This article is both excellent and brilliant. Lots of ideas... but one misnomer about Snow Leopard and 32-bit EFI.
"You can force Snow Leopard 10.6 to use the 64 bit kernel by holding down the “6” and “4” keys during system boot. Likewise, you can switch back to the 32 bit kernel by holding down “3” and “2” during system boot. It may be stating the obvious, but the 64 bit kernel will not work on a machine that is not 64 bit."
That is a CPU that is 64-bit, but an EFI that is 32-bit will boot Snow Leopard in 64-bit mode, and the 32-bit Snow Leopard and the 64-bit Snow Leopard will run 64-bit applications.
The 2006 MacServe was the first 32-bit EFI to boot and run 64-bit Snow Leopard, and support 32GB of ram, and I have heard that every Intel Mac that supported Snow Leopard after that could also do it, but I only tried it on Mac Pros and iMacs, and a few Macbooks. The iMacs needed a 4GB SO-Dimm on the right hand slot, and it would both recognize 6GB and run applications that were 64-bit.
"You can force Snow Leopard 10.6 to use the 64 bit kernel by holding down the “6” and “4” keys during system boot. Likewise, you can switch back to the 32 bit kernel by holding down “3” and “2” during system boot. It may be stating the obvious, but the 64 bit kernel will not work on a machine that is not 64 bit."
That is a CPU that is 64-bit, but an EFI that is 32-bit will boot Snow Leopard in 64-bit mode, and the 32-bit Snow Leopard and the 64-bit Snow Leopard will run 64-bit applications.
The 2006 MacServe was the first 32-bit EFI to boot and run 64-bit Snow Leopard, and support 32GB of ram, and I have heard that every Intel Mac that supported Snow Leopard after that could also do it, but I only tried it on Mac Pros and iMacs, and a few Macbooks. The iMacs needed a 4GB SO-Dimm on the right hand slot, and it would both recognize 6GB and run applications that were 64-bit.