UPDATE: I have managed to successfully update my MacBook Nano to OS X Leopard 10.5.7! It really wasn’t worth the time/trouble. I don’t think my little upgrade traumas were the fault of this hackintosh install, though. Many people have reported problems with 10.5.7 – even seasoned Mac tech podcasters – so I should have thought twice before installing it. I will refrain from doing so with my production Mac.

I’m typing this post on a tiny netbook (Advent 4211-B) that thinks it is a MacBook Air. Leopard 10.5.6 is running very nicely in just 1 Gb of RAM, which I will upgrade soon to 2 Gb. I am thoroughly happy with this little beauty which runs OS X so much better than it did Windows XP.

Leopard was installed from an unmodified retail DVD. The installer was initially fooled into installing on the netbook using a bootable CD that prepared the install environment on the netbook for the Leopard DVD. The necessary bootloader was then installed later to the hard disk so normal booting could occur.

I decided upon this course of action with some reluctance. I am the first to recommend to PC owners to get a Mac as a remedy to the numerous ills they suffer daily as they struggle with whatever flavour of Windows they are running. (The PCs I see on callouts are often in need of some TLC as most of those that call me have no maintenance contract in place and have only called because things have got intolerable.) I might recommend they use Linux instead of Windows as an alternative to getting a Mac, as it would at least bypass the crippling vulnerabilities Windows suffers to every virus, spyware, malware, and adware going. But of course supporting Linux in its differing forms is beyond me, though I do mention it to some. However, Apple remains the first and only computer manufacturer that I enthuse about, and their operating system is still my OS of choice.

But I have begun to tire of the price point. The real MacBook Air, though beautiful, was a disappointment as a netbook mostly because of price. I am sure that Apple are unwilling to bring a simpler netbook to the market because the price of these devices is so low, and their build quality is certainly less than that of the various MacBooks. But what seems to be escaping them is the second computer market. I air my grievances about this elsewhere so won’t go over it again. Just to say that if Apple are really serious about not producing a cheap and cheerful netbook because it is beneath them, the least they could do is offer a considerable discount on a second machine – whether a MacBook for Me/wife or a Mini for the kids – so that no one has to even consider getting a cheap netbook running Windows.

I almost chickened out of installing OS X on my new netbook. Aside from my conscience about the legality of this installation, the wide variety of methods that have been developed to do this are both daunting and confusing. I was anxious that I might fail and have to deal with feelings of stupidity for having tried and failed. Worse, I might not know how to put Windows back again (came without installer)! As it happened it was all pretty simple once I had decided on which of the three main methods to use, and then ignored blogs/forums that talked about the others.

Using the “Retail Leopard Method” appealed because it meant I had to get a retail version of OS X Leopard – this salved my conscience a bit – rather than download a hacked version. Also it seems the method less likely to be broken by updates from Apple. I am now going to update to OS X 10.5.7, which will put this theory to the test.

My thanks to Cybergreg for making this install possible. Leopard is running on this little machine with ease, and everything I need is working well. I have yet to get the video cam to work and haven’t tested the external monitor port or the sound-in. For the latter I would use a USB headset anyway so don’t see any problem with getting Skype working.

Meanwhile I hope Apple come up with a sub £300-400 netbook/pad soon. Before someone finds a really simple install method that you don’t have to be a geek to use. And the cat is out the bag: OS X runs just dandy on cheap hardware, so no OS X Lite or iPhone OS Pro, please.