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Mac Cloner Psystar Ships First Service Pack
Preedit writes "Not only is Mac clone maker Psystar continuing to defy Apple's ban on third-party Leopard installations, it's supporting the hardware with updates. Psystar Mac clones shipped as of Monday will include a 'service pack' that features fixes for a range of problems, some of them inherent in Apple's own software, according to InformationWeek. The fixes address a range of troubles, from glitches in Apple's Time Machine backup feature to quirks in the Keyboard Viewer and Character Palette entries in Leopard's system preferences menu. There's also support for the latest version of Java and other updates. According to the story, by offering a full menu of support, Psystar appears to be daring Apple to attempt to enforce provisions in the Leopard license agreement that forbid third-party installations and sales." We've been discussing Psystar clones for a while.
The system is priced at $804.99. A similar, Apple-branded computer could cost more than $2,000.
The Psystar system has a single Core 2 Duo CPU.
They don't say what the "similar, Apple-branded computer" is, but if it's a Mac Pro it's got two four-core CPUs.
The problem is that Apple doesn't make a similar computer. If they did, Psystar wouldn't have a market. And Apple would have a bigger one.
More likely, they're hoping to grab a quick buzz, score some venture capital, and then run off into the sunset, cash in hand, before Apple legal pulls the plug on the party...
... are they shipping a service pack to correct problems in Apple's binaries - or are they downloading the open source portions and fixing/rebuilding/shipping those as fixes?
In that case having open source is again working against Apple.
Apple is unlikely to sue Psystar. Apple would probably lose; Apple's EULA is an "illegal tying arrangement" under antitrust law. Psystar is tiny, but a court loss would encourage bigger players to start making clones.
More likely, Apple will stop selling their OS as a boxed product.
My Hackintosh supports software updates from Apple.
Isn't it possible for them to install PC EFI? They're an integrator, they could buy EFI boards.
You are assuming that EULA's are enforceable. It might be an interesting case to see just what the courts make of this.
IANAL, but this sounds like the IBM vs. Clone lawsuits of the 80s where IBM wanted to be the only company to sell their IBM software on IBM hardware. They lost that battle, and if APple were to try to enforce their EULA they would lose that one as well. I think they aren't suing because 1) this isn't their market and 2) they wouldn't win and it would open the door for a precendent where any and all PC vendors would start selling hardware with OSX preinstalled.
And there is value in style and a nice interface.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Opinions are like a**holes: everybody has one. You're certainly welcome to not buy into my opinion, but I won't sit here and rehash all the previous Psystar articles and suspicions just for your benefit.
Sure, maybe Psystar turns out to be the bestest company in the world, evar!!!1! -- but I'm not sending them any of my money to find out. I'm not convinced, I think they're more likely to vanish when the spotlight on them gets brighter; That's my opinion. And I thank slashdot for letting me write down my opinion.
InfoWeek didn't even interview anyone at the company nor any actual users, they just based this entire article on a small website update.
{ - Generic Guy - }
"There is perceived value in style and a nice interface". There I fixed that for you.
Just maybe Apple is allowing this to continue to test the waters for a PC version of OS/X
There is as much "perceived value" in style and interface as there is "perceived value" in genuine performance. A computer is a tool to do something, and for the vast majority of users not running servers, the interface contributes to the tool's usefulness as much as teh megahurtz.
Having used some truly horrible interfaces in my time, and having seen the real productivity improvements that come with superior design, I assign a pretty high value to usability. Just look at any recent Motorola phone *shudder*.
Slashdot covered this before, as have other sites. In summary, the company pulled credit card orders a few short days after announcing the product. Efforts to track down the company at its real-life address turned out to be difficult, and we still have not seen any evidence that the company is legit (there was no business by its name at the address listed on its site). When confronted with this information the company changed its physical address on its website numerous times, none of which seem to reflect a real business. THAT is why it seems shady. Indeed, it looks like this is an amateur operation at best, a scam at worst.
Apple is overpriced because they can be. They are on x86 architecture now so they don't really have an excuse. You CAN compare them to similar spec'd PC hardware to see how overpriced they are.Go ahead. Do it. I've done it, as have many others. When you don't make cheap excuses like "oh yeah let's leave out the Bluetooth, 'cos who uses it anyways?" you'll find that Macs are quite competitive. Yes, there's still a premium, but "as overpriced as can be" is not it. I would say Sony's are far more overpriced than Macs.
The mac market share isn't 4%. That's a dumb number that's used to make Windows appear much more dominant.
/. for a legitimate discussion about anti-trust.
Compare Dell's unit sales to HP's unit sales to Apple's unit sales for a given segment and you'll find Apple in the top-5 for sure on any given month. In laptops, Apple is #1 per unit and dollar and has been for a really, really long time.
Still, I doubt there's the expertise on
http://www.maxineudall.com/2010/02/should-economists-be-sued-for-malpractice.html
I gots no problem with Psystar selling a hackintosh. My main nit is calling them clones, which not even Psystar itself is doing. But for $555 (base system plus Leopard), I think the loud system fans are worth taking into consideration, as well as the unknown status of updates going forward. Buying one of these is a gamble many of us would consider taking, as even if Psystar gets slapped down by Apple we'd still have a halfway decent PC that just needed a new OS; could probably trade the copy of Leopard for a copy of XP pretty easily. But personally, if I really wanted a hackintosh, I'd build one myself. Plenty of resources out there to do so if you're willing to invest the time.
I did do one install of Leopard as a test; my existing hardware wasn't well-supported so USB was a no-go. But I'd be hard pressed to make such a system my main workhorse in any case.
You don't use science to show that you're right, you use science to become right.
...that's exactly what we switchers and Apple fanbois were waiting for: A large, ugly box, sounding like a hovercraft, depending on "service packs" to somehow keep running. The horror! The horror!
>This is the strongest contract in the entire software industry
Um...
I hope you are being sarcastic.
Neither of the things you mention even meet the definition of "contract"
anywhere in the US.
Yes, there is subject matter.
Yes, there are parties.
No, there is no mutual acceptance.
No, there is no valuable consideration.
Not a contract, would not be called a contract by any competent attorney,
and would not be admitted as a binding contract in any court.
-fb Everything not expressly forbidden is now mandatory.
EULA stands for End User License Agreement, right? How do you sue a company for violating an agreement it's not a party to?
Nah, that's not my main point. The Psystar system is a simple PC to look at, nothing spectacular. But I do expect them to do their homework and produce a system that meets middle-of-the-road expectations. In my book, a motherboard with fan speed control in the BIOS is a must. All of my systems have this -- even my ECS motherboard, for cryin' out loud!
I haven't seen info to say whether the Gigabyte motherboard used in the Pystar has this capability (but it's not configured) or if it's just not there. But as another poster pointed out in this thread above, the point of paying someone for a pre-configured hackintosh is to not have to mess with things. If I buy a system and immediately have to start working on things like fans that sound like a jet, something is wrong from my perspective. I would have built my hackintosh for quiet operation from the get-go were I in the market for one.
Another thing that doesn't sit well with me on this system is how it's shipped (at least as I saw on the C|NET Unboxing video on YouTube). It was packed with the original styrofoam for the case, but no plastic bag over the unit like cases normally ship with. Then the larger box was filled with styrofoam packing peanuts! Probably done this way to avoid having to use the box the case came in, but c'mon, maybe buy a few properly sized cases for the demo units? That's what my company did for its initial product, and it's not THAT crazy expensive when you're trying to create buzz around your product. They could re-use the styrofoam from the case box as they did, and have an identically sized cardboard box with their name on it.
I don't mean to make a mountain out of a molehill here. I'm just saying that there are several places where Psystar could have done themselves a big favor by doing some simple things to improve initial perceptions of their system.
You don't use science to show that you're right, you use science to become right.