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A company I have never heard of, Psystar, is offering a $399 Mac Clone http://www.macobserver.com/article/2008/04/14.4.shtml

Even includes loading MacOS X on (using the EFI V8 Emulator) for you.

So how long does this last until Apple pitches a hissy fit?

I don't think it's illegal to sell the box and the OS (although the licensing would not be valid). But I do think Apple might not like the EFI emulation, which depending on how it was written, could be construed as copyright infringement. None of that really matters, even if everything the company did was legal, Apple's attorneys will keep them tied up in litigation so long that they can't actully deliver.

"EFI v8" is most likely the same netkas EFI emulator that the Hackintoshes among us have been using for several months now. Apple actually (intentionally, I'm sure) broke it with 10.5.2, so I'm sure they're interested in its demise.

The Psystar site is down, but it seems like a relatively decent price for the hardware, though I'm sure I could build it myself. I'm most interested in what kind of "recovery DVD" they're offering in addition to the Leopard DVD.

Psystar, by way of Gizmodo wrote:

The highly extensible OpenMac is a configuration of PC hardware capable of running unmodified OS X Leopard kernels. If you purchase Leopard with your OpenMac we will not only include the actual Leopard retail package with genuine installation disc, but we also include a Psystar restore disc for your OpenMac and we will preinstall Leopard for free so you can begin to use your computer right out of the box.

http://gizmodo.com/379362

Hopefully the site comes back up soon.

http://www.engadget.com/2008/04/14/psys ... hopping-f/

I really think they're missing a boatload of sales by not enabling it to run on BIOS-equipped machines with at least certain hardware configs. I think you could reasonably limit hardware requirements to Core2's, GeForce 6x00 and Radeon X1x00 series, Intel chipsets, specific integrated LAN and sound chipsets, etc.

Or better yet, they could release their own motherboard with some sort of Trusted Platform module or some sort of digital signing in firmware. I'd buy an Apple-branded motherboard with onboard LAN/audio/firewire in a heartbeat, and I'd probably even be willing to overpay a little bit as long as it worked with off-the-shelf graphics and such. I have a strong desire to have just one machine, so it'd definitely need to support discrete graphics. They've done it in the past, kind of, by offering PPC upgrade boards for 68k machines, but Stevie J wasn't in charge back then.

derFunkenstein wrote:

"EFI v8" is most likely the same netkas EFI emulator that the Hackintoshes among us have been using for several months now. Apple actually (intentionally, I'm sure) broke it with 10.5.2, so I'm sure they're interested in its demise.

Broke it? 10.5.2 and v8 working just dandy here.

I bet the 'recovery DVD' says Kalyway or iAtkos on it. These jokers need to be beaten, bald-facedly selling other people's hard work.

Forge wrote:

derFunkenstein wrote:

"EFI v8" is most likely the same netkas EFI emulator that the Hackintoshes among us have been using for several months now. Apple actually (intentionally, I'm sure) broke it with 10.5.2, so I'm sure they're interested in its demise.

Broke it? 10.5.2 and v8 working just dandy here.

I bet the 'recovery DVD' says Kalyway or iAtkos on it. These jokers need to be beaten, bald-facedly selling other people's hard work.

I don't mean to bring back a flame war about how Apple refuses to allow anybody to install OSX on plain hardware, but the company, I believe, is buying the OSX license, albeit they're breaking the EULA.

Nitrodist wrote:

I don't mean to bring back a flame war about how Apple refuses to allow anybody to install OSX on plain hardware, but the company, I believe, is buying the OSX license, albeit they're breaking the EULA.

I'm not quite sure that's the case. It can be argued that since the unit is custom loaded for the buyer, the seller is an agent at the point of transaction and the liability for breaking the EULA would fall to the owner. The way they are doing it is either intentionally clever or a lucky guess.

Forge wrote:

Broke it? 10.5.2 and v8 working just dandy here.

*** first of all, PUI

Only if you either patch the 10.5.2 combo installer or use a script to delete a certain kext as it's installed and loaded by the OS, then patch a script to load dsmos.kext instead of "don't steal Mac OS X.kext" - in ohter words, to the oblivious hackintosh installer, it breaks yoru system and renders it unbootable. With netkas's installer to delete that kext and with the recommended edits to load the right encryption kext (dsmos.kext) it'll load, but the vanilla install certainly breaks the holy **** **** out of a hacked install. Dont' go trying to install it all vanilla, even with the netkas EFI emulator, because I know you're full of **** if you think it's working.

derFunkenstein wrote:

Forge wrote:

Broke it? 10.5.2 and v8 working just dandy here.

*** first of all, PUI

Only if you either patch the 10.5.2 combo installer or use a script to delete a certain kext as it's installed and loaded by the OS, then patch a script to load dsmos.kext instead of "don't steal Mac OS X.kext" - in ohter words, to the oblivious hackintosh installer, it breaks yoru system and renders it unbootable. With netkas's installer to delete that kext and with the recommended edits to load the right encryption kext (dsmos.kext) it'll load, but the vanilla install certainly breaks the holy **** **** out of a hacked install. Dont' go trying to install it all vanilla, even with the netkas EFI emulator, because I know you're full of **** if you think it's working.

Ah, much clearer. Your earlier post seemed to imply it couldn't be installed, my POV and your latter post agreed on 'can't be installed without a little tinkering'.

Yeah, and I apologize for my outburst last night.

And 10.5.1 didn't have that problem, because it didn't include whatever AppleIntelCPUPowerManagement.kext (I think that was the name) and didn't include Don'tStealMacOSX.kext, so you could just install it vanilla-style straight from Apple if you had used the previous 10.5 hacked DVD's to have EFI.

sorry for the double-post, but Psystar is going to challenge Apple's EULA head-on:

http://www.macrumors.com/2008/04/14/psy ... os-x-eula/

Whether or not they actually get anywhere and whether they can force Apple to open up the OS to clones is another ballgame entirely. Here's hoping!

derFunkenstein wrote:

Yeah, and I apologize for my outburst last night.

And 10.5.1 didn't have that problem, because it didn't include whatever AppleIntelCPUPowerManagement.kext (I think that was the name) and didn't include Don'tStealMacOSX.kext, so you could just install it vanilla-style straight from Apple if you had used the previous 10.5 hacked DVD's to have EFI.

I didn't think anything warranted an apology. You PUI is probably still less abrasive than me any other time.

10.5.1 was lazy... I don't believe Apple meant to ship it naked that way. I'd bet you never see an OSX patch without those lockouts/checks again, except maybe a leaked beta or something.

When I installed Leopard with the first hack version, I got 10.5.1 from Software Update, so I don't think it was a leaked beta, but it certainly was lazy. I just wish I could pop my Leopard retail disc I got from Guitar Center in early November into my PC and install it...at least I bought it, I guess.

I know why Apple is so against this...then people can see how plain and useless it is to get a Mac. Now you have to buy a Mac just to experience the OS. But with the whole OSx86 project (and pre-made versions already available for download) people get to experience first hand what the hype is about. I used one myself and just wasn't impressed. It was a lot better than any Linux distro but it felt about as useless as any Linux distro.

All those yadda yadda commercials from Apple to switch to Mac? Time Machine? Requires an external/additional HDD to use. Vista uses Shadow Copy and backs up automatically and to the local hard drive.

I don't know, I just wasn't impressed with it at all and I am open minded. I spent several months this year between several Linux distros. I really liked OpenSUSE quite a bit.

JonMCC33 wrote:

All those yadda yadda commercials from Apple to switch to Mac? Time Machine? Requires an external/additional HDD to use. Vista uses Shadow Copy and backs up automatically and to the local hard drive.

Yea, then your hard drive dies and negates any advantage Shadow Copy might give you. Then you'll be wishing you had a backup on another hard drive.

Has anybody seen this EFiX device? Supposedly it won't be sold in the US, but I'm sure you could find a way to import it. Despite their insistance to the contrary, I'm pretty sure it's just a USB thumb drive you boot from and it loads Leopard from the retail DVD with whatever hacks are necessary for your hardware.

http://www.efi-x.com/index.php?option=c ... ge=english

That's their HCL, which consists of the most popular Hackintosh options already. Depending on the cost, it might be fun to play with.

derFunkenstein wrote:

Has anybody seen this EFiX device? Supposedly it won't be sold in the US, but I'm sure you could find a way to import it. Despite their insistance to the contrary, I'm pretty sure it's just a USB thumb drive you boot from and it loads Leopard from the retail DVD with whatever hacks are necessary for your hardware.

http://www.efi-x.com/index.php?option=c ... ge=english

That's their HCL, which consists of the most popular Hackintosh options already. Depending on the cost, it might be fun to play with.

As soon as they get any European presence established, I'll be wiring morphine some funds to grab me one. Even if all it does is use some boot-time hacks to bypass normal boot and enable booting off a retail OSX DVD, it'll cut one PITA step out of my normal OSx86 install. Having to install Kalyway or the like just to set up/install my normal vanilla install is extra work I'd pay up to 50$ or so to go without.

That's what I'm thinking - fitty doller and it's probably worth looking at. A Benjaimn is more than I'm willing to part with, tho.

What time is it?

It's lawsuit time

What time is it?

It's lawsuit time

http://www.macrumors.com/2008/07/15/app ... ncomputer/

I dunno, I still prefer a real Mac to a blackbox just because any update at any time could temporarily brick it. I see no viability in using a "clone" (Hackintosh) as a production machine.

I guess Apple's legal team finished their morning coffee and vegan danish...

Coffee and vegan danish? Try fair trade herbal tea and an organic danish .

Unfortunately, this is not a real surprise. The Mac is what Apple is selling, and they don't want anyone to dilute the "Mac experience" and not pay the Mac Tax.

More on this: http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=2240 and http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=2262

Taddeusz wrote:

Yea, then your hard drive dies and negates any advantage Shadow Copy might give you. Then you'll be wishing you had a backup on another hard drive.

Oh, so I have to tack on more money to the purchase of my system because Time Machine requires an external HDD.

Then there's Time Capsule, which is Apple's external HDD designed to work seamlessly with Time Machine. It's twice the price of similar capacity NAS setups.

Dude, STFU - time machine doesn't require an external HDD, you COULD partition your HDD and use the second partition.

Second of all, only a retard thinks shadow copy or Time Machine on the same HDD is a good backup source.

Third, you can use any NAS for Time Machine as long as it supports AFP. The Leopard machine just has to think it's connecting to another Mac. Hell, a 500GB HDD, a G4 tower running Tiger, and a SATA card is cheaper than Time Machine.

My time machine was connected to my Linux box for a little while. Linux speaks AFP fluently, and the big RAID5 gave lots of room.

The people interested in Time Machine generally have exactly what they need to use it. Geeks have other machines and spare HDDs, Joe Six buys any old external HDD and it works, and the folks in the middle (I call them Mac-Do-It-For-Mes) buy Time Capsule and spend a lot.

Funny thing is, ALL THREE GROUPS ARE SATISIFIED.

As much as you may feel like trolling OSX folks, on the whole they are far more happy and content than the average PC user.

I was moonlighting doing some generic PC-fix-up stuff this last week and my client, who we will call Jane Homewoner, asked me unprompted if I knew anything about Macs. Jane saw them in the store and was intrigued. Did they really not get spyware/malware? Did they really not get viruses? Were they hard to use?

I walked her through the executive summary (not really, sorta, and no) and gave her some overall ideas on what she might or might not need in a Mac. I also briefed her son that it wouldn't be able to play COD4. I'll let them sort it out.

When was the last time you heard a Mac user idly contemplating buying a PC to switch?

More motherboards need EFI vs. BIOS. The more that do it, the harder Hackintosh will be to stop (especially if you use Intel chipsets).

CoD4 Mac ships 8/25 (yes, it's a little late, but fortunately people are getting better at releasing stuff on time - Blizzard and EA are leading the way thanks to Transgaming Cider). http://www.amazon.com/Call-Duty-4-Moder ... B00134G3AS