We've always been intrigued by the
EFI-X dongle that fools OS X into running on stock Intel machines, Software Update and all, and now it looks like
the company a company called EFi-X USA is taking things one step further -- it's planning on shipping pre-built machines capable of running Apple's OS. The EFi-X Millennium 4 will sport an overclocked 3.8GHz Core 2 Quad, 4GB of RAM, and a GeForce 8800 GTS graphics card in an Antec P180 case, all for $1,899 plus the $199 EFi-X dongle. The idea is to avoid any Psystar-style legal troubles by leaving the purchase and installation of OS X up to the end user, but apparently no one at EFi-X USA has talked to a lawyer or even read our
previous posts on the matter, since Apple's lawsuit against Psystar turns as much on
contributory and induced copyright infringement as it does on Psystar's direct violation of Apple's OS X EULA. In other words, it's illegal to sell a product expressly designed to allow customers to infringe copyrights -- a principle Napster and Grokster made famous, you'll recall. Plus we're pretty certain there's a DMCA argument in there since the EFi-X dongle circumvents Apple's protections on OS X -- the validity of which Psystar is actually testing in its
revised countersuit. We'll see how it goes -- we're seriously worried that these companies are doing far more harm to the OSx86 scene than good.
P.S.- Oh, and honestly, Apple, if you want this entire headache to go away, all you have to do is produce a reasonably-priced, configurable midrange tower. Think about it.
Update: We've just been pinged by the original EFi-X team, who tell us that EFi-X USA has nothing to do with them, that they have no plans to sell actual machines, and that they strongly disapprove of EFi-X USA. Shades of
Psystar's use of netkas's work on OSx86 without permission, we'd say -- shady shady.
[Thanks, Mark]
posted Dec 12th 2008 11:34AM
FIRST!
Apple has done it again!
OSX is Unix meaning it does not belong to evil company but to us.
Evil company is one should be prosecuted not EFIX
Apple has done what again?
Sure, UNIX is open, but Apple pays a lot of money to develop OS X and should have the right to do with it whatever they want. If you don't like it, use Linux, Windows, the probably upcoming Google OS, or whatever else you want. OS X isn't good enough to put all this trouble into when you can simply run Windows on whatever you want.
@000000,
Sucked my balls. That's what.
Oh yeah they take UNIX's useless to the regular non geek user's interface and superb security model and invest millions of dollars into making it usable to the regular user. Yeah god forbid they try to make some money back on their investment and hard work. Also last time I checked Apple is not the only company doing this either. If you want real support from any of the major Linux/Unix distros you will have to pay. So you people need to either A) stop crying about it or B) do something about it. Go out and make your own OS and create your own company and make your own hardware.
You haven't a sufficient age to achieved puberty thus allowing apple to find them and suck them.
What EFi-X is basically doing is arguing that they can sell you the gun as long as you provide your own bullets.
therefore when you add them together the combination is both "crazy loud" and legally devastating
I am sorry, but you keep trolling trying to get first posts, please stop. Also, UNIX is not open, UNIX is a specific system that is based directly off of the AT&T Time Sharing system, this includes Solaris, Novell, OS X, and BSD. Linux is not UNIX, it is a compatible kernel to the UNIX system, which is open and was developed independently, containing no true ties to any actual UNIX system. Apple has the rights to do as they choose with their intellectual property, if they want their OS on their proprietary hardware, so be it. I am not saying I don't support EFI-X I am just saying that it is not anything to be said that a company would defend its own property from usage outside of the License Agreement.
I miss iEye
You know what? I am so sick of PC people hating on Apple cause they make stable machines. You know I was thinking the other day cause I teach graphic design at a high school, all on pcs, and I have about three computer crashes a day. I think to myself man, I am so glad I have an apple. I would be anything to have a stable computer as a mac. So all you haters out ther shut up and just enjoy your cheap crashing machines.
charles willis @ You know what i hate? Stupid people complaining about how PC's crash every other day and what not. Seriously, quit it. There is something wrong with your shit. I have multiple PC's at home, a Mac and an Fedora Core box running a server. None of them cause me any headaches. Well I lie, my Macbook's battery recently went dead so now it's a makeshift Mac mini. So please, stop bitching about PC's and Macs, and this is better than that.. blah blah blah. Each one has their problems, none are perfect, but to say that PC's crash every other day is totally BS! Please answer this question... If they are so problematic as you claim, why is it that almost every server environment in the world runs Windows 2000, 2003 server? huh huh huh? Oh, and i work in a massive DC, you know how many of our clients (400+) run Mac hardware? Zero.
OSX86 was cool when it was a relatively small community and apple didnt seem hell bent on putting a stop to it because they probably figured it would be good publicity to convert people to mac. Considering all the hoops you have to jump through to get it to work on your machine and the relatively small amount of retail branded intel machines that supported it, apple probably didn't see it as a huge threat. And it wasn't.... you can tell by the huge increase in apple hardware sales over the past year. Things like these piss me off because now somebody is trying to profit from something hackers made to be available for free and are now really trying to cut into apples sales witch in the long run may make apple reconsider their handling of the OSX86 project.
The name is too close to eFix...
Fix what?
Fix it so that arrogant Apple fanboys will shut up when they realise that OSX can be run on any machine.
I say just open up the "closed monopolized" madness and everyone will be happy!
Ummm 7% Market share compared to 90% market share. Yeah that's definitely a monopoly.
I'm happy someone said it! Apple is a TRUE monopoly. They REQUIRE you to buy THEIR hardware to run THEIR operation system, and bar you from running the os on any other hardware. That is a monopoly. Microsoft having market share doesn't not constitute a monopoly because there are choices; Linux, Mac OSX, BSD, OS/2, but Apple gives you NO choice! What is I want to run the OS but I don't want to buy their OVERPRICED hardware, I can't! Where are the antitrust lawyers! This monopoly must be brought down!
Did you forgot to add all the millions of all the i-Products that makes the AAPL share sum up to about $100?
He is referring to apples monopoly of douche
When will you realize size doesn't matter. It's how you use it.
Microsoft has a huge marketshare for two reasons 1) it is available for and can run on the vast majority of the world's hardware, and 2) its platform is widely developed for. Until Apple starts to loosen restrictions on hardware (or makes a platform worth developing for), it will be perceived as monopolistic and unreasonable.
so, you're saying apple has a monopoly over it's own product? that makes tons of sense.
I define a monopoly more in terms of behavior than market share.
If Intel has 95% of the market and they're not trying to pull any crap, guess what?
They have 95% of the market, good for them.
The above, of course, isn't a real life scenario, but you get the idea.
If Apple has 9% of the market and they're already pulling monopolistic crap left and right, well screw them; let the osx86 machines roll.
@fernando, yes, that can be a monopoly. In this case it's a monopoly of os-x based computers due to their closed system. For it not to be a monopoly, they would either have to offer a different operating system on their machines (linux, windows, etc) or allow their operating system to be installed elsewhere. First option would not yield any extra profits, as all mac equipment is far from the best (sonys have better laptop design, size, and features, dells have better business support, acer has higher spec'd stuff at lower price, etc), and the second option would actually decrease mac sales, where apple makes the largest chunk of profit.
I am not an Apple fan, but it is not a monopoly - they are bundling two goods, which they are within their rights to do. You do not expect to play Mario on a Playstation or Xbox, why do you assume you have a right to use OS X on whatever hardware you want?
Apple are very unlikely to release a mid-priced Mac simply because it would dilute their brand as a relatively exclusive, ostentatious product - get used to it.
Just use Linux if you want flexibility - I use it exclusively and it is easy enough for my computer illiterate parents to use as well.
@ Matt, you're not making -1 sense. Think about your analogy and re-post your comment!
Wait a second here, it's illegal to sell products that expressly allow the violation of copyright laws?
Might as well outlaw PCs altogether, since you can violate copyright laws left and right with torrents.
@Jimmy Jones
I'm not entirely sure what you think is wrong with my analogy - Nintendo limits it's software to be used with particular hardware, just as Apple limits the use of OS X to it's hardware. If I am mistaken in the analogy I apologise, but please explain my mistake.
Anyway, the difference between a monopoly and bundling is obvious. A company has a monopoly if it has majority control of a market, which for OS X is the general OS market (of which they have less than 10%). Bundling involves selling different products in conjunction with one another, sometimes the different products can be bought separately (albeit for a higher price), but this need not be the case and such bundling is legal. On the other hand monopoly abuse is illegal.
The simple fact is that if you do not want Apple hardware, you don't have to buy it and there is alternative software you can use. Apple, however, is not obliged to sell you their software to be used on other hardware. I personally do not like such restrictive bundling, but it is simply incorrect to suggest that it is a monopoly.
It's not a Monopoly. Apple have the monopoly in the Apple maket? Give me a break. If you don't like the terms don't buy the bloody product. Quit whining. Quite happily typing this on XP on my MacBook :op
I say people have a choice. Pay for Apple hardware plus OS X and all the Apple updates/support with it, Or take a risk and buy some third party hardware and hope that it still works with future versions of OS X or use Linux or Windows. I know where I would put my money. Which ever way you look at it most people know the score with Apple and how they tie their hardware and OS together so stop complaining.
@Matt
Your analogy is not up to the par in your 1st comment .......
"You do not expect to play Mario on a Playstation or Xbox, why do you assume you have a right to use OS X on whatever hardware you want?"
Why do Apple assume they have the right to lock me down to their hardware? iPhone, iTouch + iTunes? and then shuts down any software (open source) that unlocks the device? Why do they keep pushing out updates to lock down the device[iPhone]? Why do they feel the need to charge for Service Packs? Perhaps, you already answered few of these ?s in your second reply but this is my line of reasoning..
And no, I'm not anti-Apply but just because they have 10% market share or whatever percentage doesn't exonerate them from monopolistic practices... If this was M$, the whole world will jump and cry [I know that much].....and M$ will never hear the last of it...
Yes, I do not own a Zune or iPhone or iTouch but I do OWN Archos 5 and I'm loving it. It's like McDonalds (I'm lovin' it).
I do believe end-users (consumers) should have some level of freedom as to what they want to do with their hardwares once they pay the premium price......whether it is Apple or not.
Maybe Snow Leopard will be that product. Doubt it, but who knows.
"P.S.- Oh, and honestly, Apple, if you want this entire headache to go away, all you have to do is produce a reasonably-priced, configurable midrange tower. Think about it."
Well said!
Apple and "reasonably-priced" don't go together. If it is reasonably priced with an apple logo on it, it's probably a duplicate.
My thoughts exactly. I've been a big Mac fan for years, but recently built myself a PC because I wanted the ability to add multiple internal hard drives, dual optical drives, and an internal SD card reader. The cheapest Mac Pro costs almost $3000. My PC cost me less than $500 and has every feature I wanted--except the ability to run OS X. But there was no way I was paying 6x as much to run OS X.
@engadget
yeah and in every other way your $500 computer was exactly the same as that $3000 Mac Pro right? God you are such a tool.
"P.S.- Oh, and honestly, Apple, if you want this entire headache to go away, all you have to do is produce a reasonably-priced, configurable midrange tower. Think about it."
And it won't do a fucking thing - all those who are complaining would NEVER buy one. The point of all this "Apple blah blah blah moan wimper" fanboi crap is just that. If you can't afford to buy a Mac - don't buy one. If you can and you want one then buy one.
Rampant whining like this is just not going to make Apple do a thing.
Steve Jobs sends fax Mark : You know that PS rant you did about Apple in EFi-X topic??
Yeah, you think it was funny?
You're Fired!
"Steve Jobs goes back to his EEE PC and leaves his I-Fax'ial sending the faxes."
Apple needs to do more than just offer a mid-range tower, such as not forcing the end user into a corner when it comes to hardware upgrades. Video cards for example. A friend of mine insisted that any video card could be used in a mac pro, which just isn't true. The PC relies on its ability to upgrade easily and give people options that one just can't receive on a mac.
A mid-range tower would have about the same effect on the market as the mac mini did if it can't be easily upgraded. Besides, look at the mini now. It's well above its introduced price point now. Why would a mid-range tower ever get a reasonable price point ($1000 seems the most reasonable for a mac) if the mini can't stick to its originally intended price point?
Funny, I configured this Mac Pro on the website just now, for $2,299... $2,149 with educational discount. Please don't spread lies.
One 2.8GHZ Quad-Core Intel Xeon
2GB (2x1GB)
320GB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s
ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT 256MB
One 16x SuperDrive
Apple Mighty Mouse
Apple Keyboard + User's Guide
Engadget just made a dig at apple. Are cats going to marry dogs now?
@ Josh
Engadgets point was not that he could build a machine comparable to a mac pro for $500, but that he needed a machine that could be easily upgraded (add extra hard drives, optical drives, etc). He wanted a mac, but the only machine that could be easily upgraded was a mac pro that would cost him $3000 plus and provide way more power than what he was looking for. Since Apple offered no mid-range tower, he was forced to build a pretty decent pc for $500 that could fulfill his needs. I think that was pretty easy to understand. I guess that makes you the tool.
hackers will hack. doesn't matter. i'm one of the very few people i know who actually pays for software, microsoft, apple or otherwise. people even run cracked versions of $80 software instead of paying for something legit, so "price" has little to do with it.
@catachip
That graphics card is horrid. It was a late 06 entry level card.
@catachip
Xeon E5440 716.99
SuperMicro MBD-X7DCA 279.99
2GB ram DDR2 Reg/ECC 67.99
320GB HD 49.99
2600XT 49.99
Antec P180 149.99
PC Power Cool 610 EPS12 94.99
DVDRW 24.99
KB Mouse 20
Total= 1454.92
At that price you could buy a copy of OSX, Vista, and a EFi-X usb key to run OSX and still save over buying a base Mac Pro with Educational discount and have it be completely upgradable. Pricing grabbed from Newegg. Sadly the Xeon is the most expensive part.
Ironically if you run Windows under boot camp on a Mac Pro you CAN use regular PC Video cards, it's well documented, but OSX can't see them! All most hobbyists want is something that can use third party video as a refresh... something Apple seems hell-bent no not allowing even for their expensive Mac Pros anymore.
On one hand, computers are appliances now, laptops have topped the 50% mark and will only grow more. MOST computer buyers NEVER OPEN THE CASE... I've seen dozens from friends and family and they've never been opened to let out the dust bunnies. If the majority of buyers aren't upgrading, and they hate doing it if they have to, why should companies add the expensive of extra parts nobody uses and testing for compatibility nobody will use? Not to mention they can make smaller, cooler machines and get more sales. I think monitors are the main expensive component people don't want to upgrade. And people like the choice between desktop or TV room now.
I'm thinking even Apple is going to drop iMac because built in LCDs are very wasteful if you can't reuse them in broken computers and that's lots of scrap parts they get stuck with. They will pull out something headless, but still glued shut like the Apple TV, to match those 24" displays with integrated cording they just released. Apple wants to support the "now" to keep people buying. That means they will pull every unnecessary bit out of the machines, and make them from better stuff so they work until they're too broken to fix, but also so they don't make customers feel guilty about buying new every 3 years because more bits are glass and metal, not plastic for the landfill.
the ps comment was perfect
mac mini? nah...
how about a macpro mini.
better.
Who gives a crap about apple ...
I'm no Apple fanboy but you're heading towards a flaming.
ditto, their computers are completely useless for anything but final cut, yet cost more than double anything else on the market
Will apple ever give up?
Would you give up if someone was committing identity theft on you?
Here is a guy that will never give up:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=oHg5SJYRHA0
I said there would be another company around the corner that would start shipping osx computers in a recent post about psystar and got low ranked. Guess what. I was right.
tits or it didnt happen
this guy gets a gold star.
Search through my posts from the last week and you will find it.
so... did you just cry an e-river?
and I'm putting in bets that you will get low voted here too....
I was still right even if you low rank me.
Why don't people just purshase MACs... oh that's right, they're rediculously overpriced.
yeah and with this economy my purshasing has ground to a complete halt. hopefully i'll be able to purshase more next year
Screw gettin low ranked for this but does anyone know if i can run a dreamcast emulator smoothly on my notebook- vaio fw140e centrino 2 2.3 ghz, intel gma 4500mhd, 3gb ram. Sucks, ya i know.
It would be admittedly quite awesome if Apple came out with a mid-range configurable tower and simply called it...wait for it...
...the Mac.
Doesn't it make sense? The MacBook is to the MacBook Pro as the Mac would be to the Mac Pro. There's most certainly room in Apple's lineup for a sub-$2000 (at the very least) desktop with Core 2 processors instead of the Xeon chips used in the Mac Pro. If they'd just put out a desktop with a 2.66-3.0 GHz C2D, 2GB-4GB RAM, and cards ranging between the lower-end ATI cards and, say, an ATI 4850 at the higher end with the ability to upgrade as needed, it'd sell great.
It makes far too much sense for Apple to actually do, though.
This post implies that a violation of an EULA copyright infringement. It is most denifitly not.
I love you're Name.
and your scent
rarrr
Nope. Exceeding the scope of a license -- like installing OS X on a non-Apple machine -- is grounds for a claim for copyright infringement.
I see a mac vs pc commercial.
PC is trying to build a custom hotrod computer and will install osx on it.
mac guy comes by and says, "what are you doing?"
PC says, "I wanted to check out what the big hoopla is all about. I have a blazing fast custom computer here with tricked out neon lights. I thought I would throw osx on here and take a looksie."
mac says, "you know you are not allowed to do that, right? only hardware sold by me can run my os."
PC says, "but..."
mac says, "but nothing. You will be hearing from my lawyers."
Apple can't handle the true test of an OS, Compatibility. Look at Mac, Linux, and Windows. The only OS I see that doesn't support multiple processor brands a variety of Hardware including Video cards, Motherboards, Sound cards, etc. is Mac. It is like babies first OS they couldn't handle the pressure of actually allowing themselves real success. Microsoft gets criticized for its driver problems, but hey at least there willing to try. Apple screwed up recently on their own hardware Unibody Macbook memory problem anyone and they are too afraid to let the hardware developers at their OS.
I think it is absolutely hilarious how the free thinking hipster crowd has been associated with the most close minded tight ass computer company on the planet.
I wouldn't hate on Mac so much if they allowed system builders to do their thing and build their own Mac OS based systems. As it stands I have nothing but love for both Windows and Linux because there are no boundaries with their OS's.
the osx project has Mac OS running on AMD. So MacOS runs on PPC, 64-bit intel, 32-bit intel and AMD.
lots of drivers are being ported from opendarwin too.
If Apple prefers to keep a more stable OS by using a close amount of parts supported and drivers, its their choice. If MS wants to give up stability by supporting everything and having a lot of Market share good for them. People does not have to pay the overprice macs if they want to. As it was mention before there is Windows and Linux which can not go cheaper.
I why would Apple give up if they are doing so great the way they are not. I love macs even I don't agree with everything they do. But they don't make me buy anything, its my choice.
Um asdffdsa that isn't Apple making their OS do that people are hacking it to do that. That's not the same thing.
MS might be willing to try using drivers for diverse hardware, but many professional users sure as hell aren't. It's the same reason as a professional CAD user might only buy a specific configuration of a Dell (or other brand of machine) THAT HAS BEEN EXTENSIVILY TESTED AND CERTIFIED for the purpose for which it has been sold, usually be the developer of the CAD software. I.E, if you crashes when you're doing your work, you get your money back, instead of just being told "er, you might a conflict with your graphics driver and your something-or-other" over the telephone.
See the difference?
If you're only using your machine for playing games and looking at pr0n, then go ahead and play with different hardware and drivers. Infact, I'd encourage it because you'll learn things about computers. I did. But sometimes you just want it to WORK. And why the hell should a musician or a graphic design pixie HAVE to learn about computers in order to do their jobs?
btw, I've never owned a Mac or an iPod. Horses for courses.
@Jesus
If Microsoft didn't support all the different hardware that came out, that would rightfully be called a monopoly. The reason is that Microsoft would then be in a position to determine what types of hardware are available to consumers. If Microsoft can't get away with it, why is Apple allowed to?
The majority of people here are a bunch of whiners. Please if you don't like how much an Apple computer costs then go buy something else, and deal with it. Remember you get what you pay for. Also if you compare Apples to Apples on other systems then Apple's computers are cheaper or the same price. I am not saying go and compare an 24" iMac to a computer you build in your moms basement that's not the same thing. You would have to compare it to an All in One and I guarantee that it will cost either the same or cheaper specially if you look at the refurbs on the Apple site. And go ahead complain about the Mac Pro, again that full tower POC that you put together in your moms basement is not the same. You would have to compare it to a Dell Precision Workstation and guess what again price is the same or cheaper. So stop your whining and go get a POC or go buy a real quality build machine. Low rank on facts like always.
Well said.
umm... ok:
Dell XPS One 20" - $1099
iMac 20" with 1GB less memory (same specs otherwise) - $1200
Not a big difference, but kind of goes against the idea of "Apple's computers are cheaper or same price" doesn't it? And just to deal with your other example of the Mac Pro:
Mac Pro - $2800
Dell Precision Workstation with 1GB less memory (same specs otherwise) - $2000
Now that is a HUGE difference, unless 1GB of RAM has suddenly shot up to the $800 mark of course...
Oh, I also love how you thought that Apple was competitive as soon as you excluded all the custom built machines (Because hey, when you exclude any good competition because 'it's not the same' it's makes your choice look better). And ummm... yeah... they're still not. And please bear in mind the above examples were taken from Dell, you could probably find even cheaper work stations from HP/Lenovo/etc.
Also the comment about refurbs had to be one of the best. So you're saying:
"Well if I buy Apple second hand it's cheaper then buying from Dell new!!!!!!!!"
So you exclude custom built machines because they're 'not the same thing', but then go on to compare second hand prices with those of new ones? *thumbs up* at the hypocrisy.
" I am not saying go and compare an 24" iMac to a computer you build in your moms basement that's not the same thing."
"And go ahead complain about the Mac Pro, again that full tower POC that you put together in your moms basement is not the same."
That's the main beef with Apple. You are not ALLOWED to build a Mac in your mom's basement. What if I don't like the current look of the pre-built Mac? What if my system is running great, but I am tired of looking at the used to be white case and now want a silver one with window sides so I can light up the guts of my Mac powerhouse? According to Apple I can be sued for doing that.
"full tower POC that you put together in your moms basement"
1. Just because you don't know how to match components to buil a machine, doesn't mean that I (and a lot of other users) don't know.
2. My mom does not have, nor has she ever had a basement.
3. I bought my own house before I was 25, and I have never and will never go into foreclosure.
4. I have a mache that still runs solidly that has been around for ten years. I have never had to replace internal components. It has run boh windows and linux. I built it. I built it so well that I was able to give it to my kid to use. Do you have a Mac that you can say the same about? Oh, wait I forgot. Apple doesn't allow you to build a Mac.
Wow Gnormie where are you getting this $2000 Precision that is equivalent to the base model MAC Pro from? Are you positive that is US dollars? I don't think so just by putting the processor at DUAL quad core xeon 2.8 64-BIT because that's what the pro has STOCK 8 cores the price already jumped up to $3000+ and that's with 2GB of RAM. So stop making up crap and show me some facts. And NO a Core2Duo is not the same as a XEON and neither is non ECC SDRAM to ECC FB ok. Get educated and stop making yourself look like a douche. Also the only reason I am bringing up refurbs is because whiners like yourself keep complaining about the price go and get a refurb then.
Also the baseline 20" One is not the same slower processor, integraded video card, shall I go on? Get your facts straight deuche.
So calling me a liar without researching any facts yourself? Bravo. If you must know, I got those prices from www.dell.com which gives their prices in dollars, although how you would expect a different currency to help your case eludes me as if I got the prices in £ and simply switched signs the Dell would look ever better!
And it is still quite amusing to see you saying that if the price is bad, to buy second hand! Let me ask you this, why would I buy second hand Macs when I can obtain brand new Windows machines with better hardware for around the same price?
Oh and btw, what is a douche? I'm British and we don't use that particular insult (we have chavs though, which are much worse!)
"Also the baseline 20" One is not the same slower processor, integraded video card, shall I go on? Get your facts straight deuche."
Errmm, actually I wouldn't attempt to "call me out" on that. Since I actually intentionally found an iMac that was the same screen size, and a similar price, which actually makes the iMac look much better then it would have if I had done something such as this:
Dell All in One - $900
Apples iMac with the exact same specifications (including RAM) - $1275
And in actual fact, to make it even fairer on my previous comparison price wise, I chose the Dell all in one Product(RED) option, which is actually the exact same specification as the $900 one but has $200 to charity added on. And if you don't count Radeon X2400 with 128MB shared memory as 'integrated' (in that they're pitiful) then I'd have to seriously question your ability to discern between hardware components.
So now you've decided in all your infinite wisdom, to call me out when I was in fact trying to help your case. The actual price difference is over $500 on the same specification, both are all in ones. Have a nice day!
Please read and lay down some facts, you are making yourself look like you're drooling on yourself. Imac's don't have shared memory video cards, like the One does. I see that I am confusing you with my sarcasm it's not even funny. Also again the processor on the low end iMac is not the same as on the low end One, maybe in England they are but not here they are not. Go ahead wikipedia it or go right to the source on the Intel website you'll see. I am laying the facts straight here, yeah of course you can build a PC that's cheaper then a Mac whooptie freaking do, it's still a PC still runs windows and it will degrade in performance over time. I was a hard core PC user have built 100's of PC's and still do for the past 15+ years. I am a Network Administrator and a SQL Server DBA for a Fortune 1000 company if you want to know my credibility in the IS world. I am laying down the facts straight. I didn't see say anything about that Precision again that's because you saw that I was right so instead you decided to make a lame joke about currencies. Get outside and get some vitamin D and stop writing stuff that makes you look like you're still in grade school, which I would not be surprised if you were.
apple doesn't own the copyright on the EFI bios, so I don't see what EFIX can be on the hook for...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extensible_Firmware_Interface
they are at risk of trouble because it is illegal to create a device for the sole purpose of copyright infringement. Apple's claim is that they, as the legal creators of the Mac OS software, have copyright protection on that software and thus legal control over its use, including what hardware can be used with the software. So far, the courts are siding with Apple on these claims. Unlike bittorrent, limewire etc which can be used for non pirating file sharing, this 'dongle' seems to have no other use than to allow a party to violate Apple's legal rights.
Especially as MSI have just released three p45 motherboards for pc using EFI
http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=16610
I'm not hundred percent sure vista is fully compatible. A simple patch should work.
That was to asdffdsa.
The beauty of the original concept of just the dongle was that the company isn't committing the crime.
I could go buy OSX, an x86 based computer, then use the dongle to make the software work.
I think this company would be in safer territory though if it didn't sell actual computers and only the dongle.
trouble with that argument is that it is still a crime to create something to allow someone else to commit the crime. so they are still liable for the infringement by making it possible even if no one uses it.
by the same token, all those folks that are making iphone unlocking programs and instructions available on the internet could be tracked down and charged for that violation.
@ Bobby:
"OSX is Unix meaning it does not belong to evil company but to us."
No mate, the UNIX core of OSX is called Darwin and is does belong to us (in that it is Open Source approved). OSX is Darwin with Mac-specific APIs (esp the eye candy) on top.
Apple are happy for you to run Darwin on you machine.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwin_(operating_system)
If you make a strong statement, research it first or else you look like a numpty.
@ McLovin: Apple kit is not too overpriced, spec for spec, if you avoid their upgrades and consider that they use better RAM, for example, than standard PCs- the devil is in the details. However, Engadget are spot on to highlight the huge gap between the specs of the lower end machines and the simplest of their high-end machines.
See
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/apple-mac-leopard-windows-vista,review-31192.html
(the article is called "The Apple Mac Cost Misconception")
If you make a strong statement, research it first or else you look like a numpty.
To be fair, Apple's, ahem, 'PCs' are not particularly overpriced, for what they're worth.
But then you have to look at the laptops, they ARE overpriced, even with the extra do-dads that are included; You're paying for the exclusivity that Apple guarantees you.
The problem with that is, if I want to run OSX, I need a new computer. I've got a perfectly serviceable mid-tower, and unfortunately, I cannot afford the 2-5 thousand dollars required to move to an iMac or Pro (Australian dollars).
Now, according to Apple (in just about every one of their ads since 2004), if I use Windows, I'm a) A loser, b) stupid, old, and boring or c) well, mostly a stupid, boring old loser.
If I can't afford Apple hardware, I'm stuck on a PC, and if I'm stuck on a PC, I'm etc. etc. (see above). What Apple is saying to me, is that if I can't afford to buy their AWESOME computers, I'm not worth the time of day. And that just makes me SO eager to jump through hoops for mediocre hardware and an operating system that I may or may not like. Of course, if I really don't like OSX, I can always bootcamp windows, right? But wait, if I can do that, why did I get rid of my old windows computer, and spend thousands of dollars on another, for no reason?
On the other hand, if I could install OSX on my PC, even if I didn't like it, Apple still gets their 200 dollars for the OSX disc, and I save a couple of thousand in unwanted hardware.
Who knows? Mabye I'll like OSX so much I'll actually consider buying a Mac for my next computer?
* Please note; for the purpose of this arguement, I'll pretend I don't have the know-how/time/patience to install OSX and find drivers and whatnot.
@ Bobby:
"OSX is Unix meaning it does not belong to evil company but to us."
No mate, the UNIX core of OSX is called Darwin and is does belong to us (in that it is Open Source approved). OSX is Darwin with Mac-specific APIs (esp the eye candy) on top.
Apple are happy for you to run Darwin on you machine.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwin_(operating_system)
If you make a strong statement, research it first or else you look like a numpty.
@ McLovin: Apple kit is not too overpriced, spec for spec, if you avoid their upgrades and consider that they use better RAM, for example, than standard PCs- the devil is in the details. However, Engadget are spot on to highlight the huge gap between the specs of the lower end machines and the simplest of their high-end machines.
See
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/apple-mac-leopard-windows-vista,review-31192.html
(the article is called "The Apple Mac Cost Misconception")
If you make a strong statement, research it first or else you look like a numpty.
@ McLovin: Apple kit is not too overpriced, spec for spec, if you avoid their upgrades and consider that they use better RAM, for example, than standard PCs- the devil is in the details. However, Engadget are spot on to highlight the huge gap between the specs of the lower end machines and the simplest of their high-end machines.
See
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/apple-mac-leopard-windows-vista,review-31192.html
(the article is called "The Apple Mac Cost Misconception")
Yes, read the Tom's article and look how they compare 2 completely different machines. 17" dell vs 15" Mac and then tell you that the Mac is better because it is smaller and lighter.
If Steve Jobs would quit being so up tight on price and "beauty" and have affordable towers, he would sell more and even have them selling Walmarts. This company can't be sued, the dongle uses homegrown code and they don't sell anything illegal, like said above me. It is up the user to get OSX and do the "wrong". This may be the company that stays around after Psystar is is gone.
He doesn't care about selling more. he is making a lot of money now. Why change and complicate their life?
maximising profits is not the same as maximising sales
Complicate their life? Shit, just make a mini tower, with the nvidia cards in there, same mobo (or similar) to the Pro, less power and there you go. Complicated? NO. They won't do this because if you bought a cheap mac and could upgrade the hell out of it, you wouldn't' need a new iMac every year or two for the newest graphics cards etc.
they can't make a configurable tower because they don't have the people to write an open graphics card platform that'll run on the mac. They have to write all the software for their graphics cards, and apple .. if you're reading this.. hire 2x, 3x, 4x as many people as you currently have to write some better drivers. The ones we have now are just not cutting it. people can say, go to another OS.. but mac os x is just so comfy, we just wish we could plug some more hp in there for cheap. Is that so wrong?
F*** it, for power go with windows or linux. leave the daily chores to an imac and case closed.
Can be done now. There are multiple graphics card compatible with the mac. Thus you can upgrade it. Hard drives and dvd rom drives are standard, easy to upgrade. Memory, though macs are picky, easy to upgrade. Look at all the ATI and Nvidia cards that have been in leopard, ALL are still compatible and thus there are plenty to chose from and upgrade with.