OS X-installing EFiX device gets a price, release date

The folks at EFiX don't exactly have the best record of sticking to promised release dates, but the company's CEO and lead engineer, Wilhelm von Vnukov, now tells us that the V2 edition of the OSX-installing device for desktop PCs will be available on Monday (July 7th), "I think," with the V1 version set to follow three to four weeks later (still no word on the promised device for laptops). According to the website, the only difference between the two is the addition for support of "several motherboards" on the V2, as well as "experimental support for some prototype motherboards." What's more, the company has also now confirmed that the price for the initial batch will be €80 (or about $125), although availability seems to be confined to Taiwan and Bulgaria at the moment, with a number of other countries (including the United States) listed as being "in negotiation." The company is also promising that the price will be substantially lower once the device enters mass production, although it's unsurprisingly not making any promises as to when that might happen.

[Jason Randazza @ Jul 5th 2008 8:11PM]

Taiwan and Bulgaria? Seem like odd places to start.

[nerdtalker @ Jul 5th 2008 8:32PM]

Considering the likely hostility apple will take towards this device, starting sales in those places (to people who will likely ship them to the mainland US) seems like a wise idea.

Look at modchips. Same stuff.

I might get one to mess around with.

[kal326 @ Jul 5th 2008 8:17PM]

Anybody else think its odd these thinks are named after German rockets?

[Richard Lai @ Jul 5th 2008 8:47PM]

Yet they are launching in Taiwan and Bulgaria? That's just screwed up.

[EdZ @ Jul 5th 2008 8:57PM]

I assumed it was the standard "V for version", not "V for Vergeltungswaffe" (which would be V-2).

[Mobius_1 @ Jul 5th 2008 10:55PM]

Voilà! In view, a humble vaudevillian veteran, cast vicariously as both victim and villain by the vicissitudes of fate. This visage, no mere veneer of vanity, is a vestige of the vox populi, now vacant and vanished. However, this valorous visitation of a bygone vexation stands vivified, and has vowed to vanquish these venal and virulent vermin vanguarding vice and vouchsafing the violently vicious and voracious violation of volition! The only verdict is vengeance; a vendetta held as a votive, not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous. Verily, this vichyssoise of verbiage veers most verbose, so let me simply add that it's my very good honor to meet you and you may call me V.

Wikipedia FTW

[Witch Doctor @ Jul 10th 2008 3:12PM]

No, it's not odd at all. Every version of OS X has been named after a German tank (Panzer, etc.)

[Matt Keller @ Jul 5th 2008 8:18PM]

Meh. It'd be nice to have OSX on my PC. I'm pretty happy with Windows though.

[andres @ Jul 5th 2008 9:12PM]

use whatever suits your needs, i see no reason for a low rank

[Matt Keller @ Jul 5th 2008 8:20PM]

But What If You Actually Like Window?

[Blaktornado @ Jul 5th 2008 8:28PM]

Apple will probably find a way to stop it (if the company actually gets their act together)

[DefPo3t @ Jul 6th 2008 10:08AM]

its an efi emulator what can apple do legally to a company emulating something that they don't have the intellectual property rights to
your answer is nothing!

[helloUser @ Jul 5th 2008 8:29PM]

$125? OS X costs $129. Whats keeping the price of this thing so high?

[Bender Bending Rodriguez @ Jul 5th 2008 8:42PM]

1) It's a piece of HW.

2) As stated, it's not in mass production yet.

[Tom @ Jul 5th 2008 8:51PM]

R&D, manufacturing, shipping, keeping the low-down on the down-low, and hey - guy's gotta make some guap if he's spending his time for other people. It's the way of life.

[Yevon @ Jul 5th 2008 8:31PM]

What is stopping people from copying the files off of this and putting them on Demonoid? This is just a flash drive with an OS X installing program on it, right?

[ronin @ Jul 5th 2008 8:52PM]

No it has no files on it. Apples don't use BIOS like PC's do, they have something else called EFI. This item will simulate you having an EFI motherboard.

[LC @ Jul 5th 2008 8:40PM]

I really don't understand what the big deal is. It's been possible to install OS X on a PC for a long time now.

[Tom @ Jul 5th 2008 8:53PM]

It's automation. It locates all necessary hacks and drivers it needs for your system, all automatically why installing the retail version. Check the article links and learn.

[Tom @ Jul 5th 2008 8:54PM]

Sorry. Replace "why" with "while". Like drinking and driving, talking and typing don't mix well.

[NeonRush @ Jul 6th 2008 8:46AM]

Never forget that "Apple", "special hardware" and "expensive" are synonymous terms.

[josearoldan @ Jul 5th 2008 8:44PM]

Or just do a google search for OS X86 and get information on the specials disks that can be made or are already made to use OS X on a regular PC.

[Rick @ Jul 5th 2008 9:01PM]

I thought the guys at EFix said initially they were not going to sell them here in the USA?

[neofolklore @ Jul 7th 2008 8:38AM]

E-B-A-Y

[fhlh @ Jul 5th 2008 9:02PM]

geesh... if you want to run something other than windows on your pc... install ubuntu.... it's free, too

[andres @ Jul 5th 2008 9:13PM]

people wont buy this so they can install something other than windows, they will specifically buy it to install osx.

[Wormbolt @ Jul 5th 2008 9:42PM]

@andres

I think he meant you should skip this altogether and install Ubuntu, which you can download, burn, and install for free.

[andres @ Jul 5th 2008 10:47PM]

yes, yes. but not everyone runs osx just to run something different, they probably have their reasons and linux isnt a direct replacement for osx.

[Abuzar Baloach @ Jul 5th 2008 11:11PM]

Yeah maybe they want Final Cut Pro or something.

Somethings are OSX only.

[Neoleeyennek @ Jul 5th 2008 9:02PM]

Taiwan is one of the best countries to start in because it's where most of the worlds computer parts are made, so they get a good supplier there they can cut the cost of making it and also Taiwan export the parts

[Anthony @ Jul 5th 2008 9:10PM]

So, If I am understanding this correctly this little device allows any pc (that is compatible) to have os x installed onto it. This device is all that seperates a pc from a mac? Doesn't this seem impossible to sell in america because apple and steves ruling hand!

If these get sold what would be the point of ever buying a mac again?

[Lamp @ Jul 5th 2008 10:00PM]

the fact that having a device constantly sticking out of your laptop is a bit of a downside.

[Josh @ Jul 5th 2008 10:22PM]

Because i like the way my MBP works and looks right now. I personally think that it looks better than most window's based laptops and the form factor is just astoundingly good for my purposes. Then there is the "oh s*** factor" that comes with anything that isn't natively built for the platform - i cannot have my laptop decide that a driver isnt just right for a program in the field or in the middle of finals.

I took part in OSX86 as it was beginning and it was fun then, heck, i still have it for some playing around and maybe it has gotten to be a bit more stable, but it just didn't seem stable enough for me to invest in.

So i guess i am just an idiot who likes to drop a lot of money on a laptop and got ripped off by apple but I still think it was worth it and i still recommend MBP to all of my friends. So that is why it is still a good idea for some of us to purchase macs.

[Byrdman @ Jul 5th 2008 10:33PM]

@Lamp:

first of all the initial launch is just aimed at desktops, so chances are a latop install wouldnt fair so well.

With that said, if your desktop has internal usb ports (most do), I would assume that you could place this device inside the tower and it would be out of the way of your other peripherals.

[shawnmos @ Jul 5th 2008 9:20PM]

Or perhaps even Windows.

[Eh @ Jul 5th 2008 10:04PM]

I think what hes thinking of is a curtain, which isnt quite the same thing as EFIX

[Chris @ Jul 5th 2008 10:10PM]

So.......How do I even know if this will work with my system? There are hundreds of thousands of possible hardware configurations so what are the chances of this working with my computer?

[Byrdman @ Jul 5th 2008 10:25PM]

go to their website. it gives a list of all the compatible hardware

[Chris @ Jul 5th 2008 10:40PM]

I checked the site and it doesn't work with my motherboard (EVGA 780i) or my graphics card (GTX 280) so is there any hope of me ever being able to use this?

[Abuzar Baloach @ Jul 5th 2008 11:19PM]

If it says it wont support it, then it probably wont.

See if the OXS86 guys have anything for your hardware. I tried it on my desktop and it could dual boot just fine. It just sat there though, because I play games and why would I dual boot into another OS for no reason.

It's still fun to play around with. I have to it it looks pretty good.

[Byrdman @ Jul 5th 2008 11:23PM]

I'm not sure. maybe one way to find out would be to download an osx86 iso and see if you can get it to boot on your machine. If you can do that then maybe it will work. but then again that may not mean anything.

[The Harlinator @ Jul 5th 2008 11:53PM]

It's for all the broke dicks that can't afford a real Mac... if it's even stable @ all LOL!!!
oh well...

[Hamidxa @ Jul 6th 2008 3:23PM]

My PC would eat your Mac for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and also as a snack...an apple perhaps.

How are you guys liking your latest C2Q Extreme processors?
How about GTX 280 GPU's?

What's that?
Deafening silence?

I see...

[absurdio @ Jul 6th 2008 5:25PM]

Oh, man! I'm so glad you posted that, hamidxa! For a second, I was afraid this was an article about EFiX, and not your ego. What a relief!
Twit.

[Jamar @ Jul 6th 2008 10:51PM]

I have a different reason- try dumping a cup of water in your Macbook(Pro/Air). Probably won't live to see tomorrow (and at the very least you'll have to spend a day or two drying it out). Also, can your Macbook last you a nonstop trans-Pacific flight? Those are two reasons I like Panasonic laptops over Apple.

[LuvMuffin @ Jul 6th 2008 12:08AM]

Time to Start building a new comp

[Byrdman @ Jul 6th 2008 12:47AM]

i just ordered a bunch of stuff off of tigerdirect to do just that :)

[[e-mail] @ Jul 6th 2008 12:38AM]

why would someone get this? you can just dl a cracked iso off a torrent site.

[brandon H @ Jul 6th 2008 1:28AM]

I'm not trying to be a fanboy here, but if you add the cost of this plus a copy of OSX, plus iLife (which is included with all macs), plus the price of a new PC, wouldn't it be just as much if not more than a brand new iMac or Macbook (granted, the cheaper models)?

This seems like it will only appeal to people with an existing, relatively new, PC who like to really tinker and hack. A decent size population, granted, but not one big enough for apple to worry about cutting into its bottom line.

I'm with the first guy, if you want to experiment with other OS's without buying a new machine try Ubuntu, its cheaper and easier than trying to shoehorn Mac OS onto a PC. Otherwise, just get a real mac.

[tao @ Jul 6th 2008 5:30AM]

Think about the mac pro.