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Quickemu: Quickly create and run optimised Win-10,11/macOS/Linux on Linux

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Re: Quickemu: Quickly create and run optimised Win-10,11/macOS/Linux on Linux

#12
post #2

Took a little while to find the magic words in there: https://github.com/wimpysworld/quickemu/blob/af26f41440d63a0...

What is this?

It's a Rot13-encoded string: "ourhardworkbythesewordsguardedpleasedontsteal(c)AppleComputerInc". It seems to be the string that is supposed to make MacOS only run on certified systems, but it's obviously been reverse engineered and now it needs to be added to any Mac emulators to work.

Re: Quickemu: Quickly create and run optimised Win-10,11/macOS/Linux on Linux

#13
post #2

Took a little while to find the magic words in there: https://github.com/wimpysworld/quickemu/blob/af26f41440d63a0...

What is this?

I assume the `tr` is to avoid detection, there's a tiny bit more info here: https://www.nicksherlock.com/2021/06/installing-macos-12-mon... (grep for 'OSK')

Seems people really avoid saying the value, ('don't be surprised it doesn't look like a random string') maybe there's some history of Apple requesting people cease & desist wherever they find it, I don't know.

Re: Quickemu: Quickly create and run optimised Win-10,11/macOS/Linux on Linux

#14
This is pretty handy. I set up a KVM guest the other day and it was a very straightforward affair, but I can see how this can streamline testing.

I do wonder if it can use KVM directly instead of QEMU (I can always move the .qcow after, just curious as to how it would work with virsh)

Re: Quickemu: Quickly create and run optimised Win-10,11/macOS/Linux on Linux

#15
Neat. Something not to forget is that USB devices (host) passthrough can be tricky, as it's a passthrough of the device, not the port. In difficult situations, https://github.com/darkguy2008/hotplugger comes handy (although it needs setup work).

Re: Quickemu: Quickly create and run optimised Win-10,11/macOS/Linux on Linux

#16

I'm not sure how it works now, but a few years ago it was illegal to use more than one copy of Windows in this way (provided that you already have a purchased copy). If you wanted to have two instances, you had to purchase a second copy. I'm not sure what the relevant terms are for macOS now apart from the fact that in the old days VMware had an artificial block you need to remove in order to run Mac OS X. It would b…

The old trick of buying an OEM copy of Windows (instead of paying full retail) when you were not an OEM building a computer to be sold to others was just as "illegal".

Re: Quickemu: Quickly create and run optimised Win-10,11/macOS/Linux on Linux

#17

I'm not sure how it works now, but a few years ago it was illegal to use more than one copy of Windows in this way (provided that you already have a purchased copy). If you wanted to have two instances, you had to purchase a second copy. I'm not sure what the relevant terms are for macOS now apart from the fact that in the old days VMware had an artificial block you need to remove in order to run Mac OS X. It would b…

The old trick of buying an OEM copy of Windows (instead of paying full retail) when you were not an OEM building a computer to be sold to others was just as "illegal".

That wasn't "illegal" at all in jurisdictions that recognize the first-sale doctrine for licenses (e.g. the EU)

Re: Quickemu: Quickly create and run optimised Win-10,11/macOS/Linux on Linux

#18
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The old trick of buying an OEM copy of Windows (instead of paying full retail) when you were not an OEM building a computer to be sold to others was just as "illegal".

That wasn't "illegal" at all in jurisdictions that recognize the first-sale doctrine for licenses (e.g. the EU)

It violated the EULA.

I don't recall anyone, including well known retailers selling the OEM version of Windows to home users, caring about it.

Re: Quickemu: Quickly create and run optimised Win-10,11/macOS/Linux on Linux

#19
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That wasn't "illegal" at all in jurisdictions that recognize the first-sale doctrine for licenses (e.g. the EU)

It violated the EULA. I don't recall anyone, including well known retailers selling the OEM version of Windows to home users, caring about it.

It violated a legally void clause of the EULA. Do you have a source that the VM-related restrictions are equally void?

Re: Quickemu: Quickly create and run optimised Win-10,11/macOS/Linux on Linux

#20
What I would really like to exist, is a VM image for Windows 10, without all the telemetry, updates and anti-virus software. I hate that when I need to test something on IE, my laptop's fans start spinning up, and the VM is unusable, because Microsoft decided its a good time to scan the whole disk and consume all the vCPUs allocated to the vm.
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