Apple Boot screen

Computer mit dem Betriebssystem Mac OS X dürfen weiterhin nur von Apple kommen. Der US-Konzern setzte sich vor Gericht gegen die kleine Firma Psystar durch, die Allerwelts-PCs mit dem Apple-Betriebssystem verkauft hatte. Inzwischen bietet Psystar Software an, mit der sich Mac OS X auf nahezu beliebigen PCs installieren lässt.

Das Urteil eines kalifornischen Richters vom Freitag sichert Apples Geschäftsmodell, dass das Betriebssystem Mac OS X nur auf Geräten verwendet werden darf, die von Apple stammen. Mit dem Wechsel von Apple auf Prozessoren von Intel ist es technisch vergleichsweise einfach geworden, billigere Personal Computer auf das Macintosh-Betriebssystem umzurüsten.

So hatte Psystar vor rund eineinhalb Jahren angefangen, günstige und unscheinbare Geräte mit dem Mac-Betriebssystem zu verkaufen. Apple klagte dagegen bereits im Sommer 2008. Im Mai dieses Jahres suchte Psystar zusätzlichen Schutz in einem Insolvenzverfahren.

Der Richter entschied nun dem von Groklaw im Internet veröffentlichten und kommentierten Urteil zufolge, Psystar habe in mehrfacher Hinsicht die Rechte von Apple verletzt, unter anderem habe die Modifizierung der Mac-OS-Software gegen Urheberrecht verstoßen.

Rechtskräftig ist das Urteil als “Summary Judgement” noch nicht – aber eine überraschende Wendung zu Psystars Gunsten wird immer weniger wahrscheinlich.

You remember Psystar, don’t you? How could you not, right? The company famous (or should we say infamous?) for forging ahead with production on Mac clones even as lawsuits from Apple piled up has finally caved, but not to Apple. No, it has caved to the pressures of financing a business.

According to a new report up at The Mac Observer, the company — which engineered stylish PCs that were sold with Apple’s OS X operating system — filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Florida late last week. If you’re wondering why all the hubbub, it’s that no third-party PC maker is allowed to sell hardware with Apple’s OS X operating system. Only Apple is allowed to sell machines with OS X, and Psystar went ahead and did so knowingly. The two companies have been at each other’s throats for months on end, and while Psystar did manage to ship a few machines to a few lucky users, we never heard that it was shipping products en masse.

In a meeting with irony that would only be fitting here, this filing has actually slowed down Apple’s legal case against it, and honestly, we have all ideas the tussle will end with Psystar shutting its doors for good. After all, if it can’t pay to keep the lights on, how will pay for lawyers?  We’re told that a Florida court will hold a hearing on June 5th where its equity creditors will be revealed, which may in fact may be the most interesting part of this whole scenario. If fat-walleted backers have been keeping the company afloat, it’ll sure be interesting to see who they are.

At present time, Psystar is still offering Mac clones for sale on its website, but take it from us — don’t whip out your credit card.

［Psystar vs. Apple］

Psystar をめぐる裁判はいまひとつ分りにくい。

OSNews が問題点を丁寧にまとめている。

どうやら大切なポイントのようだが、門外漢には一読するだけでいまひとつ難しい・・・

OSNews: “What Is the Issue in the Psystar Case?” by Nescio: 08 March 2009

　　　　　＊　　　　　＊　　　　　＊

法律とその解釈と

Numerous irrelevant issues and feelings about them are ventilated in comments on the case. However, there are only two important issues. One is what the law is, the other is what we think the law should be.

　　　　　＊　　　　　＊　　　　　＊

EULA の問題点

Let us imagine that I have two computers on the desk, and that I have bought two copies of OSX in the retail store. These machines have pretty much the same components, however one was bought from Apple, though I have replaced the hard drive, and the other was self assembled.

I boot from the bought copy on each machine, and now comes the interesting part. The copies will install in the same way on both machines. On both machines I am presented with a EULA. This EULA is a second agreement. The first agreement I entered into was with the store, and it was a purchase agreement for a copy of OSX. Now I am being asked to enter into a new and different agreement, independently of the first, with Apple. This agreement will among other things restrict what I install the copy on.

Technorati Tags: Apple, Lawsuit, Mac Clone, Psystar

This is a very controversial topic but I think apple should set OS X free (allow it to run on PC’s) because in reality who actually buys a Mac for the hardware  or the design, people buy Macs for OS X because it is a luxury item. Now if apple made OS X available for other hardware than just apple computers they would gain so much market share because everyone who has ever used a Mac will want one, hell I even want one but the big problem for me is the choice there are 3 laptops and 3 desktops, on the desktop side we have the Mac mini, iMac and Mac pro, the Mac mini is very low end and very basic and for the price of the hardware is very expensive, the iMac is a very good machine but my main problem with it is again the price £800, not to bring up the whole Macs are expensive debate but for me they are because like a lot of people if I were to spend £800 on a computer it sure as hell would not be an iMac, another reason is that you can’t really upgrade the Mac mini or iMac because they are built using laptop parts. Now the Mac pro is apple’s best system and you can upgrade it completely but again it is very expensive.

On the laptop side you have the macbook, macbook air and macbook pro. The macbook is not a very good machine for what you pay for, the macbook air is a novelty and I can see no practical use for it whatsoever and finally the macbook pro is a very good machine but again it’s very expensive.

Hopefully I have explained why I won’t buy a Mac but I would buy OS X if I had the choice and I have tried OS X86 with great success but that is another post because OS X is considered a luxury item and most people who own a Mac will tell you that they bought it for OS X.

Another reason is software; if OS X was available for PC hardware and more people started using it developers would see this and make more programs for OS X rather than windows because it would be the dominant OS.

Macs are built using PC hardware anyway but if I were to buy the same hardware in an iMac and install OS X on it, it would be breaking the EULA and the DMCA. I have found a loophole in the OS X EULA which states that the end user must not install it on anything other than apple hardware but if a company were to install OS X and then ship the machines it would be legal because companies are not end users.

Set OS X Free

Russellcrawford1@gmail.com

So not many may know what Psystar is actually. Psystar is a company that made Mac clones and pre-installed OSX on the computers. Now Apple is suing Psystar because they claim that you can only install OSX on Apple products (as it says in the EULA). Now I really don’t care to much how this ends though personally it would be kinda cool to see Apple be forced to open up OSX to run on any hardware (how does it feel to be like Microsoft Apple?). So the supposed gain is that the judge has hinted that if Psystar is to win that this would make it legal for more Mac Clone companies. Not good for a company like Apple which makes money by controlling its brand and software on its platform.

Read more at OSnews.

A pesar de que tienen un caso en corte, Pystar parece que piensa vender todo lo que pueda antes que el juez decida y ofrecer lo que Apple no ofrece hasta ahora, computadoras corriendo Mac OS X Leopard con Blu-Ray (6x Bluray Burner/16x DVD±RW DL ) integrado y NVIDIA’s GeForce 9800GT. [Vía Psystar]

I had written earlier about a company that was cloning Macintosh and asked anyone if they had an opinion about the EULA agreement.  Apparently Apple did and swiftly sued Psystar.  Psystar then counter sued Apple claiming *surprise, surprise* anti-trust practices.

You can get the full story over at Macworld.

The Florida-based company Psystar challenged the might of Apple back in April by offering “Mac Clones” (as well as some “Clone” Mac servers), which were basically custom-built PCs preloaded with Mac OS X. Despite being in direct violation of Apple’s End User License Agreement, the company went forward with its operations; Psystar was even willing to face Apple in court if necessary, stating that Apple’s terms themselves are a violation of US monopoly laws. Their $399 basic Open Computer consists of a 2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, integrated Intel GMA 950 Graphics, 2GB of DDR2 memory,  250GB 7200RPM drive, four USB ports and a 20x DVD+/-R Drive – Leopard will cost an additional $155. Authentic Macs are easily twice the price so this was quite appealing to customers as a much more cost-effective way to own a Mac. Unsurprisingly, Apple has sued Psystar last week for copyright infringement, and violation of Apple’s licenses and trademarks as well as demanding a recall of all Open Computers sold. While I agree that Apple’s way of restricting their OS to Macs is a little unfair, it would be stupid for anyone, much less a company, to directly violate their EULA – especially with a ‘bring-it-on’ attitude. I respect their efforts (take that, Apple!), but Psystar was digging its own grave right from beginning.

As of date, the Psystar headquarters has gone up for sale, while the company has remained tight-lipped about the whole situation.

So I ran across this story (probably a little later than everyone else in the world.) If you don’t want to link to the story, I will tell you in brief, that Psystar’s Systems has produced an “Open Computer” that can have MAC OSX loaded on it, therefore producing a Mac Clone.  This can be done for around $450 with some standard features, which obviously way reduces the cost of a regular Mac giving you a machine that falls somewhere between a Mac Mini and an iMac.  Of course what you don’t get is Mac Support or Mac Updates that won’t promise to crash your machine.

So I was curious about all the mac_lovers out there. What does everyone think? Is this a case of EULA infringement? According to the documentation it seems to be. How will Apple crack down on it? I’m all ears for anyone who has an opinion on this.

I was looking at the stats for my blog, and today my tech blog is the featured Mac Clone blog. It’s for the blog I wrote on April 15th titled Attack of the “Mac” Clones. I wrote about the new Psystar Mac Clones, and detailing what you get and don’t get with a Psystar Mac Clone. It’s great to see my blog being featured. Thanks everyone.

Psystar Open Computer unboxing and hands-on – Engadget
Engadget NYC might have gotten to play with Apple’s latest and greatest iMac yesterday, but we keep it dirty in the Chi — yep, we’ve got the first Psystar Open Computer shipped out for review. We’re just getting it set up, but check out the unboxing below, and hit us up with anything you want to know in comments — you know we’re going to put this thing through its paces.

(Via Engadget.)

Psystar Open Computer unboxing and hands-on – Engadget
Engadget NYC might have gotten to play with Apple’s latest and greatest iMac yesterday, but we keep it dirty in the Chi — yep, we’ve got the first Psystar Open Computer shipped out for review. We’re just getting it set up, but check out the unboxing below, and hit us up with anything you want to know in comments — you know we’re going to put this thing through its paces.

(Via Engadget.)

Mac-Clone-Anbieter Psystar scheint nicht gerade das solideste Unternehmen zu sein. Nachdem der Rummel um den Open Mac Computer losgebrochen war, änderte Psystar seine offizielle Adresse innerhalb weniger Stunden nicht weniger als dreimal. Das Versteckspiel von Psystar ändert aber nichts an der Tatsache, dass es eine erhebliche Nachfrage für einen Standalone-Mac für deutlich unter 1000 Dollar gibt.

Da man den windigen Psystar-Leuten besser nicht trauen (und vorab Geld schicken) sollte, muss man für einen Mac-Desktop, der größer als der Mac mini und kleiner als der Mac Pro ist, vielleicht doch besser selbst zu Feile und Lötkolben greifen. Die Jungs von MacMod.com haben es vorgemacht:

[MacMod.com - Your Mac Modification HQ - Powerbook to Desktop]

I like to do things with audio, video and photos, so it would seem like I’d be a natural Apple Fan. In fact, I used to be, back in the day. My first computer was a Laser 128, which was a clone of the Apple II series. I had that machine for about 3 years and it served me extremely well. When that machine finally died, I really, really wanted a Mac, and so I bought a used Mac 512 with an extra external drive. This served me well for a couple of years and then I bought a Mac Color classic. I loved this machine a lot with 4 MB of RAM and 8 MB hard drive. It lasted several years, and I learned that a little bit of power and capability on a Mac seemed to go a lot further than it did on a PC.

But there were problems in the early 1990’s with being a mac user and trying to get online. Basically, AOL was the only real game in town, and it was expensive. I could have joined a Macintosh users group (MUG) and gotten an email address an access to their online forums but most of the people I really wanted to interact with were PC users. What really got me was when I needed to buy another keyboard do to a liquid spill and saw the difference in price. Everything having to do with a Mac was more expensive. Printers, modems, keyboards and every other peripheral were costing 2-3x more for the Mac. Plus they had very limited expandability, and any expansions also cost a premium. When I went into my local CompUSA store, I saw acres and acres of shelf space devoted to PC games and peripherals and maybe one shelf devoted to Apple stuff. I had to travel further to visit an Apple store for the privilege of paying more money to get whatever stuff I wanted. And I always wanted more than I could afford. I got sick of it.

So when my wife got a special Wal-Mart discount on a 486, we went for it. The Color Classic went to a relative who didn’t have a computer, but all the preteen daughter wanted to do was go online which was exceedingly difficult with the Mac. Within a year. They bought a PC.

By now, you know the story. We can buy a PC anywhere at anytime for a much lower price than a Mac. Macs do work and they work very well for what they do. They had better do well for what Apple is charging for them. The markup on an Apple machine is by a factor of several hundreds. Mac fans can not afford to be anything less than totally devoted to their machines because they have paid so dearly and must constantly fend off the temptation to buy 2 or 3 PCs for the cost of one of theirs. Being a bit closed-minded is part of the Mac culture because that is what is built into the Mac’s themselves. The economics of productivity and computing power can not be factors as much as a certain religious fanaticism toward the Mac platform.

I like Macs and always have considered getting one when it was time to buy a new PC. However, I shrink away from paying thousands for a machine when I can trade off my PC knowledge for performance and come out ahead.

This is not Mac bashing, but I have always had issues with Apple’s closed-off, elitist proprietary business practices that almost make Microsoft’s business model look very soft and snuggly by comparison! This little trip down memory lane was brought on by the issue of Apple trying to squash an effort by a Mac Clone company that will offer an OS X Leopard machine for about $500, which is way, way less than anything Apple is selling close performance and hardware wise.

The Apple company and fan base has always been hostile towards free-market competition. Whether this whole thing blows over or not, it does highlight the problem Apple has always had and will probably always have with Steve Jobs at the helm. Thank goodness they were not as able to put a headlock around the mp3 player business! They make good products and they should be allowed to do price their stuff for whatever the market is willing to pay. People can and will vote with their feet and their wallets, which is what I did 15 years ago. Now, with Linux, we have an even better playing field and even more choices and options. With that in mind, that makes the PC and even better buy than an Apple. I’ve always wondered why someone would clear off OS X for Ubuntu, but to each their own.

D.

]]> http://glagana.wordpress.com/2008/04/15/attack-of-the-mac-clones/ Tue, 15 Apr 2008 15:15:49 +0000 Gerard http://glagana.wordpress.com/2008/04/15/attack-of-the-mac-clones/

No, I am not talking about another Star Wars movie. I am writing about the return of the Mac Clones. This time they are not being manufactured by Apple Inc (AAPL); instead this new Mac Clone is coming from a Florida computer company named Psystar. They are offering for $399.99 a fully functioning Mac Clone running Mac OS X Leopard. One would say to themselves, “Great, a Mac for $399.99″. But here’s the catch. First it is not sanctioned by Apple. Apple has not giving the okay to produce a Clone. The second issue that this Mac Clone faces is Apple’s license agreement. In the Leopard license agreement it states that the Operating System can only be installed on Apple branded hardware. I am paraphrasing the license agreement. For the exact wording please refer to your Mac OS X Leopard license agreement, or you can visit Apple’s legal page for Hardware and Software Product Agreements, by clicking here. For $399.00 you are only receiving the computer and Mac OS X Leopard. You are not getting a monitor, keyboard, or a mouse. Yes, I know that is how a Mac Mini is sold, but when you purchase a Mac Mini you are receiving Apple’s 90-day phone support, and 1 year parts and labor; which run concurrent with the 90-day phone support. You will pay a little more for the Mac Mini; however, Apple will be around to support their product. I don’t know the specifics about Psystar’s warranty, but who knows if they will be around in a month or a year. Then you are left with a product that has no warranty support. Do I think it is a bad idea to have a Mac Clone? I would have to say yes. When you are buying an Apple product, you are buying a system that both the hardware and the software gel with one another. As Apple has stated in the past, “It just works”. ’nuff said. To read CNN Apple 2.0 article click here.