PC maker looks to sell $399 Mac clone
Mon Apr 14, 2008 11:36AM EDT
See Comments (18)
The OpenMac would come in a big, decidedly non-Apple beige box with a 2.2Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, a 250GB hard drive, and (for an extra $155) Mac OS X pre-installed. But the Miami-based company that's hawking the machine had better brace itself for the wrath of Apple's legal department.
But according to Ars Technica, the OpenMac supposedly will run Mac OS X "Leopard" natively, thanks to a series of emulators and drivers that fool Apple’s OS into thinking it's running on Apple hardware.
Indeed, getting Mac OS X to run on various non-Apple gadgets is a favorite pastime of tech hobbyists and hackers. But Psystar’s attempt to sell the OpenMac commercially is sure to draw the attention of Apple legal, especially since (as Ars Technica points out) the Leopard license specifically forbids installing the OS on non-Apple hardware.
Still, the story harkens back to the tale of Power Computing, the company that made Apple-authorized Mac clones back in the '90s. Personally, I thought it was a great idea—why not give us consumers more (and cheaper) choices for buying Mac hardware?
But Steve Jobs clearly isn't a fan of the Mac cloning business; Apple snapped up Power Computing in 1997, after Jobs returned to Cupertino, and that was that.
So, what do you think? Would you be interested in cheaper Mac clones, even if they don't come in sleek aluminum cases?
Related:
Company claims to sell Mac clone for $399 [Ars Technica]
Comments on PC maker looks to sell $399 Mac clone
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2 Posted by kupriaa1 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:54PM EDT Report Abuse
and people complain about Microsoft- this is a racket
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3 Posted by kupriaa1 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:54PM EDT Report Abuse
MSFT FTW
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4 Posted by maori_yelir on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:05PM EDT Report Abuse
Apple has terrible hardware. While it might be reliable and styli----- 's anywhere from state of the art. They use crappy, slow parts and charge way too much. If you made a PC with the same specs as a $2000 dollar Mac you would pay less than half of that. As for the OS I can't speak for Leopard but I was never a fan of OSX. It doesn't let you customize enough. It's either their way or get out and that is the same way they are with hardware apparently.
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5 Posted by mikesoderstrom85 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:20PM EDT Report Abuse
@maori_yelir Do you have any idea what you are talking about? Have you ever used a mac? I am guessing not, because if you had, you would know that macs are much more reliable than any Windows based PC. You would also know that if you matched a Mac with a Windows that had the same specs, they would cost about the same, if not the mac actually being cheaper. Lastly, if you had any idea what you were talking about, you would know that Leopard is OS X. It is #5 in the line of OS X systems. And, it works beautifully, just as it's predecessor, Tiger (OS X.4), did before it. Yes, it is Apple's way or get out, but who cares. They have the best software, and are the most reliable. Stop complaining and buy a mac.
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6 Posted by bpollenn on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:12PM EDT Report Abuse
Who cares? Who cares? Anybody who believes in rights, perhaps? Maybe someone who is in favor of competition? Somebody who operates on a limited budget and can't afford to pay MORE simply because it's a Mac? Somebody who looks at their market-share and wonders why such a WONDERFUL choice is such a small portion of the market? Somebody who doesn't believe that "one size fits all"? Maybe even someone who doesn't like their negative marketing campaign ("I'm cool and you're a nerd! Nyaaah nyaaah nyaah!!!")? I think I will get a mac as soon as I manage to get Linux running on my dog... priorities, ya know!
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7 Posted by agrampa2 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 2:47PM EDT Report Abuse
Aaahhh....(sigh).....windows....Abort, Retry, Fail.
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8 Posted by jrcjer on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:42PM EDT Report Abuse
there's a very specific reason that apple bans clones--if macosx was sold for any computer in the market (or even a select group of clones), most of the mac users (excluding the truly mac faithful) would cheap out and buy the non-apple hardware. osx for apple is nothing like windows for microsoft in that it grosses very little compared to the apple hardware. if apple gave in to cloners, apple as we know it wouldn't be able to survive. LONG LIVE APPLE HARDWARE
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9 Posted by ryebread45014 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:57PM EDT Report Abuse
Since when did Apple start making computers? I thought they only made iPods.
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10 Posted by istoops on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:25PM EDT Report Abuse
Good lord. Ben, where have you been the last decade? Apple hasn't sold a beige unit in years. Makes me wonder how much you really know about Apple, and Macs. People have their preference. No big deal. Some like Windows, some Linux, some OS X. Some prefer to just hate one or the other regardless. I've been using and maintaining both Windows and Mac OS's for the last 20 some years. I use both Windows and OS X every day. My own experiences have been that Macs require less overall maintenance, and can stay in service longer. Like it or not, this is because you're buying a complete package designed to perform well together. As for price comparisons, if you actually did spec out an identical PC, say from Dell, for a given Mac unit, you'd find that they are essentially the same price. And with those same dollars, you're getting not only the OS, but also peripheral apps for photos and what-not. If Apple eventually blesses their OS on other hardware, it would open up computing like you wouldn't believe. But, I can't fault them for not doing it yet, as it will cause too many headaches that people will blame on Apple, rather than on the fact that they'd be trying to run the OS on hardware configurations for which it is not yet ready. The lesson was learned well from the clone era, that generic hardware does not produce a good user experience. A good user experience is key to product market performance. People have demonstrated that they're willing to spend a few extra bucks for a quality product. It's nothing more than supply and demand. You can brand it as a racket or monopoly, or whatever, but it's simply business. They have a product, and are allowed to market it however they want. If it were me, I'd stick with the current strategy of supplying quality products that the people who buy enjoy using. Microsoft is starting to realize that their own strategy of trying to be everything to everyone can't be sustained. XP is a pretty good OS, but Vista is still a daily challenge, even after using for it almost a year now. I wouldn't be surprised if you see some changes from them in the next release as well, probably limiting the scope of the OS a little.
1 Posted by stalker+of+the+web on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:39PM EDT Report Abuse
Knowing Apple they will make an update for their OS that will disable the clones. My feeling is these machines might be a little twitchy because they are using emulators. Dell a while back asked to Apple if they could install the OS system on their systems. Apple Balked at the idea. There are some interesting legal issues about fair trade about OSX only being for Mac.