Apple now has its Intel and PowerPC versions of Mac OS X on the same page, according to an article at PC Pro that references a report on the OSx86 Project Web site.
The latter noted that a DVD installation of the Intel version of the operating system is now available via BitTorrent. While itis secure, OSx86 Project reported that hackers have already begun work on cracking it.
Meanwhile, PC Pro added that Apple has applied for a patent that covers a "system and method for creating tamper-resistant code."
Reporter Simon Aughton explained: "Put succinctly, the patent describes a method for translating code so that it can only be understood by specific hardware and is very difficult to reverse engineer, a process known as code obfuscation. It also means that applications have to be written if they need access to the tamper-resistant system code."
In other words, Apple seems to have conceded that future versions of OS X will be hacked to run on non-Macintosh computers, but those machines wonit be able to run any Mac applications. Mr. Aughton pointed out that such a measure "should ensure that hacked versions are of interest to no one but a tiny minority."