The GPL's definition of 'free' is not related to price but freedom, and the open-source community do not take kindly to the suggestion that their work is being hijacked for corporate gain. Under these conditions, it is a breach of the licence to sell copies of any software released under the GPL, and this is exactly what many people have accused Maui Xstream of doing. It is released under the General Public Licence (GPL), which means it is free to download and use, but any modified releases must also be available free to the public. Now on its fifth release, Pear still has a long way to go before all the bugs, errors and problems are resolved. Like all open-source software, users with a knowledge of programming are invited to try the product and see how can they improve on it. Don't forget to read the documentation, it will save you hours of frustration! And please don't whine if it doesn't work for you, but fixes the bugs.' 'However, if you are brave enough to try it out, fetch one of the builds or the source. Don't use it on important data: it will destroy them sooner or later!

There are still unimplemented instructions, mysterious bugs and missing features. On its introduction, it came with the warning: 'Please note that this is an experimental program not meant for productive use. It is still under development by a team of volunteers but has built up a dedicated fan base despite its experimental status. PearPC is an open-source, free-to-use emulator that has been available since May. There was another difficulty: in between Cherry and Apple there was Pear. People were suspicious as to how a little-known Hawaii-based outfit, which had previously restricted its operations to video-streaming software, could suddenly do something that had evaded much larger firms. However, the Cherry project has been dogged by controversy since it was first announced. The developers claim that the emulator should run at about 80 per cent of the host PC, which would be a significant improvement on any earlier attempts at running OS X on PCs. On top of that, a copy of Panther currently retails at about $129. The product also benefited from two postponed releases last year and the resultant hype.ĬherryOS costs $50 (€37.38) with the option of a free trial download. 'It's perfect for learning a new environment, expanding your PC's capabilities or finalising your purchase decision.

'In addition, you will be able to use many of the day-to-day applications, such as Safari and Apple's Mail,' the company's website, claims. The maker of CherryOS, Hawaii-based software firm Maui Xstream, claims that its product enables Windows users to run Panther, the latest version of Apple's OS X. There may now be a way around that problem. However, Microsoft's strong point will always be that people are reluctant to change from an operating system and the related software that they have grown up with - let alone go out and buy a new computer to run it on.

Meanwhile, Microsoft's reputation is suffering as more and more Windows users find that viruses, worms and spyware are taking over their PCs and the introduction of Longhorn, Microsoft's new operating system, is delayed once again. With the success of the iPod and the Mac mini, niche specialist Apple has made inroads into the mass computer market for the first time since it lost its position as the world's leading personal computer maker during the 1980s - and the advantages of OS X are widely appreciated. The introduction last week of CherryOS, an emulator that allows the installation of Apple's OS X operating system on a PC running Windows XP, seemed to be perfectly timed. An emulator that allows Apple's OS X to run on Windows-based PCs has its critics, writes Robin O'Brien Lynch.

Cherryos mac emulator for windows