What is Retail?
A Retail Mac OS X Installation DVD is needed for these guides. Some confusion of the term "retail" has been seen in numerous forum topics, so let me illustrate the differences for you.
Retail DVD
This is exactly what we are looking for: an individually packaged Mac OS X Installation DVD. You'll notice that the disc has predominantly black and purple colors, as well as the version number on the left side. Any version of the Retail discs can be used, from 10.5.0 to 10.5.6 (the latest for sale as of this writing) and 10.6.0. The Family Pack version will work just fine, as well as the Mac Box Set that also includes iLife and iWork.
OEM DVD
OEM means Original Equipment Manufacturer. This is where most of the confusion occurs. A lot of people buy a MacBook or iMac and think that a netbook Mac would be nice to carry around. So they look in the box their Mac came in and find these DVDs, thinking that they are good to go with installing Mac OS X on their netbook. Problem is, these discs are single license-only, so installing on another computer, Mac or PC, is not going to work. Check the "Why Retail?" section for more info.
Torrent and Other Downloads
And this is where we run into the most problems. You'll notice that I've labeled this DVD+R with several common OSX86 distribution names. The problem with downloaded copies is you never know what will happen with them, especially concerning drivers. Plus we run into the same issue as the OEM DVDs, there is no license that has been purchased.
When I originally wrote this article, Snow Leopard was not yet available for sale. When it was released, it was discovered that Snow Leopard upgrade discs had no software check to see if Leopard was already installed, nor did it need to have any version of Mac OS X previously installed in order to work. This is somewhat of a dilemna, considering that Apple does actually sell a Mac Box Set which not only includes iLife and iWork but is supposed to be for all Macs that ran Tiger (in other words, a non-upgrade version). While I won't say that you can't install from a retail Snow Leopard disc if it is one of the cheaper version, I will still insist that you at least buy the actual disc. The rule still applies that you only install it on as many computers as the license was for. So for the $29 version: 1 use; $49 Family Pack: 5 uses; same for Mac Box Sets. Any disc that was included with an Apple computer or that has already been installed as many times as it was intended for should not be used.
Retail DVDs have several advantages. First, you actually purchased the copy. Whether or not you think the EULA means anything regarding installation on a non-Apple-labeled machine, the least you can do is have a legitimate copy. Apple may not agree with your use, but at least show some respect and support for their work.
Second, the Mac OS X Installer will not allow you to install from an OEM disc except on the model it was intended for. Doesn't matter if it is a PC or an iMac, the discs that come with a MacBook will only install on a MacBook. This really does not help in the installation process.
Finally, torrent copies and such tend to have extension (driver) conflicts with the methods on this site. While there are some builds out there that are tailored for certain netbooks, these distributions have been hacked and modified so that they aren't as easy to get working properly, if at all. Even if you download a vanilla (unmodified) retail disc image, you still haven't paid for it.
It is very frustrating for both myself and the end user if they try to get around the Retail DVD requirement. Please, just make it easy for the both of us and buy a legitimate copy of Mac OS X through retail channels. I don't care if it was bought from Apple, on eBay, or from a friend, make sure that you are in posession of your own copy that has been installed only the amount of times you paid for (once for normal discs, five times for the Family Pack.)
mechdrew Retail Version 1.03