Filed under: Laptops

We’re assuming Apple will eventually give up and release a netbook of its own, but until then Steve had better get used to seeing OS X hacked to run on all manner of tiny laptops — the latest to make the switch is Dell’s Inspiron Mini 9. Nothing too complicated about this hack, since most of the work was already done for the internally-similar MSI Wind, but you’ll have to dig up some extra Broadcom drivers to get WiFi and sound working. Seems like a fun little project for the weekend — anyone going to take the plunge?

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Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

After a few false starts, the OS X-installing EFi-X dongle is finally shipping to consumers. Currently, two versions are up for grabs: the USB V1 for the average joe / jane and the USB V2 Developers Unit for, well, developers. In short, plugging this gem into your PC will enable select systems to install OS X, but we’d take a hard look at the fine print (and certified systems) before blindly plunking down $155 and hoping for the best.

[Via MacRumors, thanks Joseph]

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Filed under: Desktops

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Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

Wannabe Mac cloners Psystar hired itself some hotshot lawyers to defend against Apple’s lawsuit, and they’re not wasting any time earning their fees — as Psystar’s hinted in the past, it’s going to countersue Apple for antitrust violations and ask that the court declare the Leopard EULA void. That’s a pretty longshot argument, especially since EULAs have traditionally been upheld in California and Florida and we find it hard to believe a court would find a company with ten percent marketshare to be abusing a monopoly position, but we’ll see how everything goes down — this one is going to have some fireworks for sure.

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Filed under: Laptops

Usually it’s “only a matter of time” before some new-fangled laptop destined for a Windows kind of life up and gets OSx86 installed on it, but for the Dell Studio, that matter of time was extremely short. Witness a Studio 17 running Leopard out of the box, save for a few minor problems like lack of full video support, sound, WiFi, Bluetooth, and Ethernet. Still, it’s pretty encouraging to see the system working at all with such little time and effort put into it. Kind of makes you wish we lived in a super-magical fantasy world where you could run whatever OS you wanted on your laptop, doesn’t it?

Update: We had to pull the read link here due to the “Engadget Effect” — sorry Ken!

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Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

The folks at EFiX don’t exactly have the best record of sticking to promised release dates, but the company’s CEO and lead engineer, Wilhelm von Vnukov, now tells us that the V2 edition of the OSX-installing device for desktop PCs will be available on Monday (July 7th), “I think,” with the V1 version set to follow three to four weeks later (still no word on the promised device for laptops). According to the website, the only difference between the two is the addition for support of “several motherboards” on the V2, as well as “experimental support for some prototype motherboards.” What’s more, the company has also now confirmed that the price for the initial batch will be €80 (or about $125), although availability seems to be confined to Taiwan and Bulgaria at the moment, with a number of other countries (including the United States) listed as being “in negotiation.” The company is also promiising that the price will be substantially lower once the device enters mass production, although it’s unsurprisingly not making any promises as to when that might happen.

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Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

Well, today’s the day that the EFiX folks promised their magical OS X-installing USB device would be available to the general PC-going public and, judging from the company’s website at least, it seems like it’s no more readily available than it was yesterday. The company has at least put up a product page for the desktop version of the device (pictured at right), however, as well as some non-working links for promised laptop and PCI versions of the device — not to mention an intriguing (also non-working) link for “complete systems.” They’ve also helpfully provided a list of compatible hardware, which looks to be extensive enough (assuming it all is, in fact, compatible). Feel free to post in comments if you’ve actually managed to get an order in one way or another, and we’ll be sure to let you know if we hear anything more.

[Thanks, Scientist]

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Filed under: Desktops

Apple hasn’t sued Psystar yet, so it’s no surprise the company is pushing the envelope as far as it can — it’s just introduced two rackmount servers that come with OS X Server pre-installed. The OpenServ 1100 and 2400 are both configurable with 2.5 GHz Xeon processors and up to 16GB of RAM, with the 1U 1100 sporting four drive bays and the 2U 2400 rocking six. Just like Psystar’s other products, you’re on your own (or at the mercy of Psystar) for service and support, since Apple won’t help you — and considering Psystar kept sending us support tickets for that DHCP issue but never actually called us to resolve it, that might make enterprise customers a bit wary. On the other hand, with prices starting at $1599, we’re certain some desparate render shop will take the plunge.

[Via Information Week]

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Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

Word in the OSX86 world is that a new product will revolutionize (and simplify) the process of installing OS X on a PC — and that product is called the EFiX. The USB dongle allegedly pops into a free port and allows you to install the retail version of the Mac operating system on just about any system by automatically locating the proper hacks and drivers needed. Famed OSX86 hacker Netkas has demoed a beta unit on video (which you can see after the break) and claims that it’s working as it should. The manufacturer is aiming to have models available for purchase by June 23rd… barring any more “sabotage.” This sounds like a much more reasonable solution than marketing a Mac clone — feel free to send one our way whenever you like guys.

[Via Boing Boing Gadgets]

Continue reading EFiX wants to bring OSX86 to the masses

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Filed under: Handhelds

With all the Psystar-related drama going on in the OSx86 scene this week, it’s easy to overlook the fact that people are doing some pretty wild things with the community-led project — we’ve already seen OS X boot on a Sony Vaio UX, and now the crew at jkOnTheRun have managed to shoehorn it on to a Samsung Q1 Ultra Premium UMPC. The Q1’s 1.33GHz Core Solo and upgraded 2GB of RAM are enough to run Leopard smoothly, it seems — Apple sold Mac Minis with similar specs a while back, after all — and while not everything works exactly right, it appears the digitizer is recognized, allowing Ink to work. It’s not perfect, as there are some calibration issues, but it’s a fun little peek into what an OS X tablet might look like — minus the command button, of course.

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Filed under: Desktops

Uh-oh, it looks like wannabe Mac clone maker Psystar has more than one licensing issue with the Open Computer: the company didn’t get permission from developers working on the OSx86 Project to sell their work. Netkas, who developed the EFI emulator Psystar is using, posted up a blog entry yesterday calling Psystar “liars” and has re-released his code under a license that specifically forbids commercial usage. We chatted briefly with Netkas and he told us that not only did Psystar take his code without permission, it’s using other code from the project like the NVInject graphics patch developed by Gotoh, and that he contacted Psystar when he learned about the Open Computer with no results. We also talked to several other members of the OSx86 scene who believe that Apple is tolerant of (and even subtly assisting) their efforts, and are worried that the Psystar flap might end that relationship and bring the hammer down — after all, there’s no Psystar without OSx86.

Interestingly, when we called Psystar to get comments on all of this, Rudy Pedraza, the president, first wanted to know if we could make Netkas call him, then denied using the EFI emulator, then repeatedly asked us for Netkas’s phone number (in Russia!) so he could talk to him directly, and then finally promised to call us back. Yeah, he never called back. That’s a lot of uncertainty around a pair of machines that haven’t shipped from a company with two different addresses that’s been in business for less than a year — and Apple hasn’t even gotten involved yet. At this point we’re going to say that if you really want a hackintosh, you’re likely better off rolling up your sleeves and building one yourself — you’ll probably have it done well before this whole mess gets sorted out.

Read - Netkas blog posting
Read - The Guardian “So exactly who or what is Psystar?”
Read - Psystar listing at the Florida State Department website

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Filed under: Desktops

So the rumors swirling around would-be Mac clone maker Psystar are getting pretty wild out there — we’ve heard everything from “Apple has shut the company down” to “Psystar is going to challenge Apple’s EULA in court” in the vacuum following the company’s site meltdown yesterday. That’s a big spread, so we hit up Psystar’s president Rudy Pedraza for some answers. Rudy was relatively cagey on the phone, refusing to answer any questions about Apple’s EULA or copyrights — or even confirm if Apple has talked with the company — but he told us that he’s got a “team” of people working on an official response and that the Open Computer (and the new quad-core Open Pro, pictured above) are still for sale. What’s more, he told us that “a few” orders placed before yesterday’s flood of interest have shipped, which means we’re curious to see if any of these early adopters actually surface in the next few days. Rudy also told us that Psystar isn’t out to infringe any copyrights or trademarks (really?), and that he has no idea how Information Week got a quote from someone named “Robert” indicating that the company was going to challenge Apple’s EULA in court. Sure thing. Rudy promised us a machine either today or tomorrow, we’ll see what happens — honestly, it seems like things are chaos at Psystar’s HQ in Miami right now.

P.S. -Remember MGM v. Grokster? In that case the Supreme Court ruled that a company that based its business around the knowing copyright infringement of customers was still liable, even if it didn’t infringe directly. Kinda shoots a hole in the “just don’t pre-install Leopard” theory, no?

Read - Psystar Open Pro
Read - Information Week (”Psystar vows to challenge Apple EULA”)
Read - DailyTech: (”Apple Kills Psystar’s $399 Mac”)

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Filed under: Desktops

Psystar’s offer to build off-license OSx86 OpenMac clones was apparently pretty popular — we saw a note from the company saying it was trying hard to cope with the rush of traffic, but it looks like things got overwhelming, and the site is now unavailable. People are speculating that Apple already shut things down, but that’s pretty unlikely: nothing on the Psystar site infringed any of Apple’s IP (as far as we can recall) and the company hadn’t actually sold anything yet, which means there isn’t much of anything for Apple to go to court over. On top of that, we doubt that Psystar wasn’t expecting to attract Apple’s attention, so we don’t think a cease and desist letter would scare the company into shutting things completely down. Of course, we’re still willing to bet that Apple’s legal team is licking their chops in anticipation of something actionable happening, but we’d say the most interesting thing about this so far is the incredible amount of attention a low-cost expandable minitower running OS X has gotten — maybe someone at Apple apart from the lawyers should be taking notes as well.

Update: They’re back! They’ve changed the name to “Open Computer,” which should totally throw off Apple’s lawyers. Or… probably won’t.

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Filed under: Desktops

If you’re not brave enough to OSx86 your own PC, psystar will sell you its OpenMac clone for $400. For that price you get 2.2GHz Core 2 Duo E4500 processor, 2GB of memory, integrated GMA 950 graphics, 250GB disk and 20x DVD burner. Add another $155 and they’ll even install Leopard on the non-Apple kit with the help of an EFI V8 emulator. Even at $555 it’s still a spec-for-spec bargain compared to the Mac mini (albeit without the mini dimensions). If interested you’d better snap one up quick. Jobs, you’ll recall, put a swift end to official Mac-clone licensing when he resumed power at Apple. No reason to think that he (or his lawyers) feel any differently now.

[Thanks, Roberto]

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