First Psystar Mac Clones Ship 466
An anonymous reader writes "According to Gizmodo, Psystar has begun shipping its Macintosh clones, thus proving that the company is not a hoax. Initial impressions seem to be positive, though Software Update does not work."
Sure, they shipped... (Score:2, Insightful)
Operation Unsuccessful (Score:5, Insightful)
Loud! (Score:4, Insightful)
Step One Complete! (Score:2, Insightful)
Plus, they have another hurdle - Apple C&D letters should be rolling in by now, if they haven't already.
It should be an interesting court battle. Yet another challenge for intellectual property in relation to software. Lets hope this one goes the way be all want.
Re:Software Update does not work. (Score:5, Insightful)
Annoying over-used buzzwords aside, my guess is that the update situation on these will be just like other hackintosh setups, where you can update, but you have to obtain a hacked update installer, or go through a very manual process to do it.
My original hackintosh setup for example was running 10.4.8 and couldn't use software updates, but I was able to move it over to 10.4.10 eventually (though I'm now running on 10.5.1).
Movie doesn't show anything (Score:2, Insightful)
He films the normal PC in the back with the cable and so on, everything is fine...
When the turns to the front of the screen someone takes out the VGA cable, puts it in a display switcher or something, while the monitor is still turned off, and connects a Mac laptop to that display switch.
Then the dude turns on the PC, starts recording the screen, waits until the windows starts showing and the other guy switches the signal to the laptop. This was his hand with the camera remains in the same position and it's easy to cut out the transition.. especially since the eyes of the people are focused on the flash where the mac screen is shown.
So the movie for me it says nothing, it can be so easily faked i could do it myself if i had a fake.
The motherboard is also a Gigabyte based on the "setup-q-flash" message shown on the screen... i don't know if gigabyte would agree to make a Mac clone...
Just my two cents
You Don't Actually Need Software Update (Score:5, Insightful)
That way if I need to reinstall, which does happen now and then, I don't need to download again.
There's no serial number check on manual downloads, but I expect that soon we'll be seeing the Apple version of Windows Genuine Advantage.
Re:Meh (Score:5, Insightful)
Plop the mini's hardware into a mini-tower case, and tack on 1 PCI-E x16 slot, 1 PCI-E x1 slot, and 1 regular PCI slot, and then we'd have a machine worthy of my purchase. Until that point I'll keep on using my hacked up generic "mac" and my old PowerMac G4.
Re:Mac Mini (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Unless the gizmod article or the posting is a h (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Why no cease and desist from Apple? (Score:4, Insightful)
On what grounds? Psystar is installing a retail boxed product of MacOS X on Psystar hardware. There's no copyright violation, so none of the extreme remedies in the Copyright Act apply. Any legal restriction Apple seeks to impose that their software can only be run on their hardware runs afoul of "tying" restrictions in antitrust law. Apple would have to win an antitrust case before they could get a cease and desist order.
What we'll probably see is heavily restrictive DRM in future Macs to prevent this. Or an end to retail sales of MacOS.
Thanx for the cheap, easy threadjack (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Meh (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Unless the gizmod article or the posting is a h (Score:2, Insightful)
However, for consumers, it is a very dangerous approach when dealing with questionable businesses. Caveat emptor and all that.
Re:Meh (Score:3, Insightful)
I hear this sentiment a lot.. but what does it really mean? Are there people who aren't using computers as tools to accomplish a task? Is hacking an OS to work on X piece of hardware NOT an appropriate task? What if you enjoy that sort of thing? I know I do at times. That's what Linux was largely about for a long time. It is only fairly recently has the focus in Linux shifted towards end-user usability. Screw the "computers as a tool" mindset! I say have fun. Pick your favorite platform and hack it to make it do what you want... and then hack it some more!
This reminds me of a friend who used to be a bit of a BSD hacker and played around with all kinds of odd hardware like VAXen. Now he just uses Windows because it runs a lot of software that he uses and he doesn't do much fun stuff anymore. He seems depressed and uninspired and frequently complains about how retarded WIndows is.... but it runs his apps. He's given in to this idea that "computers are just tools." It is kind of sad, really.
Re:Meh (Score:2, Insightful)
It's not just video cards!
Geez, who'd ever have thunk we'd get USB 2, or FireWire 2, or (e) SATA ?, or some new Networking protocol...or ???
luckily, with basic PCI expansion cards that (almost) any tard can plug in the machines are ready for the future...
and this is why several of my (and one's I look after for family/friends) machines AREN'T IN LANDFILLS!
Encourage Expandability - Look to the FUTURE, even for mom & pop machines!
so get off the "who would ever expand their computer" thing...
Maybe your parents or grandparents or neighbors don't know what a PCI slot is, but when they need to figure out how to add a USB2 card or a network adapter or..??? they google it, or ask you or me, or go to the store and the clerk tells them...
Re:So.. shall the bets begine (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:What would I use expandability for? (Score:4, Insightful)
First, I distinguished between "need" and "want". The desires you chose to ridicule were not in the "needs". You didn't ask what our "needs" were, you asked what we would do with expandability. If you asked "what do you need expandability for" you'd get a different answer.
So once you eliminate that straw man, what I need is an adequate GPU, an adequate hard drive, and no integrated display... and a consumer price. Maybe 40% over what Psystar is asking for their box? That would give Apple their usual markup.
The argument that "most consumers don't need" those features is a bit circular, since they're not available from Apple and haven't been available from Apple at a consumer price since Steve Jobs took over. On the other hand, they *are* available from Wintel box shippers, and most consumers are still buying Wintel boxes.
Don't assume you know all the reasons why they do that. I know I'm regularly surprised by people's answers to why they still use Windows after they express desire for my desktop.
And do consider that you'll never find out if you just ask Mac users, because that's a sample that's pre-selected to only include people for whom the current line of Macs is at least minimally acceptable.
Re:It is a fraud (Score:5, Insightful)
As to "profiting off someone else's work", EVERYBODY does that to some extent. ISP's are "profiting" off of Google, Ebay, etc because people buy internet access because of those items. Gas stations are profiting off of car manufaturers because they supply fuel for something that someone else made. Paper companies profit from fax/copier manufacturers because they generate a need for their product.
The bottom line is that Apple sells an operating system. They have a legally questionable clause in there stating that when you buy it you can't install it except on computers that they deem appropriate (namely, ones they made themselves). If that clause is successfully shot down, things will likely return to a semblance of fairness: people who purchase software from a company can install it wherever and on whatever they want to.
I mean seriously: if Microsoft came out with EULA stipulations tomorrow that stated that regardless of how well it worked, you couldn't install MS Office (even a legally purchased copy) on a WINE-equipped Linux machine, Slashdot would shit a jagged brick coated in hot sauce. Apple does the same though and it's reasonable behavior.
Re:Operation Unsuccessful (Score:4, Insightful)
There are some of us (music and video producers, artists, etc.) who even occasionally work on computers that are not connected to the Internets.
Re:You Don't Actually Need Software Update (Score:4, Insightful)
If there is ever an Apple version of Windows Genuine Advantage I'll quit using OS X, it will be erased from my drive and I'll never develop software for the Mac again.
My computer, once I purchase it, should always function as long as there is not a hardware issue. I shouldn't have to prove I'm not stealing from the company, I shouldn't need an internet connection to unlock software, I _should_ be able to replace hardware components of the computer and I _should_ be able to transfer the software to another computer.
End of story. I use a Mac because I think Apple understands that these are rights and they improve usability.
Re:What's the point? (Score:3, Insightful)
Naysayers (Score:3, Insightful)
This whole episode is a reminder of Hanson's Law: Never attribute to malice that which can be explained by stupidity!
Re:Sure, they shipped... (Score:3, Insightful)
most people interested in this dont want a cheap mac, they want an expandable mac that isnt complete overkill (like he Mac Pro). The number of people who'd install extra hard drives or replace their graphics card easily outnumber the number of people who can actually make use of 8 cores and dual sockets. the Mac Pro may be fan-fucking-tastic value for what it is, but its baseline configuration is ridiculously overspeced for the user who just wants a second internal hdd or an 8800 for bootcamp gaming
price not $399 (Score:3, Insightful)
Shipping is another $50 (macs ship free).
so the total price is $609 without wifi or blue tooth. compared to $599 for the mac. The cpu is a bit faster, the disk is bigger and faster.
You can buy the mac at macmall where they will upgrade your memory and and give you a "free" printer for the same price (provided you can stomach the "rebate" spanking machine).
so basically a mac is cheaper, smaller and quieter. Not to mention the mac comes with software updates and you can re-install the software.
----
the psystar's big brother, actually is cost competitive with the powermac however.
Re:Sure, they shipped... (Score:4, Insightful)
lets just say that the cheapest configured mac pro with edu discount is $2k (it's more, but lets stick with round numbers), and lets say that the psystar clone is $500 (it's less, but again round numbers). I can handle paying an apple premium, sometimes as much as 30-40% extra for the exact same components because it's from apple, but 300% extra is pushing it a little far. what's that I hear? the specs arent comparable? that's exactly my point. dont want or need a mac pro, it's complete overkill when I just want a graphics card and an extra internal drive. I'd be completely happy with an expandable mini