OpeniMac -- Phystar's disciple.

[metallicamaster3]

We all know how well things are working out for Psystar, so it is a little puzzling why an Argentinian company is choosing to push their luck by building more Mac clones.

Still, if you are the kind of person willing to drop serious cash on a shady overseas knockoff, then you will be interested to know that OpeniMac is offering two models: A $990 base version (2GB of memory, a 320GB HDD and a 256MB ATI Radeon HD Pro) and a $1,710 "Pro" version (3.0GHz processor, 4GB of RAM and a 20-inch widescreen LCD). Better hurry though, nobody escapes Apple's wrath for long.

[The iApple]

Precio de PC? Ha!! $1000 doesn't seems a regular PC price :/ -OH people really love to play with fire.

[bh2]

Goodbye Argentinian company... adios amigos!

[jonatasjam]

I don't understand! an iMac cost 1199 U$S.

[popman]

its the fact that apple have the legal right to take your computer if it is running an apple os but has no apple logo on it

[The iApple]

its the fact that apple have the legal right to take your computer if it is running an apple os but has no apple logo on it

You can put an Apple sticker to it XD

[holo13x]

those people are simply retarded, and making adds of it ja ja

[Levi- The perfectionist]

I think people who buy those machines miss the point, and Id much rather advise someone to stay a windows fanboy than switch to a 'clone'

[Paralex]

I don't think that's US dollars. The hell is U$S? Isn't the country supposed to be in front of the $ symbol to make a distinction between the countries? Example: US$ and RD$ (Dominican Republic).

[rjohnstone]

If the price listed is in Argentinian Pesos, that comes to about $500 US.

And Apple can't take your PC if it's running a legally purchased copy of OS X. They have no legal right to do so. At best, they can REQUEST you delete the OS from the drive.

This goes back to enforceability of EULA's.

I'm also not sure Apple's copyrights/trademarks are recognized in Argentina.

So any legal action by Apple would be moot.

[Borix]

those people are simply retarded, and making adds of it ja ja

Why so mad? (little batman pun )

Apple hardware is based on standard PC hardware, OSX is based on linux.

Who is the copy cat here?

Obivously they didn't copy the excellent Apple's hardware design :cool:

I think people who buy those machines miss the point, and Id much rather advise someone to stay a windows fanboy than switch to a 'clone'

Sure, someone who ownes 500,- dollar desktop mac would be a pain in the ass for someone who already ownes a +1000 original mac

[matonga]

OSX is not based on linux, it is based on FreeBSD instead (another copycat of UNIX).

The prices are in dollars.

Even though there are good Macs starting at u$s 1000, they do cost a lot more here in Argentina (starting at about u$s 2000 for the u$s 1000 model... yes, TWICE THE PRICE).

Also those machines are probably running XxX, iAtkos, Leo4all, Kalyway or something like that.

Pirating videogame DVDs is bad... but... this one is also stupid.

BTW there is no software protection -legally speaking- here in Argentina. That's why Microsoft sells use-licenses instead, and retains "author rights": to avoid legal problems in countries like here.

[Borix]

OSX is not based on linux, it is based on FreeBSD instead (another copycat of UNIX).

You are right. I just wanted to keep things simple and point out there are few original ideas out there. And there is a big difference with developing open source software.

Also those machines are probably running XxX, iAtkos, Leo4all, Kalyway or something like that.

I think the computer is supplied with the original OSX. With a small tweak (EFI or something like that) you can use the original OSX DVD, complete with updates.

If the computer is supplied with the original OSX DVD I see no objection to this product (obvious Apple have a diffrent opinion )

[matonga]

Mmm... let's see:

Every original OS X expects a TPM chip, which is installed in all Apple motherboards. So, to install OS X successfully you must either add the TPM chip, and by the I mean the one expected by Apple, with the "public" and "private" keys (read SSL and stuff) provided by Apple.

Or go the easier way and crack the installer (which is what those "distros" I mentioned do, apart from adding lots of drivers).

This people do give you an original OS X, that's true because it is mentioned exactly word by word in the page. However they also give you a recovery disk (Norton Ghost Disk Image? or similar?).

So, here is what I suppose these people do:

- Buy an original OS X through an Apple reseller.

- Buy a PC compatible with some hackintosh distro, such as iAtkos.

- Install the "distro" into the PC.

- Make a bootable recovery DVD with a disk image of the PC.

- Put a big red ribbon on it and sell it (just kidding about the ribbon).

BTW they say the computer will get software updates but no system updates. This is because they're using hackintosh distro (else you'd really be able to use system updates anyway). System updates can be automatically avoided by using a "patched" (read reverse-engineered and cracked) version of the Apple Updater (can't remember exact name). I recall I've seen this at least in one hackintosh distro.

I've tested some of these distros myself, they give you a feel of what you get with a Mac, and I can just say one thing: get the real one, even at least a Mac Mini. No hackintosh I've tested is as smooth as the real one, and also some animations are lost (for example when you drag widgets in the dashboard, the ripples animation just isn't there), etc...

[Borix]

@ matonga

You need to read up on "vanilla" OSX on http://www.insanelymac.com/

Vanilla OSX systems will get both system and software updates.

They run of an original OSX DVD (not pirated)

A hackintosh can be as smooth as the real one if you have compatible hardware.

(For example: not all computers will run aero on Vista)

Why get a mac mini when you could be runing OSX on your (much better specced) PC you already own?

I dont understand why people try so hard to keep up the the illusion that OSX runs better on a Apple hardware product. Its simply not true.

[rjohnstone]

Mmm... let's see:

Every original OS X expects a TPM chip, which is installed in all Apple motherboards. So, to install OS X successfully you must either add the TPM chip, and by the I mean the one expected by Apple, with the "public" and "private" keys (read SSL and stuff) provided by Apple.

Old myth that is completely false. Apple does not use any TPM module based protection.

http://www.osxbook.com/book/bonus/chapter7/tpmdrmmyth/

All current Mac Pro models don't even have a TPM chip installed.

Early versions of OS X (x86) did look for a chip on the motherboard... the one that controls the cooling fan.

A programmer named Alexander Graf wrote a software emulation for this chip that can be used to run an unmodified version of OS X in a virtual environment like Qemu.

No hackintosh I've tested is as smooth as the real one, and also some animations are lost (for example when you drag widgets in the dashboard, the ripples animation just isn't there), etc...

My Dell OptiPlex will run circles around a Mac Mini and is very stable. I can also use Apple's native system updates without modification.

It's all about having the right hardware.

And there are plenty of off the shelf motherboards with EFI support.

Problem is Apple is using an ancient version of EFI (1.1) to boot OS X.

Vista already supports EFI 2.0

[herd]

Just about time.

Anything that comes in zeroes and ones can be processed on anything that has the ability to process said zeroes and ones. Everywhere, every time.

It's pure arbitrariness that Job's mob can get away with bundling hardware to software, that's soo nineties now

[Helldiver]

funny! I bought a mac to be able to enjoy the best computer experience I could have. But I ended up using (trough bootcamp) XP, 98% of the time, because the software in Mac version are really often one version behind the latest Win version!

(it was really different in the 90's when I use to work on mac - we really had the best soft on the market).

Mac has a lot of nice "little" home brew programs but generally speaking I really find difficult to use them because of the admin right and especially the "stupid" name that they are given. (Very difficult names to remember if you didn't smoke before). I got 20% more software on my Mac part than the XP part, to do the same work.

Nice to make nice hardware but the software are not at the same level.

PS: Window Xp work as a rocket on my mac! Why all the Dell and HP, etc cannot make it work the same!

[Borix]

If you choose a operating system / computer you should first of all look at the software you like to run on it.

Dell, HP, Acer just throw lots of crap on a new pc instead of optimising it

[Phoshi]

Mac hardware is age old, man, any PC can run damn fast, you just have to chose the right OS.

Anything modern, Vista with a bit of tweaking to services will outperform almost anything else, and as you get older, use an older OS, too