14 DAY TRIAL // Ubuntu 14.10 (Utopic Unicorn) has been available for a couple of weeks and the reception has been positive for the most part, but there is one small piece of interesting information that didn't get revealed. It looks like the Ubuntu devs don't need to build specific images for Apple hardware.
Many Ubuntu users will remember that, until the launch of Ubuntu 14.10, there was an image of the OS available labeled amd64+mac, which was technically aimed at Apple hardware. That image is no longer necessary, because Mac OS X now works on regular hardware and there is no need to have something built specifically for it, and that includes EFI capabilities.
The Ubuntu devs marked this interesting evolution in the official announcement for Ubuntu 14.10, but it went largely unnoticed.
"The amd64 (Intel x86 64-bit) images specifically targeted at Apple hardware (amd64+mac) are no longer produced. Most Apple computers are now capable of booting the amd64 image directly using the EFI (not legacy) boot method so long as their firmware is up to date. If for some reason your hardware doesn't boot properly using the amd64 image, make sure you don't have a pending EFI update."
Users can now download Ubuntu 14.10 (Utopic Unicorn) and easily install it on Apple hardware.