How to Transform Your Windows PC Into a Mac

It's no secret that Apple has a good thing going these days. With the slick allure of the new iPhone and the beautiful interface and ergonomics of the new iMac, it's easy to get sucked into shelling out your hard-earned greenbacks for these new toys.

But before you run out and buy that new iMac, follow these simple steps and your PC will be transformed in to the Mac you've always dreamed of.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• FlyakiteOSX v3.0.zip
• Windows XP - either Home, Pro, SP1, SP2, or Corporate
• Knowledge of how to install a program on a PC

1. 
   FlyakiteOSX web site

   Download the FlyakiteOSX transformation pack from http://www.flyakiteosx.com/download.html. The file should be FlyakiteOSX v3.0.zip.

2. 
   FlyakiteOSX installer

   Unzip the file into a directory of your choosing. Ensure you have ample disk space, then run the FlyakiteOSX v3.0.exe by browsing to the directory where you unzipped the FlyakiteOSX v3.0.zip file, and selecting FlyakiteOSX v3.0.exe. You should see the installer' s first screen (see image). Click next.

3. 
   Licensing agreement

   Read and accept the terms of the licensing agreement by checking the "I accept the terms in the License Agreement" checkbox. Click next.

4. 
   Read Me

   View the Read Me and then click next.

5. 
   Component selection

   Select the components you want to install. You can pass your mouse over each component to see a description of the component. Ensure you select "Create System Restore Point" so if you have a problem, you can restore your system to its previous state. Click install when you have finished your selections to begin the transformation.

6. 

   When the installer completes, restart your computer. After a few minutes, you should see the Mac OS X sign on screen (see image). If not, refer to the tips below for guidance.

Tips & Warnings

• If you run in to problems, the install is completely reversible. Simply go to the Start Menu > Control Panel > Add or Remove Programs and find FlyakiteOSX. Click on Remove and follow the instructions.
• If the uninstall fails, try this. Go to Start Menu > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > System Restore. Click on Restore My Computer to an earlier time and choose the date in bold. This process will restore your computer system to an earlier time before you installed FlyakiteOSX.
• To customize your new Mac look and feel, go to Start Menu > All Programs > FlyakiteOSX > FlyakiteOSX Settings. You can change things like theme settings, what programs you want to run at startup, and icon sizes, among other things.
• Refer to the README First!.txt file (contained in the zip file) for additional tips and information.

Resources

• Get more information about FlyakiteOSX

[torque63]

on 11/21/2007 You can have mulitple os installed on a windows box, but you have to start with Windows, then Linux, Linux will add a boot loader (like LILO) which allows you to pick your OS on start up, create separate partitions for each OS. Linux requires two partitions. windows needs one and I don't know about MAC.

[mcorgan]

on 11/6/2007 Flyakite OSX is a shell replacement for Windows rather than an operating system replacement. You could conceivably create a third boot partition using Windows with Flyakite OSX as a shell and "pretend" it's a Mac though.

[Solus]

on 11/5/2007 Can you add the Mac OS as a boot otion next to Windows and Linux?

[jjfitts]

on 9/29/2007 Very cool! I didn't know you could do this. I knew you could fire up windows on a mac but not the other way around.

[jjfitts]

on 9/29/2007 Very cool! I didn't know you could do this. I knew you could fire up windows on a mac but not the other way around.