I am always attracted to Mac’s ease of use, ability to produce stunning graphics and the iconic shape of its machine. However, being a PC user for more than a decade, I never had the courage to switch camps. The usual conflicting moments about software compatibility are always there and here to stay.

When my Dell 6400 laptop’s battery failed and not wanting to carry along this heavyweight anymore, I toyed with the idea of getting a 13” Macbook knowing that its battery can last almost 4 hrs (Dell 6400 barely make it past 2). In the end, with the software compatibility issue lingering, I got a Dell Mini 9 instead for the lightweight and ultra portability factors. Ok, I admit price was the greatest factor and I got it at $321 from M1.

The Dell Mini 9 is a great device to bring along to almost anywhere. It empowered me to trade Stocks and Forex on the move, making and losing money easily anywhere when I am connected. The big minus point is the heat after using it for around 30 minutes, so placing it on your lap is not advisable.

I stumbled upon MyDellMini forums when I was trying to solve Mini 9’s resolution problem. This is when I realized the possibility to Hackintosh Dell Mini 9 into an ultimate Netbook running Leopard OS X. Though it is possible to run OS X on most PCs with various methods readily available on the Internet, the availability of certain drivers remain a major concern for those who are keen. However, looking at the compatibility chart show this issue is not a concern with Dell Mini 9.

Itching to try out the legendary OS X on a daily basis, I followed the excellent guides by Mechdrew to transform my Dell Mini 9 to Dell Mac 9. The biggest problem during installation was the STEC 8 GB SSD which gave me multiple surprises. Though it claims to be 8 GB, I can only see 7.2 GB available space and I have no idea where on earth the remaining went to. After I formatted the SSD with OS X Disk Utility to GUID partition, only 6.8 GB is left behind. I have to reduce the required space for OS X installation from 11 GB to 6.1 GB by removing options like Language Translations, Additional Fonts and Printer Drivers.

Still, the OS X installer indicates that only 5.8 GB is useable on the SSD which is not enough to accommodate the 6.1 GB installation. I would have to remove some Essential System Software which includes Mail, Address Book, iCal, iTunes, iChat, Safari and etc to fit the installation to the stupid STEC SSD.       

However, I feel that if I remove most of these main programs, the OS X experiences may not be complete. So I ditched the stupid STEC SSD and upgrade to a $209 Runcore 32 GB SSD. Now I can install OS X without removing any Essential System Software and the Read/Write speed of this China Made SSD is excellent! I got OS X running in less than an hour and seeing the Apple logo kind of brighten up my day instantly.

Using Dell Mac 9 is so cool that people around me who noticed it will go “Hey, I thought this supposed to be XP?” Everything is running so well, even the 9” screen display seems to look better with OS X. Installing and uninstalling programs by dragging and dropping is hell easier compared to Windows. Best of all, the shutting down of OS X seems almost instant. I finally understand why Apple fans never return to the dark side. As of now, I am seriously thinking of getting Macbook Pro in the near future.