I don't know about you, but I have installed all types of OSs on all kinds of machines and I've never had any problems (as long as I've picked the right OS for the right platform - i.e. Linux x64 distribution works only with a machine equipped with an x64 processor and will NEVER work with an x86).

If you've been were I've been - or at least on some of the places - and you're a new guy in the Mac world, you will answer me with a big "Yes, of course!" if I ask you whether one can install Leopard on any Intel-based Mac using the Air Mac OS X 10.5 installation media (the "Intel-based" is used to go along the "right OS for the right platform" hypothesis).

Yes, you would and will more than probably argue with me when I would tell that certain installation disk will only work with the MacBook Air. Despite all the arguments one could bring into discussion to prove that the Air Leopard Installer media should work with any other Intel-based Mac, a single link will ruin all the efforts.

Apple itself will do that in a support document published on their website, document that says the following: "The Mac OS X 10.5 installation media that shipped with your MacBook Air is designed for use on this computer only and not intended for any other computer. The installer prevents this software from being installed on other Macintosh computers. Furthermore, other Mac OS X 10.5 installation media should not be used when restoring the system software on your MacBook Air."

This might prove to be puzzling if you aren't used to the way Apple deals with bundled copies of OS X. This happens because each and every bundled copy of the OS installer will only work with the bundled machine. This is why these types of disks are known to be machine specific installers and, as Mac users can remember, they have been used since… Well, there actually doesn't seem to be a suitable ending to this except "forever".

Therefore, throw away everything you know about installing operating systems, because, when it comes to install a Mac OS, there are other rules to apply. It just doesn't matter if a MacBook Air and an iMac both run on Intel Core Duo processors, the installation media that comes with the Air will NOT work with the iMac.

This is a fact and you'd better pay attention and not use incompatible installer disks on your (or any other) Mac when trying to restore the system because you'd just mess things up really good.