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Originally posted by as77
I know that the OS is customized for each device, but given the large degree of hardware similarities between the two devices, and actually all currently available PPCs on the market, it wouldn't be too surprising if the ROM images were interchangeable and the image from one unit worked OK on another unit. Minor glitches with specific drivers could be expected, but the OS itself could basically run.
Customizing the OS for a device is actually not such a terribly big job as the manufacturers want us to believe. I downloaded a video presentation from Microsoft's website that shows this. It's little more than a series of drag-and-drop operations to add the necessary components and drivers, then press a button and a ROM image comes out.
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Yeah, it's simple if you have the app and the drivers.
The reason desktop OS can be loaded is that it comes with thousands of drivers. It also takes gigabytes of storage.
PPCs are highly customized. Put it another way, have you ever tried to load a retail version of Windows on a notebook? Most of the components don't work until you download the drivers from the manufacturer's site.
WM comes out of MS essentially without drivers. The customization involves adding the device specific drivers. That's why upgrades are model, as opposed to manufacturer specific.