Mac Clones

I first became a Mac user when I bought a new Mac Classic almost twenty years ago. Since then I’ve owned many Macs. Like most Mac users, I have been a fan of the Mac’s high quality but less than enthusiastic for the Mac price tag.

A while ago Apple toyed with the idea of allowing Mac clones. Power Computing produced some of the best clones and, if I had had the cash, I would have bought one. Then Apple decided that the clone idea was not a good one. This was primarily because people seemed to be buying clones rather than Macs instead of buying the clones rather than PCs.

In an interesting turn of events, a company named Psystar is currently selling Mac clones and the company contends that Apple is violating monopoly laws by restricting OS X to Apple hardware. This is the justification that the company is using in an attempt to get around Apple’s restrictions. It seems likely that Apple’s lawyers will soon put and end to this little venture.

For those who want to try running OS X on their own PC, check out Insanely Mac and the OSx86 project. This site provides the links and information needed to get OS X running on an Intel machine. There also seems to be versions of the various hacks that allow OS X to run on AMD processors.

Apple has yet to put the legal boot down on Insanely Mac and the OSx86 project, though running OS X on non Apple hardware certainly seems to violate the EULA.

I’ve been wanting to buy a new Mac for some time, but face the following problem: Apple sells only three types of desktops. The first, the Mini, is rather weak when compared to comparable priced PCs. The second, the iMac, is an all-in-one unit and hence has that critical problem. I already own a decent monitor and I’m reluctant to buy a machine that has the monitor built in (if one “component” fails, then the whole unit is down). Plus, the iMac is once again more expensive than a comparable PC. The third type of Mac is the high end Pro. While these machines burst with power, they also have a bursting price tag.

Because the three current Mac types don’t match my power and price expectations, I find the idea of a decent clone very appealing. But, there is that matter of legality.

Being nerdtastic, I like the idea of hacking a PC to run OS X, but then there is that question of legality.

My hope is that Apple will be motivated to produce a mid ranged tower computer. Naturally, this is because that is what I want.