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Netbooks are the rage du jour among the geeky set: small and cheap, geeks have been figuring out how to tear them apart and modify them, even to the point of installing OS X on certain models by using modified install discs that are distributed as torrents. The technical problem with this (to say nothing of the legality) is that since the modifications alter the kernel; every time Apple upgrades the OS, it breaks the PC’s install.

But now Gregory Cohen has figured out a way to install Mac OS X v10.5 using unmodified Leopard discs, which means if you’ve got an EEE PC (which is what he used) and legal discs, you can have a cheap, ultralight Mac netbook that can handle official Apple updates. Of course, you’re still violating the EULA.

Hackszine explains what’s different:

Instead of hacking the kernel, you use a bootloader called BOOT-132. It basically runs before anything else starts up and, with a few kernel extensions, it makes the system resemble the boot process of a stock Mac to the retail, unmodified Apple kernel. This means you can install OS X on your Eee with the Leopard disks you own, without modification, and without downloading a big ISO off bittorrent. It also means you can run Software Update without worry, since you are using a legit, unmodified OS X kernel.

Cohen has an exhaustive step-by-step explanation of the process, along with the materials you’ll need (a USB DVD drive, for one) and his own custom-coded boot disc. EEE PCs are currently selling at Target for around $270—how long before Apple puts the kibosh on this hack, or caves and releases its own netbook?

Read [EEEmac Journey] Via [Hackszine]