A new variant of Mac OS X for Intel began surfacing on Internet sites early Thursday, boasting the ability to run on any x86 based computer. The leak has apparently been cracked to bypass the protections that prevent Apple's development kits from running on any unofficial system.

Although many believed it was only a matter of time before such a leak occurred, Apple had taken stringent measures to ensure the Intel version of its operating system stayed locked down, including purportedly using hardware-based security with a TPM chip, otherwise known as Palladium. Videos of Mac OS X on an Intel laptop were posted by a French Mac enthusiast site Wednesday