About
We’re a small, but dedicated team of individuals working on porting XBMC to OS X. Specially, we’re targeting Leopard on Intel hardware. We believe OS X provides a superior platform for the best media platform out there.
Our goal is to port the core code, and then enhance it with Mac-specific features, like Growl, Sparkle, and more.
Who are we?
Elan Feingold
Coding dude.
Cayce Ullman
Coding, project management, hosting, testing. Xserv in his bathroom.
Scott Olechowski
Testing, marketing, project management, photography, parenting.
Isaac Ordonez
Quality assurance, project mangement.
Ryan Walklin
Coding dude. Digital audio specialist.
Brandon Golm
Coding dude.
Enrique Osuma
Coding dude.
39 Comments so far
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Guys,
thanks for making this and putting it public.
The screenshot taken while playing is great but i can’t get any video playing.
I’m on a macbookpro 2.33Gherz and ATI Radeon X1600 (OpenGL engine)
how did you guys do that?
regards J.
What about using the Sony PlayStation 3 Blu-ray Disc Remote as the recommended default remote? It uses bluetooth (acting like a keyboard I think) and would maybe just need a tweaked Keymap.xml? Those PS3 remotes are relativly cheap as well (about $20US brand new), plus great since they are wireless without the need of line of sight since bluetooth uses radio-frequency it will go through walls
http://www.amazon.com/Sony-PlayStation-Blu-ray-Disc-Remote/dp/B000M17AVO/
@XBMC_fanboy: The problem is that if it acts like a keyboard, the XMBC window needs focus, and I’m not sure I want to require that.
I hear what you are saying. Maybe you guys could make an API library for it so that it does not act like a keyboard and only interfaces with XBMC? That way you could use both a USB keyboard and the Sony PS3 remote independently on the same computer without them affecting each other. I’m sure XBMC4Linux users would love the same thing, that would make the Sony PS3 remote the default on both OS X and Linux.
More ideas for the Sony PlayStation 3 bluetooth remote:
http://www.xboxmediacenter.com/forum/showthread.php?t=28765
http://sourceforge.net/tracker/index.php?func=detail&aid=1876587&group_id=87054&atid=581840
@elan: how difficult would it be to port XBMC to win32? What would be the high-level (50,000 ft) steps required?
@Matt: It’s already been ported, AFAIK. Check the forums.
@Matt, XBMC has actually been ported to Win32 (Windows based operating-systems, like XP) twice! However, none of those two ports are yet complete.
The first Win32 port is from the XBMC SVN trunk that contains the Xbox version of XBMC, this port builds XBMC for DirectX (and Direct3D). This port is after several years now still about the same functionallity as the Mac OS X port is now, and it will probably not be developed any futher.
The second Win32 port is from the Linuxport branch (same as the Mac OS X port), this ports builds XBMC for SDL and OpenGL (again, same as the Mac OS X port). This port is relativly new and is not as far along as the Mac OS X port however it does have the same potential, that Win32 port now only needs a few new active developers that is really personally interested in running XBMC on Win32.
@Elan, do you own an Apple TV box yet?
if not then I think that you should setup a dedicated donation drive towards getting you and your crew one each so that we all someday might be able to run XBMC on a Apple TV, as a replacement for the orginal Apple TV dashboard/shell/GUI.
Sure a Apple TV might not playback all high-definition videos but it sould serve well as an Xbox replacement or alternative for all standard-definition videos, with great upsampling capabilities up to 720p, 1080i, and 1080p.
If you ask nicly then I am sure they post about that donation drive at: awkwardtv.org and appletvhacks.net
Great stuff. This it really exciting. Current OS X Media Center options pretty much suck and I know from experience that XBMC rules!
I like the idea of getting something working on Apple TV, but let’s make sure you’re happy with the Leopard one first
Good luck! I’m excited to see how this pans out. Keep up the good work.
Any chance that this will ever become a replacement for OS X… dual boot OSX and XBMC? I recently sold my old Xbox and replaced it with a Mac Mini. Unfortunately, I can’t get the same resolutions with the Mac Mini as I could with XBMC without having some issues… could be because I’m using an DVI to HDMI cable… I have no Idea, but I really miss the ability to scale the screen which was available in XBMC. OS X requires crazy third party apps such as SwitchRes. Thanks for all your hard work! Really excited about this project.
@Adam: Sorry, no chance of replacing OS X. However, once you generate new resolutions with a third party tool, they should “just work” with XBMC.
I’ve just learned about the proj, you’re doing a great job! I currently have 3 XBOX w/ XBMC and wouldn’t mind upgrading to a more powerful machine while keeping the same functionality I know and love.
Is there any plan to support powerPC macs? I have an unused old mini that’d be perfect for this.
keep up the good work,
g.
Do you guys want a gui designer? I am willing to share my profolio. If you want to speak, please email me anytime! I can’t wait to hear from you guys!
Thanks
tino
@Tino (doc), XBMC are always looking for skin (GUI) designers and skinners, just jump right in (easiest is probably to start by grab one of the existings skins like Project Mayhem 3 and mock about with it until you feel conftable you build your own). See:
http://www.xbmc.org/wiki/?title=Skinning_XBMC
and
http://www.xbmc.org/wiki/?title=Category:Skin_Development
Also make sure to register on the forum and check out the dedicated skinning forum where you can chat with likeminded individuals
You could always choose to use the Wiimote. They have some open source drivers / api’s for it on the macs now.
[...] was thus pleasantly pleased to learn that two teams of developers are working on porting XBMC to OS X and Linux, providing much needed HD support. Previously the XBMC had worked miracles in terms of [...]
Hey Guys,
I’m not a programmer at all, just someone trying to figure out how to setup the best media pc I can for my house.
I came across XMBC and was amazed at how good it was, even on the old XBOX hardware. Then I saw XBMC on OSX!
I see you guys are just getting started, but you seem to be quite a long way along. I have decided to go with a Mac mini and have been researching media centre software and have looked at all that I could find including iTheater, Media Central, Front Row, etc.
I love the AppleTV style of menus and loaded up xTV on top of your existing XBMCOSX and was absolutely f*cking wiped out!
It looks absolutely brilliant, and if it is this good so early in the piece, you can only go up from here! I love it. It just looks and works right!
Please keep working on it and lets show everyone what can be done!
I’m off to see if I can find a way to donate. All the best guys (and girls if there are any involved!)!
Adam: I had that problem with my mini, also… for some reason, when I pulled it out of the box and plugged it into my tv it looked great, then I changed something and could never get 1080p to display nicely again.
In the end I downloaded SwitchResX, forced it to a nice 1080p and then uninstalled SwitchResX. It’s been rebooted about 20 times since and it still looks great.
my setup is a 1.83GHz C2D mini, 2GB ram, Sharp 46″ LCD with a DVI to HDMI adapter
@ScottTFrazer and Adam: 1080p is hard with a Mac. Easiest way to get it to stick is to go to System Preferences, and enable showing displays in the menu bar. You should see two (indistinguishable) entries for 1920×1080. One will be 1080i and the other should be 1080p.
Will the Apple Remote work without third-party applications (like Remote Buddy) in the future? I for one like if it was full integrated into XBMC, thx!
@Elan & Crew
Thanx for your effort. Ever Since my Xbox+XBMC gone old(too many 1080p .mkv downloaded) I’ve been searching for a replacement, but have not found ONE single that can compare to XBMC. But now with your help It DOES EXIST!!! Please let me know if you need bandwidth and storage space…Downloading from your site is so slooooow. I’m on a 100M/100M fiber, and willing to donate some of it to this project.
It’s hard to explain to my friends how awesome XBMC for OS X really is, so I made a video of OSXBMC in action and posted it on YouTube. You can find it here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGdihkA5FK4
keep up the good work!
How come four people are listed as members of this project on this page yet we only ever hear from Elan on this site? At the very least we like to hear news from all of the coding people
No offence to Elan 
Wow…just came across this project a week ago and now i’m reading up on the progress you guys are doing. At this state of the project, it already looks great!. I’ve used the xbmc on the old xbox and always liked it.
Even though I can’t help you with coding, I would like to offer my help on designing you’re (Wordpress?) blog here and updating it, of course only if you need the help
Good luck guys - I for one is rooting for ya!.
You don’t want to hear progress updates from me… “Tested more tickets today… Deleted 3… Updated the formatting on a couple and changed version numbers.” Plus my dog is lazy and doesn’t make for good photos.
Here is a status update from me. I reinstalled the OS on the box that we host the trac server on and fixed a bandwidth issue that we were having. Also, got the subversion syncing finally using OSX’s launchd/ctl instead of cron. Lastly, I finished bug 109 this week after 10 days 1 one RFE
See not too interesting…right?
Elan, team, aaaaaaaaaaaaaaawesome work.
Let me know if you require any automated builds/tests setup against the latest MacMini 2.0ghz 1gb, I would love to get involved to support in this project but know my time available is spasmotic at best.
OSXBMC and menalto are the only things I need my MacMini do well and its paid for itself 10times over. Great project.
no ppc port or universal binary?
mitch: As soon as you get it working, send us the patch!
Congrats and thanks for such an effort. It is a really good idea and keep the good work going guys
[...] XBMC klar for Mac XBMC For Mac: XBMC Turns Your Mac into the Ultimate Media Center Dette er jo kjempe, kanskje jeg m
Why don’t you call it OSXBMC? That would be catchier.
Just chiming in to say you’re doing great work. I’m definitely looking forward to new skins following the separation from the Linux team. The killer feature over Front Row, IMO, is the ability to browse the entire hard drive and attached drives — all the rest is gravy. I’m spreading the word to my fellow Mac users.
Lacking any kind of formal how do you do and how’s your father, I have thrown money into the tube that should take it across the intarwebs to you. Please spend it on beer and snacks such that I may feel good that I am feeding someone who is working hard. Granted you could argue that my wife should take precedence. So let’s just keep this on the quiet side eh?
[...] great, there is an About link at the top of the page. Though it requires that I go somewhere else to find just basic information, [...]
[...] vha. hdmi? Takk for alle tips BigW Siden du vurderer Apple-produkter, hva med Mac Mini og XBMC on OS X. Har ikke pr
iPlex
never mind above statement, it was supposed to end up somewhere else (if anyone can delete this, pleeze do)