Psystar Locking Horns with Apple... Again

[Michael Essany]

Image via TG Daily


It's the irresistible force meeting the immovable object.

With Psystar now confirming that it will support Snow Leopard on all new Mac clones, Apple's lawyers are on high alert.

Although Psystar says it has developed "new virtualization technologies" to allow its computers to interface with OS X like "never before," the company advised against installing Snow Leopard for now.

According to TG Daily, Psystar's technicians have a few more kinks to work out before a safe upgrade can be ensured.

"We ask you not attempt to install the new OS X as it may cause harm to your computer, resulting in a possible re-installation of Leopard OS 10.5 and a loss of data," Psystar wrote in an official blog post. "As with all previous software updates to the OS, Psystar meticulously tests and retests all software updates to confirm their compatibility with older Psystar machines. We will be releasing information on upgrading your Psystar computer to OS X Snow Leopard soon. The ability to do so may depend on when your system was purchased, and upgrade costs may vary."

If only I could be a fly on the wall at Apple this morning.

As Psystar moves ahead with their controversial offering, Computerworld is out with a comprehensive story this morning on Apple's impending legal battle regarding the Mac clone maker's lawyer allegedly divulging sensitive secrets from Apple. Through it all, Apple is asking a California judge to order a 30 day "re-opening of discovery" in hopes of obtaining Psystar's knock-off Snow Leopard source code.

Psystar, meanwhile, has accused Apple of attempting to "draw a veil of secrecy" over ongoing litigation between the two parties.

The timing of this news and forthcoming courtroom conflicts aren't ideal for Apple. With their annual media event scheduled for tomorrow, there is probably a tinge of frustration in what should otherwise be a confident and optimistic environment at a company that seems poised to yet again impress the tech world with new upgrades to familiar products and possibly even new devices. But for now, Psystar says the new Mac clones will begin shipping as early as next week, a move that will likely affect Mac sales in some capacity in the weeks and months to come.

[sayam]

Psystar knows they can never win, why waste Apple's time

[jdys_1991]

lol I wonder who the winner will be in the end :P

[The Maestro]

I can see how apples pissed I mean there running osx on machines more powerful @ a cheaper price, people are gonna ask why spend the extra money on aluminum

[Channan]

I'd get a computer from Psystar, but I'm afraid to buy from a company that may soon go out of business. Right after Circuit City went out of business, my computer crapped out on me.

[rwin84]

I admire the "David and Goliath" aspect of this but unfortunatly I do not believe this story will be a biblical "clone". (pun intended)

[Frostbite]

I admire the "David and Goliath" aspect of this but unfortunatly I do not believe this story will be a biblical "clone". (pun intended)

Agreed this is kinda ridiculous.

[sziklassy]

Not wanting to fight just because another company is stronger is a sad reality in many cases. I am happy they are fighting even though they may not win. What is even sadder is that restricting OSX to Apple only hardware seems like it should raise the red anti-trust flags everywhere. I, for one, hope Apple loses this, and they eventually will.

[rsohne]

I haven't really followed this story but didn't IBM try to stop the same movement in the 80's?

[cjgonzales1900]

well lets see if apple wins; will they really win, because psystar will just release their way of running leopard on a PC or they will make a new company and have new investors because i know i would invest in a pc running leopard, wouldnt you just so i could buy a great one every year with good specs because i know many people cant buy a mac pro every year or at all for that matter. what you guys thank?

[GIRLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL]

I'm holding onto my Macbook for as long as I can just because of the outrageous price I paid back in 2007. I love OS X but I hate the hardware's premium price. They look beautiful but they start getting ugly when the minor issues like cracking along the keyboard & frayed wires start popping up. GMA 950 is absolutely atrocious in a $1000+ laptop as well.

[eZStaR]

This is so stupid...
Not only a company making money off of putting Mac on PCs, they made it public. So illegal.. I don't even get how they are not out of business already, they have NO right to put Mac's on PC comps and sell them.
Yet they are. I don't get it. They should have been shut down long ago..

And besides any smart user can put a mac OS on their comp..

I have Win7 Ultimate Retail Activated Dualbooted with Mac os X 10.5.8, 4 GB ram, 2.80 GHZ, 19 inch Monitor, Nvidia geforce 8400GS graphics card [yes I know the card sucks, Trying to get a better 1 ], 300 GB hard drive, with 500 GB external...

Got all the OS's for free.....,
The whole PC desktop new with 4 Year warrenty, I got for $550 from Dell.

I don't see why buy from psystar...
Or even buy from mac, unless your rich.....
[I know im not ]

[Luppin]

This is so stupid...
Not only a company making money off of putting Mac on PCs, they made it public. So illegal.. I don't even get how they are not out of business already, they have NO right to put Mac's on PC comps and sell them.
Yet they are. I don't get it. They should have been shut down long ago..

Honestly, it should be illegal for Apple to force people to only be able to install their software onto the hardware that they want you to, you purchased the software after all, that'd be like your favorite fast food restaurant locking the doors on you, only allowing you to eat the food that you already paid for and own inside. I mean really, Apple could probably reach a much wider audience by selling their OS to be compatible with pretty much all the hardware Windows is, but then there would be no sensible reason to buy Apple hardware unless you've got the money to blow on your computer looking "stylish," and it would also marr Apple's reputation for things "just working" because there WILL be instances where it absolutely will not "just work" because that is a LOT more difficult when you add the enormous amount of variables introduced by allowing your customers the freedom to design their computer however they may please (imagine that, such a crazy idea, I know...) instead of forcing the hardware they approve and make their OS work with exclusively with (besides the hardware that's enabled by chance or via patches/hacks by the OSx86 teams) onto you. Also, because the Apple OS would be much more easily available, the exclusivity felt by a Mac user would be all but lost because now they are no longer "that kid/guy/girl with the mac", they're just another face in the crowd and as far as I can tell, a HUGE part of Apple's image is to stand out from the crowd and thus they would probably lose the percentage of their market-share that buys into that image deeply enough so that they would switch to another niche OS such as Linux. Go Psystar

[eZStaR]

Honestly, it should be illegal for Apple to force people to only be able to install their software onto the hardware that they want you to, you purchased the software after all, that'd be like your favorite fast food restaurant locking the doors on you, only allowing you to eat the food that you already paid for and own inside. I mean really, Apple could probably reach a much wider audience by selling their OS to be compatible with pretty much all the hardware Windows is, but then there would be no sensible reason to buy Apple hardware unless you've got the money to blow on your computer looking "stylish," and it would also marr Apple's reputation for things "just working" because there WILL be instances where it absolutely will not "just work" because that is a LOT more difficult when you add the enormous amount of variables introduced by allowing your customers the freedom to design their computer however they may please (imagine that, such a crazy idea, I know...) instead of forcing the hardware they approve and make their OS work with exclusively with (besides the hardware that's enabled by chance or via patches/hacks by the OSx86 teams) onto you. Also, because the Apple OS would be much more easily available, the exclusivity felt by a Mac user would be all but lost because now they are no longer "that kid/guy/girl with the mac", they're just another face in the crowd and as far as I can tell, a HUGE part of Apple's image is to stand out from the crowd and thus they would probably lose the percentage of their market-share that buys into that image deeply enough so that they would switch to another niche OS such as Linux. Go Psystar

I agree with alot of that but you see its not as simple as food restaurants...
And psystar is going to fail... lol I mean, they don't even have permission to do any of what they are doing

[Cer0]

Apple is more of a hardware company. They develop Mac OS to work great with the hardware that they make. This is why everything just works. Windows is made for any PC. This is why some hardware does not work correctly in certain Windows versions. I have a laptop running Windows XP, a desktop dual booting Windows 7 and Gentoo, and a MacBook. One of the users above mentioned that with a little searching it is easy to get OSX on any PC that you currently own.
The ending of this story will be an interesting one. But the arguments of it becoming open so companies like Dell and others can put OSX will make Apple money is rough because Apple is mainly geared at hardware income.

As for the resturant thing above has me confused. I go to a place to eat and do pay for the food there, which then becomes my property that is edible.

Many hardware companies make a form of os for the hardware to become usable. Next on the block for fighting will be not being able to use iPhone OS on the G1.

[cocoabean772]

I hope they win the case Not Apple even tho apple is a good company and make s great products. I dont think i should be playing 2K for a laptop. See as i am typing this i am Using OSX86 Leo4all and its working great i have no problems and im running it on 2 computer a 400$ Emachine decktop and a 600$ HP pavilion and there both working 100%

[Fhadso]

This is classic Apple.
Psystar is to Mac OS as Jailbreaking is to iPhone.
Psystar can buy the software, and the hardware, and legally sell it, as it became his(their) property.
The EULA MAY state that it is unadvised or impossible to install on any other hardware besides Apple, but it IS legal.

[Cer0]

This is classic Apple.
Psystar is to Mac OS as Jailbreaking is to iPhone.
Psystar can buy the software, and the hardware, and legally sell it, as it became his(their) property.
The EULA MAY state that it is unadvised or impossible to install on any other hardware besides Apple, but it IS legal.

Not technically, Jbing is not taking the software and putting it on a different machine. iPhone OS works great on the hardware it was made for, it will not run on other hardware yet. JBing is just allowing us to install the programs we want on the OS without going through Apple's gates.

I am not against Mac OS being on a different hardware but if they do win expect big issues with the premium of the "just works" of Apple products. Apple will start charging higher prices for the OS and could put in an activation process like Windows.

[mdc929]

I'd get a computer from Psystar, but I'm afraid to buy from a company that may soon go out of business. Right after Circuit City went out of business, my computer crapped out on me.

ouch

I admire the "David and Goliath" aspect of this but unfortunatly I do not believe this story will be a biblical "clone". (pun intended)

agreed lol
apple always prevails