Topic: Mac Clone Maker Psystar Starts Shipping Computers

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http://www.informationweek.com/news/hardware/desktop/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=207401062

A Miami-based system integrator that's selling an unauthorized Mac clone has begun shipping orders, according to the company's Web site on Monday.

"Orders placed the week of April 7th are currently being shipped," Psystar said in a note currently posted on its site.

An alert on the site Friday said the store was "temporarily down." Psystar blamed the closure on the failure of its credit processing system, and not legal pressure from Apple.

Psystar now says it can again take orders again "thanks to our new high volume payment processor."

Last week, Psystar introduced a new system called OpenPro. It's a beefed up version of its Open Computer clone. The company claims it will ship either with a choice of pre-installed operating systems that includes Ubuntu Linux 8.04, Windows Vista, Windows XP or Apple's OS X 10.5 "Leopard."

Ubuntu is free. Vista or XP costs an extra $150, while Leopard costs an additional $155, according to Psystar's Web site.

Psystar claims its Mac clones cost about one-quarter of what Apple branded systems go for. The company charges that Apple marks up the cost of the hardware on which its operating systems ride by as much as 80%.

One version of Psystar's Open Computer features Apple's Leopard OS X 10.5 operating system ported onto generic PC hardware that includes anIntel (NSDQ: INTC) Core2Duo processor at 2.66 GHz, a 250 GB hard drive, and an Nvidia GeForce 8600 GT graphics card.

The system is priced at $804.99. A similar, Apple-branded computer would cost more than $2,000.

The problem: Apple's end user license agreement expressly forbids installation or sales of its operating systems on third-party hardware.

Psystar changed the name of its Mac clone from OpenMac to Open Computer last week -- perhaps in response to anticipated legal pressure from Apple. "The name "Open" has been selected to reflect the fact that ANY consumer operating system can be installed and run on it," said Psystar.

if your interested you can see its products at: http://www.psystar.com/shop/openmac.html