Psystar Apple Lawsuit
Not sure if you guys are aware of a company called Psystar, but that is the first company that is dumb enough to actually sell Hackintosh (meaning non Apple computers running Mac OS X) computers. Apparently, they have been around for a while (2,3 months if I am not wrong) and finally Apple has decided to sue them.
Let me shed a little light on this subject of Hackintosh. Ever since Apple unveiled the migration to use of Intel processors in their computers, budding hackers have been trying to get the Mac OS X running on non Apple Hardware. This is only expected given the lack of alternatives to the crash-friendly Windows Operating Systems and the user-unfriendly Linux Operating Systems. Well, they succeeded in the end. However, these versions of OS X were generally challenging to install, definitely not for the faint of heart. (Even I have tried once and failed miserably) Moreover, even after installation, the systems are not as stable as the actual operating system on Apple Hardware, due to a difference in components used. Lastly, such systems lag on older Intel Processors. Using the system on anything below Core Duo is nearly impossible (given that it was designed for Core Duo and Quad Core processors). Updates are also impossible, and everytime there is a system update, users have to reinstall the whole operating system. And yet, the project proved largely popular.
Personally, I don’t like the idea of Hackintosh. Maybe that just because I paid the full cost of an elegant, sleek, sexy, reliable (though not of the best quality) and generally powerful MacBook Pro to run arguably the best operating system available. (some people still swear by Linux distributions, but I don’t see how even the “most user friendly” distribution of Linux, Ubuntu, is anywhere near Mac OS X or even Windows for that matter) But seriously, by allowing Mac OS X to run on non-Apple Hardware is basically robbing Apple of its skyhigh profit levels. Why is that bad you might ask? Apple might lose the incentive to innovate, as can already be seen from the Snow Leopard announcement. Why spend money on hiring a think tank when people are not even going to buy your machines? Moreover, it might just welcome malicious users to come up with a virus that might upset the security that we Mac OS users have enjoyed for a long time.
Anyway, back to Psystar. They are actually the first company to try to sell computers running the latest Mac OS X - Leopard. Obviously this is a direct threat to Apple and an straightforward infringement of Apple’s copyright and End User License Agreement (EULA). I was surprised that it took Apple so long to actually sue Psystar, but I suppose their lawyers were taking their time gathering all possible ways to bankrupt Psystar, just in case they got away with a few charges.
But I supposed Psystar is going to try to attack Apple with Anti Trust Laws, probably by arguing by limiting Mac OS X to Apple Hardware only, it’s being anti-competitive. That is the only chance that they stand against being bankrupted by Apple.
Hmm, this could be interesting. Wonder how it will turn out.
Till next time,
cheers
Tags: Apple, hackintosh, lawsuit, psystar