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Hackintosh on eBay: Preloaded with Leopard


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Hackintosh Preloaded with Leopard on eBay

 

Read the article by AppleInsider:

http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/08/05...le_on_ebay.html

See it for yourself on eBay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Non-Apple-Mac-OS-X-Leo...1QQcmdZViewItem

 

Apparently chris555 sells two hackintosh machines preloaded with Mac OS X 10.5 on eBay. Hope this guy is not one of us.

macclone-080506.jpg

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I find this bit interesting:

 

The offering is similar to one announced last month by Psystar Corporation, which also ships with Mac OS X Leopard and includes a 2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo microprocessor, 2GB of DDR2 667 RAM, an integrated Intel GMA 950 Graphics card, 20x DVD+/-R drive, 4 USB ports, and a 250GB 7200RPM drive.

................................................................................

 

 

Apple, which has historically been quick to thwart attempts on the part of grey marketers to distribute imitations products, has been uncharacteristically silent on the matter. This despite Psystar's open invitation to the Mac maker to formally charge it with a violation of the Mac OS X licensing terms in a court of law.

 

Those terms, Psystar argues, are in violation of antitrust laws -- an argument for which the clone maker may have a precedent working in its favor. According to TechNewsWorld, a 1984 U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision held that a software publisher can't require consumers to run an operating system on a specific type of hardware.

 

Is this really the beginning of the end for OS X on Apple hardware only?

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Those terms, Psystar argues, are in violation of antitrust laws -- an argument for which the clone maker may have a precedent working in its favor. According to TechNewsWorld, a 1984 U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision held that a software publisher can't require consumers to run an operating system on a specific type of hardware.
Wow, very interesting stuff...I'd wonder if that is legally valid, and if the courts will uphold that...
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I find this bit interesting:

Is this really the beginning of the end for OS X on Apple hardware only?

 

I don't think so, but I think that Apple is waiting to see how this is going in the long run. After all they get paid for all the leopard licences that 3rd parties are selling and have no need to support them at all, which might be profitable for Apple.

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I don't think so, but I think that Apple is waiting to see how this is going in the long run. After all they get paid for all the leopard licences that 3rd parties are selling and have no need to support them at all, which might be profitable for Apple.

 

Would you believe that this is what was going on in my mind as well? How many people who run OS X on a hackintosh in this forum pay for a Leopard licence? Next to nobody, I suppose.

But If you buy a computer with OS X from Psystar, you'll have to pay for a Leopard licence.

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Wow, very interesting stuff...I'd wonder if that is legally valid, and if the courts will uphold that...
Exactly. That was the most interesting thing in the article to me too. I thought Apple knew the existence of such case (otherwise Psystar is a history already), and that's why Apple doesn't try Psystar in court now. And if Apple ever loses in court, that's the end of Mac hardware revenue (not completely true but I am sure Apple will be crippled for good). That's why I think Apple is keeping silent and developing technical obstacles for installing Mac OS X to hackintoshes now.

 

P.S. I think this eBay seller is one of us by the way.

P.P.S. The other "the most interesting thing" to me was the number of USB ports: three. Really?

Would you believe that this is what was going on in my mind as well? How many people who run OS X on a hackintosh in this forum pay for a Leopard licence? Next to nobody, I suppose.But If you buy a computer with OS X from Psystar, you'll have to pay for a Leopard licence.
P.P.P.S. I paid my copies of Mac OS X.
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My guess is if it's true that they can't lock the OS to their own hardware, they will increase the price to $300, and have a discount for people who provide the serial number of their computer. They'll keep track of the serials so no one can buy multiple copies and claim the same serial for each. With the increased price, people will no longer be able to sell hackintoshes profitably, and Apple will get them when they try to sell them will pirated copies of the OS.

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Tons of people sell hackintoshes with OS X already on it, they do it on this site and have done it for a long time. People also sell computers with Photoshop and tons of other illegal programs already on it. Its typical of ebay computers. 95% of macs you buy on ebay from power sellers have a 100% ILLEGAL copy of the newest OS X installed and no recovery discs (as if they are going to sell an old G4 for $200 with Leopard which costs $129). This is not a bad omen or a nightmare, youre just fear mongering.

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My guess is if it's true that they can't lock the OS to their own hardware, they will increase the price to $300, and have a discount for people who provide the serial number of their computer.

 

That wouldn't be unfair, IMO: consider the price of a Full (not OEM nor Upgrade) Vista Ultimate.

I have been promoting an idea for a while: Apple should sell OS X bundled with a mobo at a premium price.

I guess it doesn't sound too crazy any longer.

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Tons of people sell hackintoshes with OS X already on it, they do it on this site ... This is not a bad omen or a nightmare, youre just fear mongering.
Well, I saw on eBay people selling machines with softwares installed but without original CD/DVDs sometimes, but I didn't know people buy and sell machines with illegal copies on eBay almost all the time as common practice. Maybe I believe in honesty too much.

 

I'd like to make two things clear. Have you ever seen on eBay an auction of non-Apple labeled machine with Mac OS X installed, and the auction mentioning such fact in product description? Because you didn't clarify this in your post. I'd like to know if it really happened before. If it happened, then my sincere apologies to you. The other thing is that I do not fear about what will come as long as this community is safe. I have Macs already and in the worst case, I will just use my hackintosh for Linux. (And I really don't give a rat's ass about Apple as long as it's under SJ's regime.)

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I've had it with all the pre-loaded Hackintoshes {censored}. Apple really doesn't care. As long as you buy their product they will love you, which isn't what a lot of the people do here. They might legally allow it, but they won't support it, which is why people won't buy it.

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^it's not only ebay. craigslist too.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&saf...amp;btnG=Search

 

i've posted this before...

http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?sho...mp;#entry713508

 

lots of ppl are sellin' hackintoshes on craigslist. i wonder if any of them are IM members?

 

i heard that psystar is just the FIRST U.S. website/company to sell hackintoshes. i've heard that other countries have websites/companies that sell hackintoshes, legal or illegal accordin' to their various laws. i don't feel like googlin' for a french or german or italian or "insert country name here" version of psystar.

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Okay peeps, this is what I find really interesting: go to the the psystar website, and look at the page where they are adveritising the $400 wonder. It comes with:

 

  • no operating system included
  • no keyboard, mouse, or monitor included

  • 2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 Processor
  • 2GB of DDR2 667 memory
  • Integrated Intel GMA 950 Graphics
  • 20x DVD+/-R SATA drive
  • Gigabit Ethernet
  • 4 rear USB Ports

What I would do: install leo4free myself and add a graphics card and all the extras I want. Many of us here on this forum could turn this barebones system into a real fine machine for just a couple hundred bucks more. :P

 

 

 

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Okay peeps, this is what I find really interesting: go to the the psystar website, and look at the page where they are adveritising the $400 wonder. It comes with:

 

  • no operating system included
  • no keyboard, mouse, or monitor included

  • 2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 Processor
  • 2GB of DDR2 667 memory
  • Integrated Intel GMA 950 Graphics
  • 20x DVD+/-R SATA drive
  • Gigabit Ethernet
  • 4 rear USB Ports

What I would do: install leo4free myself and add a graphics card and all the extras I want. Many of us here on this forum could turn this barebones system into a real fine machine for just a couple hundred bucks more. :P

So, in summary, "why pay extra for Leopard when I could just download it illegally?" Is that accurate?

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Well I didn't pay for my Hackintosh license, but I bought a MBP. I hardly touch my Hackintosh anymore, I've gone back to Windows on my overclocked PC. It is faster and better for my tasks. The MBP is handy for taking it to places.

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