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"RussianMac" to Enter Dubiously-Lucrative Mac Ripoff Market

Andy Salisbury — Wed, 27 May 2009 17:00:34 -0500

RussianMac is the latest company ballsy enough to tempt fate, and enter the fake Mac market.

On their site, they state that all of their machines come with a full version of Mac OS X Leopard pre-installed. They also state that the operating system will be able to receive automatic updates from Apple once everything has been installed. However, Apple has been able to dominate the Mac market because the OS X End User License Agreement (EULA), which clearly states that no one may install their software on hardware that hasn’t been sold by Apple. This clause has successfully shut down the entire Mac clone market.

But, in a twist, RussianMac claims that since they have bought the OS directly from Apple, they’re not in violation of the EULA (though, they are yet to explain how they’ve installed it on Apple’s hardware). It should be noted that the German company PearC was able to use that defense in order to sell machines in Germany, so perhaps this defense could work in Russia as well?

Image Credit: RussianMac

Psystar Releases Another Mac Clone Amid Legal Battle

Paul Lilly — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 10:49:43 -0500

Perhaps feeling confident from its first legal victory last month in its ongoing legal battle against Apple for selling Mac clones that allegedly violate the Mac OS X end-user license agreement, Psystar is far from waving the white flag and is instead waving another Mac clone it claims is "Smaller, Faster, and Sexier."

The baseline configuration for the Open (3), as it's being called, includes Intel's Core 2 Duo E7200 processor (upgradeable to a quad-core Q8200 CPU), 2GB of DDR2-800 RAM, a 500GB hard drive, 20X DVD burner, GeForce 8400GS videocard with 256MB video memory, 802.11n WiFi, and much to the chagrin of Apple, Mac OS X Leopard v10.5.

"We are making the Open Computer a better fit for our users' environments in more ways than one," said Rudy Pedraza, Psystar president. "The smaller size will definitely make it easier to place in a home or small office but, at the same time, the increased performance will allow it to easily take the place of traditionally-sized machines. Core2Quad processors greatly enhance performance in computationally-intense applications such as 3D rendering and movie editing. A quad-core in a desktop that is under four inches thick is the direct result of the feedback we've received from the public."

With the release of the Open (3), Psystar has phased out the mini-tower for a "slim form-factor" the company claims is 47 percent smaller.

The Open (3) is available now starting at $600.

(Image Credit: Psystar)

Psystar Scores Rare Win in Legal Battle against Apple

Pulkit Chandna — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 18:32:38 -0600

Legally besieged Mac clone maker Psystar has registered its first legal victory against Apple. U.S District Court Judge William Alsup has given the permission necessary for Psystar to continue its countersuit. The judge lent his assent to those revisions to the countersuit that had been suggested by Psystar after its antitrust charges against Apple were dismissed in November 2008.

Now Apple will have to defend itself against charges pertaining to copyright misuse. “Moreover, if established, misuse would bar enforcement (for the period of misuse) not only as to defendants who are actually party to the challenged license but also as to potential defendants not themselves injured by the misuse who may have similar interests,” Alsup said on Friday. The court’s latest fiat has rekindled Psystar’s hopes of surviving its legal ordeal upon which its actual survival hinges.

Image Credit: Gizmodo

The Cloning Wars

The Maximum PC Staff — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 18:35:51 -0500

I’m trying to upgrade my boot disc drive, which uses XP as the OS. I’d failed twice and hen turned to Norton Ghost 12 to copy my C drive to my new disc. During the clone, everything seemed to be working until about 70 percent of the way through the procedure. At that point, a message appeared stating that my computer was trying to communicate with Microsoft. After about two minutes another message appeared stating that the attempt to communicate failed. Then the computer crashed.

I had some difficulty rebooting and then found that XP failed to recognize the new disc drive. It took me some time to figure out that this drive had to be reformatted. I’ve upgraded discs before but never encountered difficulties like this. I called Microsoft and they suggested I buy a copy of Vista and rebuild from scratch. I don’t want to do this. Am I missing something?

—Marvin Burke

Obviously, Windows is interrupting your clone procedure. It’s surprising that the operating system is crashing entirely. If this happens repeatedly, you should back up your critical files (documents, saved games, etc.) and reinstall Windows XP.
If not, the Doctor has a solution for your cloning procedure. Ditch Ghost and pick up the Ultimate Boot CD for Windows (www.ubcd4win.com). Put it in your optical drive and boot off the CD. Once the UI fires up, find the included DriveImage XML program and use it to clone one drive to the other. The procedure should complete without Windows bothering you, given that you’re running the entire operation off a bootable CD.

Running DriveImage XML on a custom Windows boot disk is a great alternative to using Norton Ghost

Ghost used to give you the option to make such a CD. You could run Ghost outside of the Windows environment yet still accomplish the same tasks as if you were in the operating system: backups, restores, clones, etc. Alas, those days are behind us.

SUBMIT YOUR QUESTION Are flames shooting out of the back of your rig? First, grab a fire extinguisher and douse the flames. Once the pyrotechnic display has fizzled, email the doctor at doctor@maximumpc.com for advice on how to solve your technological woes.

Shady Mac Clone Start Up Already on the Block - Asking Price $50,000

Paul Lilly — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 12:57:24 -0500

It remains to be seen whether the recent Mac clone phenomenon will turn out to be a legit business or a series of scams, but either way, things aren't looking good. You may recall reading about Psystar, a recent startup who purports to sell Open Computer setups running Max OS X Leopard. Despite confusion over where the company actually resides, the company appears to be in a legal battle with Apple over multiple counts of violating copyright, trademark, and breach-of-contract and unfair competition laws.

And what of Open Tech, the other Mac cloner who recently hit the headlines? In just three weeks after its official Mac-clone product launch, Open Tech vice president Elijah Samaroo sent an email to Wired.com announcing the sale of Open Tech's web store for a cool $50,000. Unlike Psystar, who sells pre-installed Mac-clones, Open Tech was offering to sell PCs with instructions detailing how to install any OS of choice, including Apple's, but is now prepared to let go of its "trade secrets" if it can find a buyer.

But wait, there's more! Adding more comic relief to the ridiculously high asking price for a shady startup, anyone interested in purchasing Open Tech can use the site's PayPal button to transfer the $50,000 and "as soon as the payment is received the Open Tech Papwork and Documents will be faxed or mailed to you."

No thanks?