# EFiX Hack Dongle to Let PC Users Run OS X without Hacks



## CadCrazy (Jun 15, 2008)

EFiX claims it was able to produce and (until now) successfully test an USB dongle that is slightly different than other commercial products aimed at emulating Apple's elusive OS. EFiX's solution is said to be the best and most reliable for installing and running Mac OS X on your PC.

According to the makers, all you need is an original copy of Mac OS X (that's right, you don't need a cracked  
Mac OS X copy, although some would prefer this cheap alternative), a  regular PC (sporting the necessary 
hardware requirements, of course) and EFiX's solution.

The EFiX OS X hack dongle "allows its user to install Mac OS X straight from the original DVD without having to worry about patches, replacing files and anything like that," says the development team. "That means you can buy a regular PC, Mac OS X and EFiX and enjoy what the Mac users have always enjoyed: unmodified Mac OS X on your computer, safe, easy and fast, exactly the way it should be."

Don't want to be picky or anything, but Mac OS X should run on a Mac to be "the way it should be." Nevertheless, I'm sure EFiX's solution can achieve similar standards. 

The development team also claims it took them a great deal of time to come up with EFiX, noting that, during the development phase, they had to deal with various problems, "including sabotage."

The 6 months they took to develop the EFiX OS X hack dongle also included testing, "which has been conducted […] in production environments. Industry leading professionals (who work for TV stations, recording studios and many others) rely on EFiX and Mac OS X running on standard PC hardware to get their tasks done," the team added.

PC owners looking to try out Mac OS X without fuss and, most importantly, without actually buying a Mac, should be happy to hear that EFiX is in the final testing phase, looking at a June 23rd release (that's this month).

"All the testing has went far better than what we expected and the testers have given positive feedback," the development team assures. "More information will be added soon," according to their post.

Netkas, who works on the OSX86 team, has even put up a video of the thing in action. By the looks of it, it does work as promised. Here, have a look for yourself.

Source


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## MetalheadGautham (Jun 15, 2008)

Yet another blow to Apple. 
But thats only if this thing comes cheap, under Rs. 2000(or 50$)


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## chandru.in (Jun 15, 2008)

Is it legal?  Can we use it for business without legal worries??


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## praka123 (Jun 16, 2008)

no no as per apple genius ,os x cannot run on "PC"'s -pc's will explode  .as some wingeeks here claiming pirated windows is sooo bad and the cause for all virus problems 

//note :this post is no way supporting piracy.but just want to point out the *lalchy* steve jobs who wants to bind hardware and software and also to the money hungry monopoly of bill gates who wants to spread windows into the minds of young kids!


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## iMav (Jun 16, 2008)

Nice! Downloading 3+ GB ISOs was becoming frustrating. But, I don't think this will be available here in India and I do smell a potential law suit.


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## MetalheadGautham (Jun 16, 2008)

iMav said:


> Nice! Downloading 3+ GB ISOs was becoming frustrating. But, I don't think this will be available here in India and I do smell a potential law suit.


Law suits can only go so far.

Besides, their hardware is just a plug which makes some ports to behave like some other ports. There can be no way apple can sue the company unless they specifically do something to infridge on apple's copyright, and AFAIK, apple has hardly any copyrighted stuff on its PC. Its PC is mainly a get the best from everywhere and assemble them together and rip people off kind of machine.

They will easily come to India. National Market and Nehru Bazar FTW


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## Pathik (Jun 16, 2008)

Hah. Hackint0sh 4 n00bs.


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## MetalheadGautham (Jun 16, 2008)

Pathik said:


> Hah. Hackint0sh 4 n00bs.


Hackint0sh specifically means a copy of Apple OS which is hacked, i.e, modifyed a lot, is installed on a Computer. This is not one of those, since 100% no hacking is involved. This is just Apple Software on non apple Hardware.


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## johnjjx (Jun 16, 2008)

Wts benefit in doin so?


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## MetalheadGautham (Jun 16, 2008)

johnjjx said:


> Wts benefit in doin so?


Lesser chance of legal trouble.
Less work.
No need to buy IDE HDD or USB Keyboard for installing.


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## CadCrazy (Jun 16, 2008)

MetalheadGautham said:


> Lesser chance of legal trouble.
> Less work.
> No need to buy *IDE HDD* or USB Keyboard for installing.



Its SATA


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## chandru.in (Jun 16, 2008)

johnjjx said:


> Wts benefit in doin so?



It can be proved that Mac OS X is less compatible with all those odd ball hardware in market than any popular Linux distribution.


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## dheeraj_kumar (Jun 16, 2008)

Good news, but nobody will care to buy those stuff... Hackintosh is a lot better


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## FilledVoid (Jun 16, 2008)

> Law suits can only go so far.
> 
> Besides, their hardware is just a plug which makes some ports to behave like some other ports. There can be no way apple can sue the company unless they specifically do something to infridge on apple's copyright, and AFAIK, apple has hardly any copyrighted stuff on its PC. Its PC is mainly a get the best from everywhere and assemble them together and rip people off kind of machine.



Um Hello??

It modifies the "intended use" of the actual Software to run on Non Apple Machines. Thats good enough for a lawsuit in most countries.


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## bikdel (Jun 16, 2008)

Can we even buy a mac OS? U need to have a mac to buy it, dont you? Sorry but dont know about macs much. And what will be the cost of one original OS dvd?

PS:What are the Cons of Hackintosh.

PS: What are the Cons of Hackintosh?


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## infra_red_dude (Jun 16, 2008)

^^ No, you can buy Mac OS X separately.

The biggest problem with Hackintosh is driver incompatibility and the process of patching for drivers and OS updates everytime something new is released.


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## sakumar79 (Jun 16, 2008)

^^ Not to mention the hardware incompatibilities of generic PC components with a Mac that can cause BSODs at a similar or even faster rate than you get on Windows...

Arun


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## iMav (Jun 16, 2008)

infra_red_dude said:


> ^^ No, you can buy Mac OS X separately.
> 
> The biggest problem with Hackintosh is driver incompatibility and the process of patching for drivers and OS updates everytime something new is released.


I think we can. I have seen Tiger & Leopard discs at Mac stores on sale. Not sure though.

Drivers & updating to a newer release are the biggest PITAs in a hacint0sh. Tell me about it.


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## bikdel (Jun 16, 2008)

And what makes an original mac not work on our PCs? Also what would be the price of a mac cd?


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## iMav (Jun 16, 2008)

bikdel said:


> And what makes an original mac not work on our PCs? Also what would be the price of a mac cd?


Because of this. The update disc I think costs $129.


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## goobimama (Jun 16, 2008)

Actually Apple does not need to file a lawsuit. All they need to do is drastically change the way OSX installs so that all the EFiX users are left with an outdated copy of OS X. I'm pretty sure they are waiting for the Psystar+EFiX userbase to mount and then send them the boot. 

As for OS X, you can buy it of course.


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## infra_red_dude (Jun 16, 2008)

bikdel said:


> U need to have a mac to buy it, dont you?





infra_red_dude said:


> ^^ No, you can buy Mac OS X separately.





iMav said:


> I think we can. I have seen Tiger & Leopard discs at Mac stores on sale.


I said the same


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## iMav (Jun 16, 2008)

Oh damn, I am hallucinating. Need to catch some sleep.


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## MetalheadGautham (Jun 16, 2008)

FilledVoid said:


> Um Hello??
> 
> It modifies the "intended use" of the actual Software to run on Non Apple Machines. Thats good enough for a lawsuit in most countries.


I guess so. But does "intended use" REALLY qualify for a lawsuit ? As long as the allowed type


bikdel said:


> And what makes an original mac not work on our PCs? Also what would be the price of a mac cd?


Macintosh often uses hardware/interfaces different from some mainstream computers.
EFI instead of BIOS
USB keyboard instead of PS/2 keyboard
IDE HDD instead of SATA HDD
etc etc(compiled by my friend who is a hackint0sh user)


goobimama said:


> Actually Apple does not need to file a lawsuit. All they need to do is drastically change the way OSX installs so that all the EFiX users are left with an outdated copy of OS X. I'm pretty sure they are waiting for the Psystar+EFiX userbase to mount and then send them the boot.


Nope. This dongle thing basically converts standard PC parts to some of the stuff which a apple pc uses. For example, EFI from BIOS, USB Keyboard from PS2 keyboard, IDE HDD from SATA HDD, etc. So unless the Macintosh OS installer specifically tries to see the exact hardware configuration, and tries to match it with a catlogue of macintoshes, for example, see if the supposed mac mini really has only an 80GB HDD, it can't detect the presence of non apple hardware.

That, or it needs to change hardware requirements, which would render current apple PCs useless.

Besides, Psystar is not the main threat. EFiX will be the REAL threat, because for a cheap device, it can do wonders. Imagine something like mac users paying 130$ for a new osx while non mac users pay 130$+50$ for a new osx. This money is worth it considering Windows Pi$$TA is still more expensive.

As for people being left with an outdated OS, thats hardly a thing to worry about considering many still use windows xp. The main advantage of having OSX installed is the ability to use iLife, which is full of mac exclusive apps. And any good version will do.



iMav said:


> Oh damn, I am hallucinating. Need to catch some sleep.


Still not asleep ? I just woke a couple of hours back after going to sleep at 6.


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## FilledVoid (Jun 16, 2008)

> guess so. But does "intended use" REALLY qualify for a lawsuit ? As long as the allowed type



Yes. Apple released a product which clearly states the intent and rights a consumer has to use it. Using it in any other way specifically mentioned in the EULA ends up in a lawsuit if they want.

You can check this out also



> 2. Permitted License Uses and Restrictions.
> A. This License allows you to install and use one copy of the Apple Software on a single Apple-labeled computer at a time. This License does not allow the Apple Software to exist on more than one computer at a time,and you may not make the Apple Software available over a network where it could be used by multiple computers at the same time. You may make one copy of the Apple Software (excluding the Boot ROM code) in machine-readable form for backup purposes only; provided that the backup copy must include all copyright or other proprietary notices contained on the original.



Its quite clear that the thing goes beyond the License agreement.


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## goobimama (Jun 16, 2008)

^^ USB Keyboard is mac exclusive? Goodness this is a first. And where are you getting this Macs use IDE HDDs? All of them come with SATA drives. The only big difference is the EFI, and the TCMPsomething chip which tells the software that the computer is a mac.


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## MetalheadGautham (Jun 16, 2008)

goobimama said:


> ^^ USB Keyboard is mac exclusive? Goodness this is a first. And where are you getting this Macs use IDE HDDs? All of them come with SATA drives. The only big difference is the EFI, and the TCMPsomething chip which tells the software that the computer is a mac.


My friend found that to use a mac, he needed to use an IDE drive instead of his SATA one and he spent Rs. 500/- on a USB keyboard because PS/2 is not detected by mac. I think the drive issue may be an exception, but its a well known fact that a mac can't recoganise PS/2 ports.


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## sakumar79 (Jun 16, 2008)

FilledVoid said:


> 2. Permitted License Uses and Restrictions.
> A. This License allows you to install and use one copy of the Apple Software on a single Apple-labeled computer at a time. This License does not allow the Apple Software to exist on more than one computer at a time,and you may not make the Apple Software available over a network where it could be used by multiple computers at the same time. You may make one copy of the Apple Software (excluding the Boot ROM code) in machine-readable form for backup purposes only; provided that the backup copy must include all copyright or other proprietary notices contained on the original.



Offtopic: Will putting up a sticker showing apple picture (not necessarily a half eaten one) on a regular PC qualify as a "Apple labelled computer"? 

Arun


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## FilledVoid (Jun 16, 2008)

> Offtopic: Will putting up a sticker showing apple picture (not necessarily a half eaten one) on a regular PC qualify as a "Apple labelled computer"?



Assuming you own a car . Lets say Ambassador / Maruthi or whatever . Will putting the word Aston Martin on it make it any different  ?


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## goobimama (Jun 16, 2008)

^^ I see the famous Car - Computers comparison has been brought into play...


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## praka123 (Jun 16, 2008)

@filled-void: owned apple |users


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## FilledVoid (Jun 16, 2008)

> ^^ I see the famous Car - Computers comparison has been brought into play...



Lol , Im sorry . If  You ask a silly question , you get a silly answer .


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## bikdel (Jun 16, 2008)

iMav said:


> Because of this. The update disc I think costs $129.



thanx. I had once actually posted one thread on intel's itanium failure and researched about EFI but did not know it was there in Macs too since their shift to Intel. Thanks anyway?


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## MetalheadGautham (Jun 16, 2008)

sakumar79 said:


> Offtopic: Will putting up a sticker showing apple picture (not necessarily a half eaten one) on a regular PC qualify as a "Apple labelled computer"?
> 
> Arun


Actually, yes I guess so.
Thats true unless there is a defination of the term "Apple Labelled" within the licence agreement.

For that, I need a copy of apple EULA.

I am getting exited already.

Apple Labelled. Those dumb asses. Even in some Indian laws, the word "may" is often used in a way that not following it is not illegal since "may" is only suggestive, not authoritative.


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## praka123 (Jun 16, 2008)

@gowtham :read M$ windows EULA  -full satisfaction guranteed *www.techenclave.com/images/smilies/happy55.gif


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## FilledVoid (Jun 17, 2008)

> Actually, yes I guess so.
> Thats true unless there is a defination of the term "Apple Labelled" within the licence agreement.
> 
> For that, I need a copy of apple EULA.
> ...



Sigh. Apple Labelled in legal terms would rather mean that the computer was manufactured by Apple or in other words the company that maintains the Apple Trademark. The Apple EULA does not contain the definition for an "Apple Labeled" computer because legally it is implied in whatever court you are pleading in. 

You think Apple Labeled was formed by dumbasses? Dude this is a MNC. The Business World  is the Survival of the Fittest. If your product sucks or its run by a group of three year olds it gets mowed down. PERIOD. You can hate Microsoft / Apple as much as you want but the truth is they are experts when it comes to business. 

Even in some Indian Laws? Please quote the Act/ Section you are referring to and the use of "may" in it . I'll be more than happy to clear the doubt. I fail to find the suggestive reference in "You May...." or "You May not". Maybe I am wrong . Why don't you quote the  law you find the use of "May" as a suggestive reference or probably a certain case proceedings?


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## MetalheadGautham (Jun 17, 2008)

FilledVoid said:


> Even in some Indian Laws? Please quote the Act/ Section you are referring to and the use of "may" in it . I'll be more than happy to clear the doubt. I fail to find the suggestive reference in "You May...." or "You May not". Maybe I am wrong . Why don't you quote the  law you find the use of "May" as a suggestive referecne or probably a certain case proceedings?


I remember reading it in The Hindu newspaper. Let me see...
Bangalore Edition, 16/6/2008 - Page 15

OK, found it online:

*www.hindu.com/2008/06/16/stories/2008061655711500.htm


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## FilledVoid (Jun 17, 2008)

> I opted for the former alternative and paid CGT to the Australian Taxation office as at November 25, 2002. Under Article 13(5) of the Agreement between India and Australia for the Avoidance of Double Taxation, “Income or gains derived for the alienation of share or comparable interests in a company....... may be taxed in the contracting state of which the company is resident”



The reason the word May is in the above statement is because there are numerous conditions which attribute to whether the taxes are applicable or not. Usually they are given as sub sections to the law mentioned above. In the above source they have truncated the Article so Im not sure what it says and I'm not sure of what it actually says in the case of Australia and India. In other words you may be taxable if you qualify for certain criteria.


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## MetalheadGautham (Jun 17, 2008)

FilledVoid said:


> The reason the word May is in the above statement is because there are numerous conditions which attribute to whether the taxes are applicable or not. Usually they are given as sub sections to the law mentioned above. In the above source they have truncated the Article so Im not sure what it says and I'm not sure of what it actually says in the case of Australia and India. In other words you may be taxable if you qualify for certain criteria.


I know, but still... Looking at a similar set of arguements:

1. Apple needs you to install Mac only on an Apple Labelled Computer.

2. Under Indian law, using a software you bought for non commercial personal home use while running only one copy at a time is always Fair Use, unless you violate a clause in the EULA.

3. Literally speaking, you never violate any clause of Apple EULA if you use a computer thats "Apple Labeled".

4. Under the language used in the EULA, english, "Apple Labeled" means labeled as Apple or labeled with an apple.

Now isn't it looking possible to argue in a court that installing Macintosh on any computer labeled with an "apple" is legal ? You don't literally violate the EULA, and the use you are putting the software to is stil fair use.

Correct me if I went wrong anywhere, but I think all this means you don't need apple manufactured hardware anymore to install apple manufactured operating system, under the clauses I just stated.


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## Pathik (Jun 17, 2008)

WTF! Wont patents and rights apply here? That only Apple may produce Apple 'labelled' computers?


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## FilledVoid (Jun 17, 2008)

> 1. Apple needs you to install Mac only on an Apple Labelled Computer.



By opening the package and accepting to the Agreement you Agree to installing it on Apple hardware. 



> 2. Under Indian law, using a software you bought for non commercial personal home use while running only one copy at a time is always Fair Use, unless you violate a clause in the EULA.



You already did. By installing it on Non-Apple Hardware. 



> y speaking, you never violate any clause of Apple EULA if you use a computer thats "Apple Labeled".



Umm. Of course you don't violate the EULA by installing it on Apple hardware./ I fail to see the point in this.  If you pirated a copy of Mac OS X then thats a different story. Not only did you break the EULA but you also get lawsuits for piracy as well. If you are referring to why not stick a peice of paper on my system which says Apple then I already explained above . That won't fly in court. 



> 4. Under the language used in the EULA, english, "Apple Labeled" means labeled as Apple or labeled with an apple.



You crack me up. If it makes you all warm and fuzzy inside thinking that you might of pulled a fast one on Apple by all means knock yourself out. But the truth is you are just another person conning himself into believing him that he outwitted Apple. In other words Please be free to fool yourself. 



> Now isn't it looking possible to argue in a court that installing Macintosh on any computer labeled with an "apple" is legal ? You don't literally violate the EULA, and the use you are putting the software to is stil fair use.



Ive explained this above so I'm not going to explain it again. But just so you know some words have multiple meanings. 

*www.thefreedictionary.com/label



> Correct me if I went wrong anywhere, but I think all this means you don't need apple manufactured hardware anymore to install apple manufactured operating system, under the clauses I just stated.



Yeah right.  And I'm Santa Claus. Technically in your argument is saying "Hmmmm Lets steal a car. I'll follow the traffic rules so everything should be fine. "



> WTF! Wont patents and rights apply here? That only Apple may produce Apple 'labelled' computers?



Let me know when he figures that out.


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## MetalheadGautham (Jun 17, 2008)

FilledVoid said:


> By opening the package and accepting to the Agreement you Agree to installing it on Apple hardware.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I am mearly trying to look for holes.
Its upto the court to decide the legality, so leave me out of this.
A guy can only *try* to look for holes...


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## FilledVoid (Jun 17, 2008)

> I am mearly trying to look for holes.
> Its upto the court to decide the legality, so leave me out of this.
> A guy can only *try* to look for holes...



Thank you. If you we're looking to sue Apple you would be better off pursuing other legal Lines. Theres was a discussion about this on the forum. It was closed. Nonetheless I don't intend on boring the others with my endless scripts. I would have loved to see that discussion go on but as someone said anything mentioning the Word Apple, Windows and Linux ends up in a brawl.


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## bikdel (Jun 17, 2008)

^ now takin the literal meaning of it as u did.


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## MetalheadGautham (Jun 17, 2008)

FilledVoid said:


> Thank you. If you we're looking to sue Apple you would be better off pursuing other legal Lines. Theres was a discussion about this on the forum. It was closed. Nonetheless I don't intend on boring the others with my endless scripts. I would have loved to see that discussion go on but as someone said anything mentioning the Word Apple, Windows and Linux ends up in a brawl.


I had intrest in law once upon a time, but I gave it up looong back.

The brawls you are talking about are mainly due to over zealous users who are ignorant about the thing called freedom of choice.


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## Pathik (Jun 17, 2008)

It's better to stay away from the law and legal clauses and loopholes when you are up against a Billion dollar company which can hire top lawyers and has a war chest of millions of dollars. Especially so in a country like India.


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## shantanu (Jun 17, 2008)

i think it was news  section... lets stay with that


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## MetalheadGautham (Jun 17, 2008)

shantanu said:


> i think it was news  section... lets stay with that


What was discussed thats non news related ?


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## shantanu (Jun 17, 2008)

wth.. cant you see flames generating.. win -lin -mac.. common man open your eyes


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