A grand experiment — stage 1

This may not end well

Back to the beginning.

I have always been interested in the theories of Hackintosh. (I couldn't find a good definition for Hackintosh so I am going with running Macintosh OSX on a windows box) The idea of having a cheaper Mac was part of it but I liked the idea of running OSX and still be allowed to build my own case/machine.

But it wasn't until Snow Leopard (OS 10.6) and Lifehacker's guide to How to Build a Hackintosh with Snow Leopard, Start to Finish that I thought it might become a reality.

I was due for a new PC and if the Hackintosh failed horribly with flames at least I would have a faster Windows box — slightly singed. Maybe even one worthy of Windows 7.

So this started a process of collecting parts to match the Lifehacker Hackintosh list. I wanted to spread out the fiscal damage and not all retailers carried everything. I used NCIX, Tigerdirect and local retailers. Some things didn't go as smoothly as I would have liked.

Really. They didn't start well. I posted my issues with choosing a case. I did find local sources for the case but only in black. After much searching I discovered that the only source of the white case was directly from the manufacturer. And shipping was fairly expensive. So as usual I moaned and groaned about it. Guba told me to "just go ahead and order it" but I decided out loud that I was unwilling to pay the shipping and would search for an alternative case. A least, that was my feeling right then.

Guba, being smart and looking for a good Christmas gift, ordered one for me the next day (a Friday). Problem solved, except...

After a couple of days thought, I decided that I was willing to pay the shipping and ordered a (yes, second) case for myself (Monday). Fortunately I talk to Rolly about these things and Guba eavesdrops. "Wait, what?"

Many acrimonious things may have been said.

But, very long story short, we managed to get a hold of Auzentech customer service and get the order canceled.

True to life conversation with Azuntech Customer Support.

CSR: "Can you call back between 9 and 5?"

Guba: "Where are you?"

CSR: "California."

Guba: "You're 3 hours behind us, isn't it between 9 and 5 right now?"

CSR: "Well... yes..."

Yeah. Well. We called back.

I may have only ended up with one case, but it's the middle of January and I still haven't been forgiven for messing with Guba's perfect Christmas gift...

"But I like the socks honey, honest!"

If Blackwalt survives there may be additional stories in this series.