News Psystar sued by Apple

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2008/07/16/psystar-sued-by-apple/1

Psystar, a startup offering pre-installed 'Hackintosh' computers built from off-the-shelf parts and running MacOS X, has found itself staring down the barrels of Apple's legal team.

 

thanks for that, i've just ordered my very own cheap mac....

 

Well it was only a matter of time beofre this happend.
Psystar should release any software and drivers they made to the public as we all know where this court case is going.

 

OpenPro Computer
Memory: 8GB DDR2 RAM
Processor: Core2Quad/2.6GHz Q9450
Hard Drive: 150GB 10000RPM SATA
Video Card: GeForce 8800GT 512MB
Case: Black
Operating System: OS X 10.5 Leopard
Wireless PCI Express N Card: Included
Extra Optical Drive: DVD+/-RW
Additional Hard Drive #1: 750GB 7200RPM SATA
Power Supply: 600W Standard

This only cost a 1/3 (a third... yes that right!) for identical apple macPro version.

apple should be sued for monopoly, like microsoft has been time and time again

 

yeah, it's pbvious mac just want to keep their hardware hiked up by 200% cost. I've hated apple for years because of this (and their annoying as hell fanboys). hopefully mac looses and gets their ass counter sued.

 

I really want to see a class action lawsuit against Apple for overcharging customers. 40% profit on all new hardware or it won't release it, 200% price markup on equivalent systems (then trying to legally stop the cheaper company), charging for iPod Touch firmware updates that should be free! Can you imagine if Microsoft charged £50 for Windows service packs? It's the EXACT same principle! How the hell do they get away with it?

Sure the hardware may look nice, and the GUI looks good (I don't like the way it works, but I do freely admit I'm too used to Windows and, you know, a maximise button that actually works etc...)

 

Fair enough they have broken the license agreement with this but they are using official licensed versions of OSX and not branding the resulting pcs as Apples so where does the copyright stuff come into it?

A bit of decent competition would be good for the public.

 

I hope that Psystar wins this case and is allowed to continue offering realistic prices for the hardware. I would never use a mac, somewhat due to the price, but I can see a lot more people who would benefit from OSX using it as the prohibitive cost would be gone.

 

I can't see how Apple could win this... or at least why the law wouldn't side with Psystar. Essentially they are selling PC's with custom bios (EFI or whatever it's called), that correct? All Apple can do is not support the users who run OSX on that hardware. They have no business making demands on anything else.. even then, as has been said above, they should be forced to offer that support because of the anti-competitive closed business/system they run.

If I could install OSX on my G33/Q6600 system I would go and buy it today. Sadly they don't want my money. Considering Apple don't make cheap tower systems and the mini seems neglected, I don't think it would affect their hardware sales. The kind of people who buy macs would still get them, even if they could use any hardware they want. If Jobs had the balls he would split the company to do software and hardware. With most people disenfranchised with Microsoft's offerings, there's a killing to be made by a new OS entering the market.

 

You can run OSX on your system you just need to get iATKOS or Kalway. Obviously downloading the torrents and using these without purchasing the license is illegal but there is nothing wrong with downloading them and then buying the license from the Mac Store which therefore makes you legal.

In the terms and conditions of the End-User License Agreement for the operating system, it states that this may only be used on an Apple "Branded" machine and NOT manufactured. So there is a loophole in this where all you would need is stick an "Apple" logo on your PC and you are covered.

But again this is a bit shady and who knows, Apple might decide to take you to court over this and say it is infringement of copyright.

I haven't tried the iATKOs or Kalway mods for running it on a PC. I have heard it is possible but it is a pain to setup.

Anyone here has run or is running iATKOS or Kalway on their pc?

 

Oh sure, I know I could shoe-horn OSX on it, but that would require a lot of effort as far as I can tell. Also keeping it updated would be a real pain and I wouldn't feel comfortable with using it as a primary OS. Plus I know that some stuff wouldn't work properly and so on... To tool around a hackintosh would be interesting but it's more trouble than it's worth for everyday use.
What I want is Apple just to sell it properly.

 

Wow this really could end up being a huge court case. Although its very likely apple will win, if I had idk 300 million dollars I would pay for Psystar's legal cost and hope that I could beat apple. This could be spun into a antitrust lawsuit easily therefore rocketing Psystar to some huge profits but then again if apple is a monopoly.... then what is Microsoft.....

 

... a monopoly.. just one which would get it's ass handed to it if it were to work the same way as Apple.

 

there both monopolies, but microsoft has been sued so many times, so now that it plays ball.

this would be a first for apple, and the courts cant go back on there previous judgements. so if there have made microsoft play ball its about time apple did, but i hope they get screwed.

i'm pretty sure that the courts dont want to give microsoft a dam good reason to claim millions of the lost pennies back

 

I read on another site that Apple is also demanding that all the shipped units be recalled as well. Talk about control freaks...

 

I wish I had a psystar unit just so I could send a nice '**** off' letter to Apple

 

Its not the EULA which is getting psystar into trouble. EULA's have never been tested in court. Its distributing a modified version of OSX which is going to make this court case a walk over. If they hadn't modified OSX then it would be a much more interesting case.

 

What's funny to me is how quickly everyone wants Apple to get a spanking. LOL

Look, if this company Psystar modified part of someone else's property, in the case Apple's, then they should get sued or at least made to cease/desist.

This space was GOING to be my rebuttal for the Macs are too expensive, but before I clicked the almighty Submit Reply button I actually paper-assembled a comparable rig. Woah, Apple IS about 200% more expensive, and that's with a workstation level motherboard (Tyan), 2 Quad Xeon Processors, and a Lian-Li case (style points).

Oh well, when you make your living on the machine, it's worth it to have it "just work".

 

That's why Apple needs to get a spanking.

Even so... I think is way too expensive.

 

It's anecdotal in the extreme, but after administering and using over 30 Macs, I can tell you firsthand that their failure rate is VERY low. There is a reason for Mac fandom.

I guess what I was saying is that let's spank Apple for the right reasons. This particular deal with Psystar isn't it.