April 15th, 2008
Attack of the clones: Psystar to battle Apple on EULA
As I blogged yesterday, I have fond memories of the Mac clones – that’s what compelled me to wax nostalgic there for a spell. I have since found these great photos of Power Computing’s bungee tower from Macworld Expo Boston 1996, but I digress…
As I blogged Now that the memories of clam chowder and death-defying stunts over the Boston bay have faded, let’s take a look at what’s transpired since I reported yesterday on the Miami-based Psystar’s purported US$399 cost Mac clone.
For starters, Psystar’s Web site is somewhat accessible today, so you can read pages. But it still crawls.
The company changed the name of the “OpenMac” to the “Open Computer.” It was smart to drop “Mac” from their name as Apple’s lawyers have a certain fondness for it, not to mention a litany of patents and trademarks. Psystar’s owner Rudy Pedraza told Ars Technica that the name change was not due to any threats from Apple legal. “This is a proactive step we took on our own, to avoid any issues,” he said.
Psystar is still offering the Open Computer with Mac OS 10.5 pre-installed, for a $155 upcharge, which is sure to draw Apple’s ire because it’s a direct violation of the Leopard EULA, which states:
2. Permitted License Uses and Restrictions.
A. Single Use. This License allows you to install, use and run one (1) copy of the Apple Software on a single Apple-labeled computer at a time. You agree not to install, use or run the Apple Software on any non-Apple-labeled computer, or to enable others to do so. This License does not allow the Apple Software to exist on more than one computer at a time, and you may not make the Apple Software available over a network where it could be used by multiple computers at the same time.
Information Week’s Paul McDougall spoke to a Psystar employee, Robert, who called the Apple EULA unfair and believes that it may violate US anti-monopoly laws. “What if Honda said that, after you buy their car, you could only drive it on the roads they said you could?” Robert said.
Psystar is now offering an upgraded version of the Open Computer called the Open Pro. The US$999 OpenPro can be accommodate 8GB RAM, 2.6GHz Core 2 Quad processor, 1TB SATA drive, GeForce 8800GT graphics card, a mirror-finish case (pictured), and Leopard pre-installed for US$2,169. Compare that withe a similarly-configured Mac Pro at US$4,349 and you’re saving almost half.
More pictures of Psystar enclosures are in this gallery.
Loading ...
Jason D. O'Grady is the editor of PowerPage.org, which has been publishing daily mobile technology news since December 1995. For disclosures on Jason's industry affiliations, click here or to view Jason's full profile click here.
Subscribe to The Apple Core via Email alerts or RSS.
