Open Mac…Could It Be Done?

Apple’s EULA expressly forbids users from installing its operating system on hardware not sold by the computer and consumer electronics maker. It clearly reads:”You agree not to install, use or run the Apple software on any non-Apple-labeled computer, or to enable others to do so,” (download PDF).

We will have to wait to see what legal action Apple takes to enforce their end user license agreement. Many critics has always set their eyes in Microsoft and they way they have always controlled their monopoly, but no one has put any attention to Apple and its practices. Apple is a more closed operation and extremely controlling when it comes to releasing their products.

In the meantime, PsyStar will pre-install Leopard, Apple’s current operating system, on new systems for an additional $155. The base Open Computer model is priced at $399 without Mac OS X, and comes with a 2.2-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB of memory, a 250GB hard drive, optical drive and on-board graphics based on Intel’s Graphics Media Accelerator 950 graphics processor.

Options include a bump up to a 2.6-GHz Core 2 Duo, a 400GB hard drive, more memory and a separate graphics card — nVidia Corp.’s GeForce 8600GT — to replace the on-board Intel graphics chip set. PsyStar is also selling an upscale $999 system called OpenPro Computer that can be configured with a quad-core processor and a choice of operating systems, including the Ubuntu distribution of Linux, Windows XP, Windows Vista or Leopard.