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First Customer Receives Psystar Mac Clone

Sunday April 27, 2008 10:59 pm PDT by Arnold Kim
Gizmodo posts the first video evidence of the existence of the Psystar OpenComputer in the wild. One of their readers who actually received their OpenComputer and was kind enough to provide video proof. (There have been questions about the company's legitimacy.)

Reader Patrick (Whiskeyfrown) is lucky enough to be using one of the few Psystar Open Computing machines that have made it into the wild, and he was generous enough to make a video showing the machine (including the connections in the back to the monitor to show that it's legit). The thing boots up and runs pretty damn fast, says Patrick, but Software Update won't recognize it so you won't be able to patch

As we've pointed out before, the technology to run Mac OS X on non-Apple hardware has been well established, but never previously offered commercially. Psystar has specifically adapted the technology from the OSx86Project to allow Mac OS X Leopard to run on standard PC hardware. Individuals with the time and inclination could accomplish the same task on their own PC hardware. Psystar's solution, however, eliminates this technical "hands on" process.

While the advantage of purchasing from Psystar includes a potentially cheaper alternative to Apple hardware, the disadvantages remain significant, still limiting this option to the serious hobbyist. Psystar's patched installation of Leopard appears to prevent future software updates. Even if this were possible, you would run a serious risk of disabling your Mac OS X Leopard installation by installing future software updates.

Apple has remained silent about Psystar's offering, which appears to violate their End User License Agreement (EULA) prohibiting the installation of Mac OS X on non Apple-branded hardware.

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