Open Tech: Ain't Skeert of Apple v. Psystar

Hot on the heels of Apple's fresh lawsuit against Psystar for selling PC boxes with OS X preinstalled, a new challenger shows its face. TUAW reported this evening that Open Tech has announced a PC box that is capable of running OS X.  According to Open Tech's website:

Open Tech is proud to announce a desktop that is fully capable of running many operating systems including Windows XP, Windows Vista, OSX Leopard, and Ubuntu 8.04. The Open Tech Computer is meant to be open, you can choose want you want it to be. Since the Open Tech Computer is fully customizable, you can customize the RAM, Hard-drive, and the video card. Open Tech Computer 1.0 will launch very soon and have the following specifications.

• Intel Pentium D 945 3.40GHz Dual-Core Processor


• 500 Gb Hard Drive (7200 Rpm)


• 3 GB of DDR2 Ram (667 MHz PC 5400)


• Optical Drive ( Burn and read dvd's and cd's)


• 500 Watt Power Supply


• Power Up ATX mid-tower case-Black


• Integrated Wi-Fi 802.11g

Last week, I posted a summary of the claims Apple made against Psystar.  Most of Apple's claims in that case more or less depend on proving that Psystar installed OS X on its computers before selling them to consumers.

Open Tech is trying to learn from Psystar's mistake. On the product page, they state:

*OS X Leopard Will not be preinstalled or included. All other Operating System will be preinstalled* VISTA & XP ARE 64-BIT [*Update: see below]

The 3.4 GHz Open Tech Computer 1.0 will sell for $620, obviously taking aim at the Mac mini, while the Core 2 Quad, 2.4 GHz Open Tech XT will sell for $1,200, taking aim at Apple's Mac Pro.

There's apparently no word yet on when the computers will be up for sale. I would venture to guess that the folks behind Psystar may be bankrolling Open Tech as well. Strategically speaking, Psystar could well have been a pawn in that it forced Apple into divulging exactly how it would defend itself legally. Open Tech now gets the benefit of knowing Apple's arguments, even if they are not in cahoots.

The message is clear, though: there is a market for people want OS X without paying for Apple hardware. Given that Mac clones left Apple with one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel in the past, you can bet that Apple will do whatever it can to stop this practice from becoming mainstream.

UPDATE: As of this morning (July 22, 2008), Open Tech updated their website to say:

*OS X Leopard Will not be pre-installed or included. You can purchase an Open Tech compatible install disk from a third-party vendor install it your self using our Do-it-yourself kit. All other Operating System will be preinstalled*

Comments

[Ingeborg Dieckman]

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