Psystar licenses Darwin Universal Boot Loader to third parties, chaos ensues
Like the proverbial kid brother, Psystar has amused us for years now, following Apple around, mocking it, claiming some sort of moral high ground for its Open Macs. Now, hot on the heels of Snow Leopard, the company is back with yet another ambitious project. For a fee, Psystar will license you its Darwin Universal Boot Loader (providing you're an OEM). By shipping machines with the DUBL pre-installed yet relying on the consumer to install his own Snow Leopard disk (which he obtained legally, of course) you should theoretically be able to avoid any sort of sticky legal situation of the sort that has dogged Psystar for years. If that weren't enough, the boot loader supports up to six different operating systems per machine and apparently configures itself, ahem, "automagicly." Is this the last nail in the coffin, the final puzzle piece that will bring us a world where third party machines running OS X fly off the shelves with abandon? Somehow, we doubt it. But it would be amusing to buy a computer with a "Psystar Certified" sticker next to the one that says "Intel Inside." Your move, Apple. PR after the break.
[Via Apple Insider]
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PSYSTAR Announces OEM Licensing Program
Psystar Corporation announced today their OEM Licensing Program. Psystar will begin certifying manufacturer's hardware to allow the licensing of Psystar's new virtualization technology, effectively making their systems Mac OS X compatible. Psystar's virtualization technology, specifically engineered for Snow Leopard, allows for seamless operation of the Mac OS on generic Intel Hardware and would be offered on all Psystar Certified machines.
Miami, FL (PRWEB) October 5, 2009 -- Psystar Corporation announced today their OEM Licensing Program. Psystar will begin certifying manufacturer's hardware to allow the licensing of Psystar's new virtualization technology, effectively making their systems Mac OS X compatible. Psystar's virtualization technology, specifically engineered for Snow Leopard, allows for seamless operation of the Mac OS on generic Intel Hardware and would be offered on all Psystar Certified machines.
In an effort to spread the Snow Leopard experience to an ever-expanding number of people, the licensing initiative will allow manufacturers to have their hardware Psystar Certified and have their computers pre loaded with our unique technology including the Darwin Universal Boot Loader (DUBL). Qualifying products must fall in Desktop, Server or Mobile categories. Once a product is certified, consumers can purchase it off the shelf or through standard channels and when labeled Psystar Certified would allow the installation of Snow Leopard simply by inserting the retail OS X DVD.
Psystar's vision of open computing is to provide users with the freedom to choose which OS's they install on their hardware. The Licensing Program will allow computer manufacturers the opportunity to ship the certified systems pre-configured with DUBL and OS of choice including Windows 7, Windows Vista and several flavors of Linux. These systems would also be compatible with Mac OS X Snow Leopard and receive normal software updates through the use of "Safe Update" technology. The customer can install the Mac OS themselves simply by inserting the retail DVD or choose to install several other OS's with no manual boot configuration. DUBL supports up to six different operating systems on a single machine and configures itself *automagicly*.
Manufacturers can benefit from this unique licensing opportunity with minimal expense and in several hardware markets. In most cases Psystar will tailor the technology to a specific hardware profile(s) at no additional engineering cost, allowing manufacturers to save time and money by utilizing our familiarity running the Mac OS X on generic hardware.
If you are interested in participating in the Licensing Program, head over to Psystar.com or send an email to Licensing@psystar.com.
OS X, OS X Snow Leopard, Snow Leopard and Macintosh are products and trademarks of Apple, Inc. Psystar purchases copies of these operating systems to resell as part of its Open Computer systems. Psystar has no other affiliations with Apple, Inc.
