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MXS Inc. announces CherryOS 1.0
MXS today announced the immediate availability of CherryOS software. CherryOS is a software translator that allows you to install Apple's Operating System on the x86 computer architecture. To put it simply you can now run Apple's award winning Panther OS on your PC! This breakthrough in OS development now gives home users, software developers and web designer's ultimate flexibility in both the operating system and hardware platform you use for your personal computer or testing environment.
CherryOS runs Panther as a virtual machine on your Windows PC. This virtual machine has full network capabilities including the ability to share folders and access the web. The virtual machine also has complete access to the computer's hardware resources including, Hard Drive, CPU, RAM, Firewire, USB, PCI, PCMIA BUS and RJ45/Ethernet and Modem.
Arben Kryeziu, CherryOS inventor and a software developer, got tired of carrying both a Mac and a PC around with him, so he invented CherryOS. "Think about it," says Arben."Now about 600 million PC users can have the Mac advantage. One computer to use all software and if PC users?" He went on to say that, "You can build and test applications for a Mac on your development PC, test web site design for Mac web browsers without having to buy the hardware, run OS X, the world's best Operating System, on a less expensive hardware platform and use your favorite Mac apps on a PC."
And on the Website:
"Our solution, CherryOS, is to turn a PC into a Macintosh clone, and to run MacOS and Macintosh applications directly on the PC. You benefit from the lower cost and faster speed of the PC, and still keep the use of your Macintosh applications."
Well, it sounds intrigueing, if a bit too good to be true. If MXS could actually deliver on these claims, it would not be an exaggeration to call it revolutionary. But is it possible?
Arben Kryeziu has posted a notice on the Website saying:Â Â Â
"CherryOS is still under development and is only available as a beta release for selected users. We are still working out the bugs and some performance issues on the AMD System.
     Â
"We have received a lot of requests for a trial version, so we have reconsidered providing one on the same date that CherryOS is released.
"If you would like to preorder CherryOS 1.0 please do so, your contact information will be collected, but no credit card information. Once CherryOS is launched, we will email you a link to the trial version and the payment instructions for the full version."
CherryOS will sell for $49.95. (OS X not included)
"We are aware of the stories out there and it is up to you to believe in CherryOS, or not. We do not have any doubt or disbelief.(That Website is responding)
"CherryOS is real!"
"If you would like to play with a different product from our company, please check out:
http://www.vx30.com
Some Cherry OS screenshots are posted here (when the Website is working):
• http://www.cherryos.com/images/screenshots/8.jpg
• http://www.cherryos.com/images/screenshots/9.jpg
Cherry OS Features
G4 Emulation
CherryOS will allow you to emulate a G4 computer on a PC. PearPC was the first emulator to allow the AltiVec/G4 support.
Network Connectivity
With CherryOS you have complete access to network resources like the internet. The Apple VM will be assigned its own IP address. So you are free to browse the Internet, send/receive email and use instant messaging.
Drag and Drop Files
The CherryOSÂ can share files with your PC computer by simply dragging and dropping from one OS to the other.
Peripheral Resources
CherryOS has access to all the system’s resources including firewire and usb ports, the CD-ROM drive and the PCI/PCMIA Bus.
Install Mac Apps
You can install all your favorite mac applications on your PC like iLife, iTunes and Photoshop ... to name just a few.
Test Applications for Mac on Development PC
Whether you are an application programmer or a web site designer you will no longer needs two machines to test your apps.
Take OS X for a "Test Drive"
Thinking about making the switch? CherryOS will allow you to sample OS X without having to commit to buying the hardware.
Browse Safely
Whether your surfing the net or just doing email, CherryOS will protect you from worms, trojans, spyware and adware that normally would attack your PC system.
Press reaction to the Cherry OS announcement has been mixed.
The U.K. based Bios Magazine commented:
"Hawaii-based MXS has released a piece of software that turns a Windows computer into a Mac. CherryOS turns a PC into a Macintosh clone, allowing you to run MacOS and Macintosh applications directly on your PC. The software works by running the Mac OS as a virtual machine on your Windows PC.
Pros: Emulates a G4 Mac on a PC; supports all system resources
Cons: Runs at about 80 per cent of the performance of the host CPU"
You can check it out at:
http://www.biosmagazine.co.uk/article.php?id=1238
Wired's Leander Kahney in his Cult of Mac blog reports:
"The new CherryOS Mac emulator for Windows XP is not an outright fraud, but whether it works as advertised, I can't yet say.
"I downloaded a copy yesterday afternoon and spent a maddening evening trying to get it to work.
"To cut a long story short, I tried every other installer disk I have. I even modified Panther and Jaguar installation disks using the "remove CheckForOSX" hack (Google it), turning them into full install disks. Alas, to no avail."
Leander will persevere, and report on future devalopments.
You can check it out at:
http://wiredblogs.tripod.com/cultofmac/index.blog?entry_id=479527
internetnews.com's Michael Singer says:
"For years, Macintosh users have been resigned to using virtualization products to run Windows applications.
"Now, a startup in Hawaii has joined the short list of companies turning the tables....
"But what Cherry gains in ability, it loses in performance. The company said its users should expect to get about 80 percent of the x86 processor's power when working in the Apple Environment. For example a 3.2GHz Pentium 4 would run as fast as an 800 MHz G4 machine, the company said."
For the full report, visit here:
http://www.internetnews.com/ent-news/article.php/3421551
digital-lifestyles' Fraser Lovatt comments:
"Ah, the legally troubling world of emulation. MSX, a company based in Hawaii, have announced the release of their CherryOS – an application that allows the owner of any reasonably well-specified PC to turn it into a Macintosh G4, if they so choose....
"Processor overheads and memory use are another traditional sticking point for emulators since the emulator has to be stored somewhere and instructions have to be translated, but MSX claim that CherryOS uses up only 20% of a host PC's resources......
"Apple won't be pleased: even if the product is 100% legal, didn't reverse engineer any of their hardware or use any Apple code, it means users can now run Macintosh applications on hardware that is considerably cheaper (and less stylish) than their own kit."
For the full report, visit here.
http://www.digital-lifestyles.info/display_page.asp?section=platforms&id=1669
Personally, I'm watching this saga unfold with great interest. If -- and it's a big "if" -- the Cherry OS can really run OS X with acceptable speed and reliability on a PC, it amounts to a major sea-change in the Mac-PC dynamic. Even if, hypothetically speaking, OS X really will run as fast as an 800 MHz G4 on a 3.2 GHz Pentium, that's still faster than my fastest current Mac.
But is the Mac experience only about the OS? I would say that it is more about the OS than Apple hardware, but the hardware side of the equation is not insignificant. It's really the elegant, seamless integration of the whole package, which a PC running the Cherry OS woudn't have.
Running OS X on a PC would appeal to geeks, but would many ordinary computer users be interested? I'm skeptical, but it's an imponderable at this point.
***
Charles W. Moore
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This Cherry OS is so real that it was used by Principal Skinner in the good old Virtual Springfield…
http://www.wetware.demon.co.uk/simpsons/vsguide.txt