Ask HN: Is there a reliable way to put Mac OS X on a non-Apple notebook computer?

Updates are slower to roll-out to the hackintoshes, major OS upgrades can be quite a bit slower to come. This can include security fixes too.

I ended up installing Linux and never looked back. It turns out most of what I used on macOS was just the unix-like subsystem. Having Linux was just as good, if not better than being on macOS.

Of course this doesn't help if you're doing iOS development, or need to use Xcode. I've moved away, myself, but have talked to others who have used a Mac Mini as a build machine. You could also install OS X in a Virtual Machine under Linux and use it for development, which requires its own set of hacks but fewer.

Linux distributions I would recommend:

* Solus, I really like where this project is going and it's my daily driver now.

* Arch, allows/forces a truly custom setup, you end up learning a lot about your system, but might be too distracted with your system to get work done ;)

* Antergos, an Arch alternative w/ batteries included.

* elementary OS, it's the Linux distro made by the folks who loved macOS. It's beautiful and you might like it more than macOS itself.

The closest you can do, is to install Darwin (opensource), and GNUstep (opensource).

Then you can develop Openstep/Cocoa applications on your non-Apple laptop legally and in total freedom.

If you have customers who would want a MacOSX executable, you would then give them your sources, they would download Xcode, and they would compile them. This is why the GPL has been invented (or other licenses such as BSD, MIT, etc).

Now of course, GNUstep doesn't track the evolution of Apple Cocoa very closely. Your application will be compilable for MacOSX if you take some care to write it portably, and you won't be able to take advantage of Cocoa specific features, only the most vanilla and plain Openstep features. Depending on the kind of application, this may be more than enough.

For a better SNR than browsing Tonymacx86 forums, try https://reddit.com/r/hackintosh

Save your sanity and money - you can get some nice specced refurbished/used MacBooks that can just run the latest Apple stuff for a good price and save a lot of frustration with foreign hardware issues now and down the road.

Things will "just work" and you will really appreciate it.

Doing the whole hackintosh thing has improved from previous years. Before it was an absolute nightmare. It's still a lot of pain. Just less. So you have that option as well. Just remember it doesn't play nice with all hardware and you will have to fiddle a lot. Every update you will have to do your research and pray to the god of moving bits that it's a smooth transition.

then choose your osx version...

http://techsviewer.com/install-macos-sierra-vmware-windows/