Homelab Adventures: Virtualizing Mac OS-X

 Like many people, I've always been interested in trying a Mac but could not afford to.  So I fused my desire to try, with my passion for learning VM software, and I decided to try virtualizing Mac OS-X(Purely for education purposes).  I've done some virtualizing in the past with a homelab (more posts on that later), but I had a feeling this would be uniquely challenging.

    For one, I've never touched a Mac and now here I was trying to virtualize it!  Second, I had a feeling that the operating system wouldn't be easily available.  Third, I had no idea how functional it would be on my rig.  All that being said, I decided to dive in anyways.

    I ended up being right on all counts, nearly immediately.  First, I had no idea where to find the image for the OS software.  I scoured high and low, and realized this wasn't going to be as simple as ...say downloading Linux!  Eventually I persevered, and I had one step done.    

    Second, I had no idea if my computer could handle this type of VM environment.  I soon found out that while yes, I could run a VM of OS-X, I could not run it anywhere near optimally.  It was slower than any computer I've ever used, including the junker I had as a kid. 

    Finally, I was right about not knowing how to use Mac OS-X.  However, this was a good thing and the entire reason I was doing this: to learn.  Honestly my impression is that it's extremely similar to using a Linux distro, which of course makes sense considering both derive from Unix.  Go figure, right?

    I really enjoyed this, as it stretched me out of my comfort zones.  I also adore the operating system (even with it performing like a snail on vacation in my virtual environment), and now want to splurge and get my own Mac.  Since this was for educational purposes only, I wont be keeping this on my VM.