Apple’s official requirements for running Mac OS X are 128MB of memory and the following products: iMac, iBook, Power Mac G3, Power Mac G4, Power Mac G4 Cube and any PowerBook introduced after May 1998.
However, Ryan Rempel’s Unsupported UtilityX, just updated to version 2.0, is a free software application that lets Mac OS X operate on select pre-G3 Macs, according to the folks at Other World Computing. The utility can be downloaded free.
“Until now, the only people that could use Mac OS X were those that bought a new Macintosh computer or owned a G3 or G4 computer that is currently supported by Apple,” Larry O’Connor, president of Other World Computing, said in a statement. “Our goal with Unsupported UtilityX is to take care of the loyal Mac users who have older systems that are not supported for OS X.”
With OWC’s Unsupported UtilityX, users can install Mac OS X and Mac OS X Server on certain unsupported pre-G3 systems from an unmodified Mac OS X CD and do so with only three more mouse clicks than it takes to install Mac OS X on an Apple-supported model, he added.
Unsupported UtilityX 2.0 was released to support OS X release 10.1. Rempel and OWC released Unsupported UtilityX version 1.0 in June to support OS X 10.0.x versions. A new version of the utility was needed as Apple changed OS X 10.1 significantly enough to require more than just some minor adjustments to Unsupported UtilityX to continue support.
Version 2.0 supports up to OS X 10.1, as well as the prior OS X versions. Version 2.0 should also support recently released OS X 10.1.1 and future versions of OS X 10.1 as is or with a few minor updates.
When Mac OS X is installed on a system with Unsupported UtilityX, the features and usage are the same as they are on an Apple-supported model, O’Connor said. And OWC provides ongoing technical support for these older systems that use Unsupported UtilityX to run Mac OS X, he continued.
Hardware supported by Unsupported UtilityX (which sounds pretty strange, we admit) are: the 7300, 7500, 7600 series; the 8500-8600 series; the 9500-9600, and selected clones (Umax S900 and J700; and Power Computing PowerWave and PowerTowerPro).
“As we continue to improve the utility, we anticipate that more systems will be able to run OS X, and will see an increase in speed and functionality as well,” said Ryan Rempel, developer of Unsupported UtilityX and consultant to Other World Computing.
For specific information on supported hardware, as well as instructions for installing and using Unsupported UtilityX v2.0, go to Other World Computing’s Web site.