Two New Companies Sell OS X Friendly PCs, Not Mac Clones

Two new companies, Open Tech Inc and RSOL PC Services, are preparing to sell Intel-based computers that can run Apple Inc’s Mac OS X. However, two companies will play safe and won’t sell pre-installed Mac OS X on its machines. But it seems that the damage has already been done with a fury of uninformed journalists calling the companies ‘Mac Clones.’

RSOL PC today released their low-cost Jive Series Multi-Platform desktop computer that is capable of running all major operating systems. The company acknowledged that, “Apple, Inc’s software EULA for Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard specifically prohibits the installation of their operating system onto any computer that is not manufactured by Apple, Inc.”

In its press release published on our web site, RSOL PC used an opportunity to distance itself from hackintosh-maker Psystar Corp: ”Such licensing restrictions do not apply to any of the other mentioned compatible operating systems, but this particular requirement in Apple’s EULA has been referenced in many online blogs during recent months due to the controversial release of an unauthorized ‘Mac clone’ computer from South Florida PC manufacturer Psystar Corporation… We’ve made it clear that our company and Apple, Inc are not affiliated in any manner, and anyone wishing to run Mac OS X is best advised to buy an authentic Mac computer from an Apple authorized retailer.”

A senior spokesperson from RSOL PC added “Our computers are not ‘Mac clones’, and RSOL PC does not market them as such. We offer and recommend Microsoft Windows as the preferred operating system… We recognize the growing user interest in Linux distributions like Fedora or Ubuntu, so we offer to pre-install them also, but the end-user is responsible for obtaining their own software support. We are also not blind to the small group of folks that like to run OSx86, but if they want to go out and run OSx86 on our machine - which it’s more than capable of doing - then that’s their own choice. They just need to be aware and take full responsibility for essentially running a reverse-engineered version of a copyrighted operating system. They won’t receive any software support from us, and it’s unlikely they will receive any support from Apple. To be absolutely clear, the illegal distribution and use of Apple’s operating system is not something we encourage or endorse at RSOL PC.”

The Jive Series Desktop Computer from RSOL PC (Standard model)  comes with: Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4GHz CPU, 500GB Hard Drive, 2GB PC2 5300 DDR2 RAM (supports up to 8GB RAM), and 256MB nVidia 7300GS graphics card. The price ranges from $658 to $858 depending on the operating system (Fedora, Ubuntu, Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic, and Vista Home Premium). Users are free to install Mac OS X on RSOL PCs themselves. Jive Series desktops will begin shipping on or around August 8th, 2008.

Meanwhile, Open Tech plans to sell two computer models: Open Tech Home with an Intel dual-core Pentium processor, 3GB of memory, an nVidia GeForce 8600 CT video card and a 500GB hard drive for $620, and Open Tech XT with an Intel Core 2 quad-core CPU, 4GB of RAM, an nVidia GeForce 8800 video card and a 640GB drive for $1,200 respectively.

Recently, Apple has filed a lawsuit against Doral-based Psystar who is alleged to manufacture cloned Macs. The 16-page suit alleges copyright infringement, inducement of copyright infringement, and trademark infringement, among other legal claims. Psystar has been making computers using Apple’s operating system, Mac OS X, without any licence whatsoever.