Psystar's Mac Clone Still Available For Purchase

Via InformationWeek -

A Miami-based system integrator has changed the name of an unauthorized Mac clone it's selling through its Web site from OpenMac to Open Computer -- and was continuing to take orders for the system as of Tuesday afternoon.

One version of Psystar's Open Computer featured Apple's Leopard OS X 10.5 operating system ported onto generic PC hardware that includes an Intel (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.

Psystar appears to have changed the name of its Mac clone overnight -- perhaps in response to anticipated legal pressure from Apple. Apple's end user license agreement forbids the installation or use of Leopard on third party hardware.

Business records show that Psystar is a small company operated by Miami residents Rodolfo Pedraza and Roberto Pedraza.

On Monday, a Psystar representative who would identify himself only as "Robert" said the company is not concerned about legal action by Apple. "We're not breaking any laws," Robert insisted in a telephone interview.

Psystar may be willing to have its right to sell Mac clones tested in court, Robert implied. "What if Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) said you could only install Windows on Dell (Dell) computers?," he said. "What if Honda said that, after you buy their car, you could only drive it on the roads they said you could?," he added.

Robert also accused Apple of marking up the hardware on which its operating systems run by as much as 80%.

While it's doubtful a small vendor like Psystar could withstand a legal assault by Apple on its own, the company could possibly draw support from interest groups that are opposed to restrictive software licenses and patents, or even from big hardware makers that, no doubt, would themselves relish the opportunity to market a Mac clone -- if only to counter Microsoft's influence on their business.

Psystar's Web site was up and running as of Tuesday afternoon. The site was offline much of Monday as news of the company's Mac clone spread across the Internet.