboard, I/O devices, etc), and determines if the hardware is acceptable for usage. Once the Operating System has determined that the hardware can be used; the system should boot up normally. There are different stages when a computer boots and they are: BIOs boot, Boot loader + Kernel boot, Driver’s loader, and Operating System (GUI).  If the Operating System errors out on boot, or will not install when the user formats the hard drive - it has a driver dependency.  Windows 7 is closed/open source that can be installed on multiple machines with multiple drivers. While, Mac OSX Snow Leopard is closed source that can only be installed on Mac machines with specific types of drivers. The idea is that, Mac OSX Snow Leopard is a closed source written in a programming language meant only for Mac Machines.  Why is this problem?  Few people want the Mac machine, they just want the Operating System, or they can’t afford the machine. What programmers see is that Mac OSX Snow Leopard cannot be installed on Windows 7-based PC – the solution is driver programming (kernel hacking).
	When it comes to driver programming (kernel hacking), the users need a little insight on the programming languages used. Programming languages are what programs can be written in, and Operating Systems are written in these languages.  Windows 7 is written in .NET and C# languages. “Microsoft® .NET is a set of Microsoft software technologies for connecting information, people, systems, and devices”, and “C# is an ECMA-compliant programming language designed to support .NET development.”   Mac OSX Snow Leopard is written in Unix C++ - the world’s most powerful programming language.  “C is a low-level standardized programming language for use on the UNIX operating system. It has since spread to many other operating systems, and is one of the most widely used programming languages. C++ is an object-oriented programming (OOP) language is the best language for creating large-scale applications. C++ is a superset of the C language.”  From the definitions of the programming languages, there is an understanding of the differences between Windows 7 and Mac OSX Snow Leopard. The one difference that hasn’t been discussed is the ‘kernel’ of the Operating System.
	The 'kernel' is the central component of most computers Operating System; it can be thought of as the bridge between applications and the actual data processing done at the hardware level. The kernel of the Operating System is loaded when the boot loader is called, and the kernel searches and uses the drivers of the hardware. The kernel is the “heart” of the Operating System – it controls all the machine level functions. The kernel's responsibilities include managing the system's resources which is the communication between hardware and software components.  As a basic component of an operating system, a kernel can provide the lowest-level abstraction layer for the resources (especially processors and I/O devices) that application software must control to perform its function.  Windows 7 and Mac OSX Snow Leopard both have a type of ‘kernel’ inside the Operating System, so why not just edit or change these programs? Is this illegal?  No, it is not illegal because users will not resell the kernel edit, and then claim the software as their property. So what if a user edits this ‘kernel’, and implements the drivers needed so he can install it on a Windows-based PC?
	To perform useful functions, processes need access to the peripherals connected to the computer, which are controlled by the kernel through device drivers.  For example, to install the Operating System, an application would make a request to the kernel, which would forward the request to its drivers, which is then responsible for loading the correct processes needed to boot.  A kernel must maintain a list of available devices at all times in order to keep processing bytes and bits.  When it comes down to installing Mac OSX on a Windows-based PC, users need to edit the kernel to call the specific drivers of the user’s hardware at the install process.  We need to obtain some information about the user’s computer before any further actions can be processed. The user should find out the processor type and any other additional hardware add-ons (Graphics card, RAM, and Processor). Once this is finished, the advanced user can start to program the needed driver(s) in the C++ language.  After the user created the driver files for Windows 7 based PC’s, the users need to open the image file for Mac OSX Snow Leopard and include the newly programmed drivers.  For none advanced users, you will need to follow the long steps in finding out the Processors ID and any additional hardware.  All of this information gathering can be bypassed by using an application called “Hackint0sh”. The user should search, “Hackint0sh Snow Leopard AMD or INTEL”, and utilize the driver-include section to determine if the hardware is compatible or not.
	As a result of installing Hackint0sh Snow Leopard on a Windows 7-based PC, the user can run a powerful Operating System without paying outrageous amounts of money for the machine.  Another result is the use of graphical programs that Windows 7 cannot offer. The only situation here is that Mac OSX applications, developer tools can’t be installed on any Windows 7 machine; therefore installing Hackint0sh on your computer is the best way to get these applications. To finalize, Mac OSX Snow Leopard is an amazing Operating System that was created only for a special type of machine – Macs. As a result, programmers around the world have created many kernel edits for this Operating System to allow users that want it without buying the machine.
	The computer world has an interesting impact on the world today. Programming, hacking, and anything else users would like to do to make their ultimate experience.  All computers are composed of hardware (Hard-Drive, DVD-Drive, Processor, RAM, Graphics Card, Motherboard, I/O devices, etc), and they all have Operating Systems installed on them. Drivers are the main part in the Operating System that allows the user to interact with the hardware at machine level, which is needed to run applications. Also, the boot process is something all computer users should understand – just in case there is an error. As a result of Apple, programmers see that Mac OSX Snow Leopard cannot be installed on Windows 7 based PC with the solution being kernel hacking. This leads you to programming and programming languages?  In addition, programmers have also created a way around this problem – Hackint0sh. The problem doesn’t lie within Apple; it lays widths the programmers creating the computer world. To summarize, Mac OSX Snow Leopard never had a problem. The users just got tired of buying the machines just to acquire the Operating System, so they created an application to solve this problem – Welcome to Hackint0sh!