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Snow leopard over itunes only

post #1 of 17
2/22/09 at 2:26am
Thread Starter 
I was thinking that there is a massive issue right now with OSX being used on Hackintoshes and the problem with pending court cases with some of these large rip-off cloners. What struck me was that there is surely a very easy way to combat this which doesn't prevent people buying OSX as an upgrade nor damage the installed base with draconian serials or activations.

Why not only sell Snow Leopard via itunes. Remove any physical retail boxed copy from sale, launch on itunes instead.Using some form of hardware detection itunes would simply remove the purchase option for windows users. Hard code the purchasers information into a setup page which you fill in before downloading starts, therefore if it gets torrented you can go back to the source. Also it means when you burn your backup copy there's no way to change the user information. I'm sure there are another couple of neat tricks to prevent it being used on another machine that someone with some programing experience could add in.

This would surely reduce the issues around OSX theft which is pretty much getting on all genuine Mac users nerves and stop this total rip off culture from growing.

Since Apple owns the distribution channel it seems like a major win and Apple could use this as a positive environmental message saying that discs are old hat and that it's paving the way to distribute all of it's software this greener way.

I'd love to hear other peoples thoughts on this idea.
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post #2 of 17
2/22/09 at 3:39am
While we're at it we could rename the company Microsoft!
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post #3 of 17
2/22/09 at 3:57am
the problem with software protection is there is almost always a way round it and even when there isn't you usually end up punishing the legitimate purchasers of your software more.

as someone who was forced to carry around the logic pro XS key for years until it was made redundant, i can speak from experience
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post #4 of 17
2/22/09 at 8:36am
Considering that Apple's sales of computers is higher than ever before, I think you're overblowing just how big a problem Hackintoshes are. How many of those people would buy a Mac if they couldn't create a Hackintosh? Very few, I would wager, so the growth opportunity from making OSX unhackable is minimal. And if they are buying OSX legally then Apple is still getting income. If they are getting it illegally then this is a problem with software piracy, not Hackintoshes.
Providing grist for the rumour mill since 2001.
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Providing grist for the rumour mill since 2001.
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post #5 of 17
2/22/09 at 8:57am
Quote:
Originally Posted by spcdust View Post

While we're at it we could rename the company Microsoft!

went into best buy today, noticed about 50 different microsoft office/vista products on the shelf...

went to Zune software, no vista upgrade :*(

dont be mental.
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post #6 of 17
2/22/09 at 9:05am
The best internet connection I can get is around 300k download. How long would this take?
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post #7 of 17
2/22/09 at 11:33am
Thread Starter 
Well i live in the Uk and frequently rent movies from itunes with an average size of 1-2Gig. I don't think for the masses a 4 to 6 Gig download is an issue anymore. As for the delivery of OS X only via itunes i had expected more people to like to the idea. For me it seems like a natural progression away from physical media. Then in a similar way to a DRM free track it just embeds the purchasers details. I think that any law abiding individual would have little issue with this.

As to the commentator saying it's not a big issue. I saw a report only 2 days ago which suggested 20% of netbooks now run on unofficial copies of OS X so i'd say that is a sizable issue. MSI have even stated that they believe 60% of MSI Winds in the wild are running OS X
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post #8 of 17
2/22/09 at 1:27pm
The best way forward for Apple would be to add some kind of custom Co-CPU/GPU. How about a P.A. Semi developed MultiMedia chip that speeds up a lot of Core functions?
It effectively becomes a built-in hardware dongle. New applications intended only for new Mac hardware could even require this CPU.

OS X would run rather slow on non-Mac hardware - i.e. with many Core functions running in 'software emulation'. While Macs with that special chip would be amazingly fast.


I can definitely see this happening in an even grander scale for Mac netbooks.

Imagine Apple were to compile OS X for yet another platform: ARM Cortex A8/A9 custom Apple CPUs with special graphics cores etc. I'm not talking iPhone OS, but the real, complete Mac OS X which would then be available for: PPC, Intel and ARM Cortex(Apple flavor) in a triple binary.

Of course Mac software would have to be re-compiled to include the third ARM variant. But finding such triple binary versions could be simplified via a new 'Mac AppStore' showcasing ARM versions of existing Mac software.

The key thing would be that this ARM chip is not a generic ARM flavor and has many specialties that do not exist in any other ARM derived chip. And Mac OS X would be specifically compiled to use these.
Or in other words, any copy of Mac OS X would not run on any other ARM CPUs.


It would not only avoid Hackintoshes on the ARM netbook front but also allow Apple to offer a really cheap netbook based on ARM architecture - with battery life measured in days not hours.
Apple can only win.


Dual CPU Macs - new flavor

That ARM chip could be included in every new Mac as well and effectively become that hardware dongle / MultiMedia co-processor for any Mac.
It could even be a second CPU akin to what Apple is doing with GPUs in its MacBooks: have a low power and highpower/highperformance CPU. Use either or both: use either the ARM for super long MBP battery lifetime, or the Intel CPU or both.
Mac netbooks would only have the ARM chip installed.
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post #9 of 17
2/22/09 at 2:32pm
This idea totally blows. Nevermind the fact that Apple would need to provide it in a way that could be installed onto the computer without having to run the previous installation of OS X as the primary OS. Let's say I wanted to install Snow Leopard and do an erase + install? Unless Apple's going to provide it in an ISO format for DVD burning, through iTunes is a no-go.

Now the installation of printer drivers ex post facto as has been written about is a great idea to save space.

And I think the sale of apps like iWork and FileMaker through iTunes would be a better distribution model than the current way they are sold. However, Apple's going to have to start to think long and hard about the fact that they are stretching a music player app into something that's doing a lot more than music now....it would be getting out of place. It's as if MTV started showing reality TV shows instead of music videos....oh wait a minute...
You think Im an arrogant [expletive] who thinks hes above the law, and I think youre a slime bucket who gets most of his facts wrong. Steve Jobs
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You think Im an arrogant [expletive] who thinks hes above the law, and I think youre a slime bucket who gets most of his facts wrong. Steve Jobs
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post #10 of 17
2/22/09 at 3:37pm
...and just what am I suppose to boot-up from if I have problems?¿
I heard that geeks are a dime a dozen, I just want to find out who's been passin' out the dimes
----- Fred Blassie 1964
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I heard that geeks are a dime a dozen, I just want to find out who's been passin' out the dimes
----- Fred Blassie 1964
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post #11 of 17
2/24/09 at 8:34am
I pay for broadband usage by the MB. What happens if I mess up mid way thru the install or require a boot disc later?
Most of us employ the Internet not to seek the best information, but rather to select information that confirms our prejudices. - Nicholas D. Kristof
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Most of us employ the Internet not to seek the best information, but rather to select information that confirms our prejudices. - Nicholas D. Kristof
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post #12 of 17
2/24/09 at 12:15pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by smartz View Post

I was thinking that there is a massive issue right now with OSX being used on Hackintoshes and ...

I'm gonna have to stop you right there.

"massive issue"?
I'd bet that apple has lost less than 0.0001% of sales to hackintoshes.

There are MUCH bigger fish to fry.
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post #13 of 17
2/27/09 at 1:56pm
I'm sorry, but this is just too good:



Jimzip
"There's no time like the present, and the only present you'll never get, is time." - Me
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"There's no time like the present, and the only present you'll never get, is time." - Me
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post #14 of 17
2/27/09 at 2:30pm
Or maybe Apple can change the code a bit for the hacks to be harder to happen or run a background script that will update the computer and lock up all non apple computers.
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post #15 of 17
2/27/09 at 10:00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by UTisNUM1 View Post

Or maybe Apple can change the code a bit for the hacks to be harder to happen or run a background script that will update the computer and lock up all non apple computers.

Pure genius!!! You should totally send in your resume to Apple. Or better yet, just copy and paste your post in an email to them.
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post #16 of 17
2/27/09 at 10:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by hobBIT View Post

The best way forward for Apple would be to add some kind of custom Co-CPU/GPU. How about a P.A. Semi developed MultiMedia chip that speeds up a lot of Core functions?
It effectively becomes a built-in hardware dongle. New applications intended only for new Mac hardware could even require this CPU.

OS X would run rather slow on non-Mac hardware - i.e. with many Core functions running in 'software emulation'. While Macs with that special chip would be amazingly fast.


I can definitely see this happening in an even grander scale for Mac netbooks.

Imagine Apple were to compile OS X for yet another platform: ARM Cortex A8/A9 custom Apple CPUs with special graphics cores etc. I'm not talking iPhone OS, but the real, complete Mac OS X which would then be available for: PPC, Intel and ARM Cortex(Apple flavor) in a triple binary.

Of course Mac software would have to be re-compiled to include the third ARM variant. But finding such triple binary versions could be simplified via a new 'Mac AppStore' showcasing ARM versions of existing Mac software.

The key thing would be that this ARM chip is not a generic ARM flavor and has many specialties that do not exist in any other ARM derived chip. And Mac OS X would be specifically compiled to use these.
Or in other words, any copy of Mac OS X would not run on any other ARM CPUs.


It would not only avoid Hackintoshes on the ARM netbook front but also allow Apple to offer a really cheap netbook based on ARM architecture - with battery life measured in days not hours.
Apple can only win.


Dual CPU Macs - new flavor

That ARM chip could be included in every new Mac as well and effectively become that hardware dongle / MultiMedia co-processor for any Mac.
It could even be a second CPU akin to what Apple is doing with GPUs in its MacBooks: have a low power and highpower/highperformance CPU. Use either or both: use either the ARM for super long MBP battery lifetime, or the Intel CPU or both.
Mac netbooks would only have the ARM chip installed.

The only thing I'm blatantly disagreeing with is the support for PPC, we know this is no longer happening.
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post #17 of 17
3/1/09 at 7:11am
Snow Leopard will be fully serial-number free again IMO. Too much of a waste of time and effort otherwise. Apple is battling, I agree, the clone-makers on the main front. And yeah, the Google Ads on AppleInsider can be so insanely ironic/ inappropriate sometimes. Lulz.
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