IBM Compatible vs Mac Clones; The nostalgic era of legal Mac Clones Computers, the era without the Apple Computer monopoly; This has been just a few years before the turn of the century, between 1995-1999


It was, the magazine PC-KYPRIAKO a Cyprus 🇨🇾 magazine for computers in Greek I started to read at the age of 14 years old from 1989-1990… learned my first computer experience, but without a PC, only by reading this Journal. Later in 1992, I got my first PC, an IBM-compatible MS-DOS Computer, 80386/i386, I think without a mouse!!! (since MS-DOS OS and Not MS-Windows OS). Two years later I upgraded the RAM & the OS to Windows 3.1 and started on Windows Office and Draw Apps like Word, Excel, and CorelDraw. I got a ballpoint mouse too.

In the mid-1990s, the personal computer market was dominated by IBM-compatible machines, but there was also a small but thriving market for Macintosh clones. These were computers that were legally licensed to run Apple’s operating system, from 1995+ but were made by third-party manufacturers instead of Apple itself. This was a unique period in the history of personal computing, and it’s worth taking a closer look at how it all came about.

In the early days of personal computing, Apple was one of the most innovative and successful companies in the industry. The original Macintosh, released in 1984, was a groundbreaking machine that set the standard for user-friendly graphical user interfaces. However, despite its initial success, Apple soon found itself struggling to compete with the much larger IBM-compatible market. By the early 1990s, Macintosh sales had stagnated, and the company was in danger of being marginalized.

To boost sales and increase market share, Apple decided to license its operating system to third-party manufacturers. This was a bold move, as it meant giving up some control over the hardware and software ecosystem that had made Apple successful in the first place. However, the hope was that by expanding the market for Macintosh-compatible machines, Apple could regain its position as a major player in the personal computing world.

The first company to take advantage of Apple’s licensing program was a company called Power Computing, which released its first Macintosh clone in 1995. The Power Macintosh line of computers was a huge success, offering consumers a wider range of choices at lower prices than Apple’s machines. Other companies soon followed suit, including UMAX, Motorola, and DayStar Digital.

At the time, many people thought that the Mac clone market was the future of personal computing. Apple’s market share was still relatively small, and the clones seemed like a viable way to expand the Macintosh ecosystem. However, things didn’t quite work out that way. Although the clones were popular among consumers, they were not successful enough to bring Apple back to dominance. They may have hurt the company more than they helped it.

One of the biggest problems with the Mac clone market was that it created a fragmented hardware and software ecosystem. Because there were so many different manufacturers making different types of Macintosh-compatible machines, software developers had a hard time creating software that would work reliably across all of them. This meant that the Macintosh ecosystem became much less attractive to developers, who were already more focused on the larger IBM-compatible market.

Another problem was that the Mac clones were often seen as inferior to Apple’s machines. Although they were cheaper, they were also less reliable and less well-designed. This meant that even Mac users often preferred to stick with Apple’s machines, rather than switch to a clone.

In the end, the Mac clone market was short-lived. By the late 1990s, Apple had regained some of its momentum with the release of the iMac and other popular machines. At the same time, the market for IBM-compatible machines was starting to shrink, as consumers began to shift their focus to newer devices like smartphones and tablets.

Looking back on this era, it’s clear that the Mac clone market was an interesting experiment in the history of personal computing. Although it didn’t succeed, it showed that there was a demand for a wider range of hardware options in the Macintosh ecosystem. And who knows – if things had gone differently, we might be living in a world today where Mac clones are just as common as IBM-compatible machines.


MacOS Alternatives in History & Now:

1

Mac Clones Computers 🖥️ [1995 – 1999]

The hardware had Apple hardware Specifications and ran MacOS.

2

Mac Hackintosh Computers 🖥️ [200X – 2023]

Hardware has IBM/Windows Specifications (Not all hardware is compatible with this process*, you have e.g. built a PC in the case with compatible parts like Intel processor, etc. AMD usually does not work) but runs MacOS.

3

MacOS VMs on MacOS using VMware, VirtualBox, or Parallels** 🖥️ [200X – 2023]

Hardware Apple Mac, host MacOS, running Guest MacOS isolated OS.

4

MacOS VMs on Windows or Linux using VMware, or Virtual Box*** 🖥️ [2006 – 2023]

Hardware IBM/Windows, host Windows 10/11 OS, running Guest MacOS isolated OS.


————notes————

* You must do your research for hardware compatibility.

** You must get a good Mac, as VMs usually need additional hardware resources like RAM over +16GB and an Intel processor over +4 cores.

*** You must do your research again for hardware compatibility, and get a good PC, as VMs usually need additional hardware resources like RAM over +16GB and an Intel processor over +4 cores.


————links————

The Macintosh Clones

https://everymac.com/systems/mac-clones/index-mac-clones.html
https://hackintosh.com/

Virtualization on a Mac (Apple.com)


https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/macos-windows-10-virtual-machine/


Create macOS Ventura[13.x] ISO without a Mac Computer and FREE

Create FREE, FRESH & CLEAN Ventura ISO without a Mac

Create Clean Ventura.iso without a Mac computer and Free

In this article I demonstrate how to create a fresh/free-of-malware Ventura ISO without Mac, using a Ventura VM in the free VMware Player 17.x in Windows 11… the full process will cost 0.00 USD.

To run a Guest VM OS MacOS e.g., Ventura, as a VM with VMware or VirtualBox or Parallels hypervisors, in either MacOS or Windows 11 or Linux (hypervisor-patch run required in Windows or Linux) the hardest part is to obtain the Ventura ISO.
Of course, you can download it from tutorials in blogs or vlogs on YouTube, but you will never know if malicious software or virus exist inside the ISO, so by hardest part mean to create the ISO by yourself on a Mac 🖥️ computer or another MacOS 🖥️ VM.
The latter, I have tested it myself successfully in a MacOS VM in VMware Player 17.x in Windows 11, I have created a Ventura fresh ISO and this WITHOUT a Mac 🖥️ … or any cost!!! Here is the process:

The basic idea is as follows 1-2-3:

Briefly:

1 – Step:

Download Ventura iso from the internet. E.g.,
First non-beta release: “Install macOS Ventura 13.0_22A380.iso” e.g.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-eoiBVpBS0
Links: MacOS Ventura ISO; All in One: https://bit.ly/Venturain1
Or
Part 1: https://bit.ly/MacosV1 Part 2: https://bit.ly/macosV2 Part 3: https://bit.ly/macosV3

NOTE-1: THIS ISO IS NOT SECURE — BECAUSE THE PERSON WHO CREATED IT MAY INFECT IT WITH A VIRUS ON PURPOSE.

NOTE-2: WE WILL USE THIS TO CREATE VENTURA ISO BECAUSE WE DO NOT HAVE ACCESS TO A MACOS VENTURA Mac MACHINE. DURING THE PROCESS NEVER USE ANY LOGIN TO SENSITIVE ACCOUNT INSIDE THIS VM, TILL WE CREATE THE FRESH ISO AND RUN ANOTHER VM FROM THIS FRESH NEW CREATED VENTURA ISO.

2 – Step:

Create with this ISO a Ventura Guest VM with VMware Player 17.x in Windows 11. E.g., Here’s How-To:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-eoiBVpBS0
Or
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeSqdrf1WOg

3 – Step:

Having this MacOS environment, we will use this macOS VM to create a fresh and clean of infections or viruses, Ventura ISO.

In my case I created a FRESH & CLEAN Ventura13.2 ISO From download the:
“Install macOS Ventura 13.0_22A380.iso” from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9SFVYYuo8Q
and followed the guide here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeSqdrf1WOg   // Guide to creating Ventura VM

===

I will show you the process for the latter 3rd-step, so follow here from a MacOS VM or a Mac Computer:

===

STEP-BY-STEP OF 3 – Step (above, Video on YouTube coming soon…, The Notes in this article are important!):

Download Link-1: doc-1-Binder1__Ventura_13_2_myself.iso.pdf

Download Link-2: doc-2-CREATE-ventura-iso–TERMINAL-COMMANDS.txt

I –
Open VMware and run the MacOS Ventura VM or Startup your Mac Ventura Computer.

II –
Go to Mac App Store and search & download the: “macOS Ventura.”
1
The macOS Ventura page will open, Click on Get.
2
System Settings will then open, and it will check for the update. And you will see a popup screen to download macOS Ventura. Click on Download.
3
The macOS Ventura download process will get started. The macOS Ventura file size is around 12.25 GB. So, the download process will take some time.
4
When the download process gets completed. The macOS Ventura installer will open.
5
Click on the menu: “Install macOS Ventura” from the menu bar and click on the sub-menu “Quit Install macOS”.
6
Setup will ask for confirmation, click on Quit.

III –

After you have to go to the Mac Terminal and run the BOLD commands below:

In the end, you will have a fresh and clean of infections: Ventura ISO on your Mac VM Desktop. Please type only BOLD – other characters are the Terminal output and must NOT get typed.
>>>

Last login: Sun Feb 12 13:02:58 on console

leonidas@192 ~ % hdiutil create -o /tmp/Ventura -size 16384m -volname Ventura -layout SPUD -fs HFS+J

created: /tmp/Ventura.dmg

leonidas@192 ~ % hdiutil attach /tmp/Ventura.dmg -noverify -mountpoint /Volumes/Ventura

/dev/disk4              Apple_partition_scheme              

/dev/disk4s1            Apple_partition_map                 

/dev/disk4s2            Apple_HFS                            /Volumes/Ventura

leonidas@192 ~ % sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Ventura.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia –volume /Volumes/Ventura –nointeraction

Password: <ENTER PASSWORD MAC – NOTHING APPEAR>

Erasing disk: 0%… 10%… 20%… 30%… 100%

Making disk bootable…

Copying to disk: 0%… 10%… 20%… 30%… 40%… 50%… 60%… 70%… 80%… 90%… 100%

Install media now available at “/Volumes/Install macOS Ventura”

leonidas@192 ~ % hdiutil eject -force /Volumes/Install\ macOS\ Ventura

“disk4” ejected.

leonidas@192 ~ % hdiutil convert /tmp/Ventura.dmg -format UDTO -o ~/Desktop/Ventura

Reading Driver Descriptor Map (DDM : 0)…

Reading Apple (Apple_partition_map : 1)…

Reading  (Apple_Free : 2)…

Reading disk image (Apple_HFS : 3)…

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Elapsed Time:  4m 14.985s

Speed: 64.3MB/s

Savings: 0.0%

created: /Users/leonidas/Desktop/Ventura.cdr

leonidas@192 ~ % mv -v ~/Desktop/Ventura.cdr ~/Desktop/Ventura.iso

/Users/leonidas/Desktop/Ventura.cdr -> /Users/leonidas/Desktop/Ventura.iso

leonidas@192 ~ %

Now, AFTER COPY the Ventura ISO TO A USB STICK – Or backup otherwise – do type the final command to clean up all files Not needed except ISO File:

rm -fv /tmp/Ventura.dmg

========================== End Of Terminal ==========================

Final Notes:

1
If you want to COPY the Ventura ISO to a USB Stick, please insert an EXFAT FORMATED USB 3 STICK, While the VM is running, Hypervisor then asks if opens in the Host OS or in the Guest OS, choose Guest OS and COPY the ISO to this USB Stick.

PLEASE SHUTDOWN HYPERVISOR e.g. VMware Player, then the USB will mount in the Windows 11 host OS, you can shut down Windows 11 to remove the USB Stick or Safety Remove the USB Stick otherwise.

2
With the FRESH-CLEAN-FREE-OF-INFECTIONS Ventura ISO, you can create a VM in Windows 11 or 10, in Linux OS, or in macOS even MacOS Not support Ventura.

3
Important!
MARK THE JUST CREATED ISO VENTURA AS CLEAN VM e.g., “Ventura13_2_clean_myself.iso”
AND ALSO, MARK VMs you will create with this as Clean ISO.
THEN YOU CAN DELETE VM created from NOT TRUSTED ISO FROM THE INTERNET.

If I get requests, I can upload my fresh generated Ventura 13.2.iso to Google Drive for public download.

LSE

Lsepolis123@gmail.com

http://leonidassavvides.com/