RegHardware tried out OS X on a Sandy Bridge PC

Today's Macs use standard Intel-type components. A key difference from Windows is that Mac OS X loads though a boot mechanism known as EFI (Extensible Firmware Interface). Some obscure Apple-proprietary concoction, no doubt? Far from it. EFI, now officially called UEFI - the 'U' stands for 'universal' - is an open standard, originally devised by Intel as a replacement for the ageing Bios boot system.

Unlike the 16-bit Bios, EFI can be 32- or 64-bit, and is much more flexible. In particular, with suitable hardware, you can tweak EFI to persuade a Mac OS X installer that it's installing onto a Mac. A generic Intel machine on which you're running the Mac operating system has become known as a "Hackintosh".

  The Sandy Bridge Hackintosh