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May 08, 08 - 05:03 pm Comment from: Macintosh

So now what? Shut it off, put it back in the box and let it collect dust....

May 08, 08 - 05:10 pm Comment from: ericdano

No software updates no deal. Apple constantly improves their software, and I for one cannot imagine life without the improvements Apple makes to it's products (all of them).

Apparently the entire tech journalism world is far too trusting.

I'm still waiting in vain for someone to check closely what's under the hood, to make sure Psystar's custom OS X installation (which can't be updated via Software Update) has any hidden processes or edited components designed to participate in identity theft, spam botnets, etc.

I suppose they're too blinded by "Wow! I can has OS ecks cheep!" to think to ask if Psystar has ulterior motives in all of this (beyond the obvious).

May 08, 08 - 05:11 pm Comment from: Ampar

"This isn't the prettiest machine I've ever used, but it works."

And if you want updates, just buy a new one. They're disposable.

Factory?

I think it might be a bit much to say that this computer left, as my trusty dashboard widget dictionary states is "a building or group of buildings where goods are manufactured or assembled chiefly by machine."

Unless, of course, two or three college dropouts in one their parents' basements counts . . .

I may be wrong, but I think this outfit is getting much more credit for being a real business than is deserved.

May 08, 08 - 05:16 pm Comment from: 7over

Report the "deafening" noise emanating from the CD-ROM drive bay and see what sort of support (or lack thereof) you get from Sigh-Star.

You can't update it, it looks rubbish, the fan isn't bad, but the optical drive is deafening. Why would anyone buy this piece of crap?

May 08, 08 - 05:26 pm Comment from: ron

In 5 years my iMac will be running MacOS 12.4.3 or something higher and Mr. Krazit will be running OSX 10.5.2. Oh no! He won't, because that boat anchor he's playing with will crap out within a few months. There are so many maroons around.

Actually someone else will have my Mac and I'll have the latest.

May 08, 08 - 05:39 pm Comment from: DLMeyer

Shutting off the Software Update function does not mean the system can't be updated, just that it is much harder to update. Not automatic = not EASY = HARDER.
That said ... so WHAT? It's a good price, and that's about it. My wife's iMac sits before me in its silent glory, "just working". I just got back from earning pocket change teaching a playwright how to create a sound-effects disc for her latest play - including using GarageBand to turn "beep-beep" into "beep-beep ... beep-beep beep-beep". "Amazing", said she. "No sweat", said I.

May 08, 08 - 05:47 pm Comment from: Macinfo

So their hacking the OS so that Software updates are disabled. How nice and insecure.. What a waste of time and Money...

May 08, 08 - 05:56 pm Comment from: Predrag

Mr. Krazit, being an investigative journalist here, decided to take a chance, spend some $$ (His? ZD-Net's?) and do an investigative report on this, since there is so much noise about it. He plans on using it as his main computer for some time, then writing a report about it (presumably, on that computer).

If he is a good journalist, I would expect him to try and install (and run) the Final Cut Studio, the Adobe CS3, perhaps QuarkXpress, also DigiDesign's ProTools (LE should be fine). He should also try the iLife 08, iMovie HD, iWork, MS Office (2004, as well as 2008), Bento, FileMaker Pro and some other wildly popular Mac titles. Hooking up some popular devices (printers, scanners and such) would help as well.

We mustn't forget that in the end, this is all rather beside the point, as these devices will soon disappear anyway. If this guy manages to sell a few hundred boxes, he will have successfully completed his task - get (modestly) rich quick. If I were him, after shutting down the operation, I'd take those ten grand and buy some Apple stock for that money.

Software Update is not the only way to update your software. You can download all of the updates individually from Apple's website and run them as separate installers.

Not as convenient, but several of the Mac help sites (MacFixIt, etc.) even recommend using the standalone updaters instead of Software Update to void problems, or to reapply an update if something is wrong after Software Update ran and update.

May 08, 08 - 05:57 pm Comment from: Gandalf

"but it works" sums it up. Some folks see "works", other see "but".

My nail scissors work for cutting the lawn ...... but.

May 08, 08 - 05:59 pm Comment from: Demon

Cheap systems, If you want to really test it use it till it fails I'd give it a month maybe two.

Interesting if these are set-up and MacOS X is put on the drive using a drive image and each one is not individually installed from a new retail copy of MacOS X, each system is legally considered to be running a pirated copy of MacOS X. Still does not rule out the fact that all packaged retail copies of MacOS X are for upgrade only copies and Apple only includes the full non-upgrade copy and license with a New Mac system.

I'm sure a few of these systems have or are showing up a 1 Infinity Loop, Cupertino, CA for tear downs. Then the shoe will drop squashing Psystar into bankruptcy, all the while Psystar will be screaming to anyone who will listen that they are being destroyed and their right are being violated by the big bad evil Apple. That as a monopoly on MacOS X. (my mom is a Federal Judge MacOSX is considered under the law a component of Apple's Computers and Apple can not be considered to have a Monopoly on a component of a computer. And Apple doesn't have a monopoly on the personal computer by any stretch of reality that you want to make.

MacOSX is a component of Apple's computers and products. This even passes EU's laws. Apple does not tie the computer to MacOSX so no legal claim can be made. And as all copies of the MacOSX component sold a upgrades and Apple does not sell MacOSX as a full retail software product (just an upgrade to a component installed on your Apple Computer) there is no illegal tie.

May 08, 08 - 06:00 pm Comment from: iamdj

It seems to me that Apple could put something in the ROM, that would make this situation go away.

May 08, 08 - 06:19 pm Comment from: alansky

Big, ugly, noisy and non-upgradable. Sounds great! All for the same price as an elegant, diminuitive Mac mini. Some people just don't have any sense.

why bother with software update?

Can't you just download the updates and install them manually, like any other application?

May 08, 08 - 06:41 pm Comment from: Petey

I think I will stick with Apple products.

I'm just waiting for Apple to announce what they are gonna do about this illegal opertation.

I'm counting the days...

May 08, 08 - 06:42 pm Comment from: nekogami13

You can not update-period.
Not through auto update or manually downloaded ones.
You cannot restore from the DVD of Leopard included either.
This is a hacked system, using an efi simulator(which the writer does not want them using).


If you want to use OS X-get a Mac.
I don't care if you can't afford it(how can you afford any computer-wouldn't you have to miss a month or more of meals?) or if you don't like the Apple hardware- use windows, Linux, BSD instead.

May 08, 08 - 06:43 pm Comment from: Petey

Think of it this way...

What would Microsoft do if this was happening to their company??

They would SUE SUE SUE.

I don't believe that Apple has to sue. Just let a few more of these gems into the world, let the stories spread about their "value", then air a new T.V. ad with Mac, PC, and Psystar (played by...??)

It could be fun, but most people might not get it

May 08, 08 - 07:21 pm Comment from: HMCIV

Psystar, Be VERY afraid of Apple's silence. Be VERY VERY afraid.

Fucking cunts and cocksuckeras

Macworld just tested it, and it's 20% faster than a Mac Mini, but slower than an entry-level iMac. It's only significant advantage is in gaming where it's GPU is better. Given the lack of updates or warranty, I'd say, the trouble is NOT worth it, unless you want it as a gaming rig, and in that case, why are you using a Mac anyway?

@Predrag
"also DigiDesign's ProTools (LE should be fine). "

The problem is that PT LE is not yet fully compatible with Leopard. So even if it doesn't work well it would mean nothing. But trying Logic Studio on it would be interesting.

"Think of it this way...

What would Microsoft do if this was happening to their company??

They would SUE SUE SUE."

So your question is: What would Microsoft do if companies were building computers and loading legally purchased copies of Microsoft software on them?

I don't think the answer is SUE SUE SUE.

I think that's actually their OS business model.

Generic PCs running OS X is inevitable. Stop thinking it isn't.

It's likely that Apple will have a difficult time stopping the legal wrangle that keeps PC makers from forcing users to run a specific OS in the long run.

Serial Numbers, Network Sniffers or likely something new from Apple to control installs, but you have got to know that Apple is already aware of the implications.

Option 1. Buy a Mac and have full Apple support and the best looking and best running hardware around. (The competition will make Apple hardware better)

Option 2. Buy a clone and rely on their support (Not Apple's) when something doesn't work.

Some folks will buy the cheap clone box. Some folks will buy Apple's style. I like Apple.

Don't forget. Microsoft has made Billions from selling software.

"I for one cannot imagine life without the improvements Apple makes to it's products (all of them)."

You need to get out a little.

So.... the fan is now quieter. What about the initial shipment of noisy fans. Does this mean they can get a replacement. Let's see how this turns out.

Genius Bar... ah- I don't think so.

May 08, 08 - 11:23 pm Comment from: LordRobin

Just to emphasize what has been said by others:

The OS on this POS cannot be updated. IN ANY WAY.

(Well, besides Psystar mailing you a CD with a new version of their hacked-up FrankenOSX. Even then, you might have to wipe the HD.)

------RM

"Generic PCs running OS X is inevitable. Stop thinking it isn't. "

They are here already. Macs are generic PCs running OS X.

Mac's are generic? That is a new one - try to sell that to wallstreet. My laptop is anything but generic - it's an Apple.

May 09, 08 - 03:44 am Comment from: HolyMackerel

Psystar started life in less than a garage with reverse-engineered, home-brewed, semi-legal EFI code.

What is stopping 1000 other home-based system builders copying that disk image and burning their own Leopard systems, selling them with a shrink-wrapped copy of Leopard? Nothing. And Psystar can't even sue them since their code is of questionable legal status already.

Would our opinions on Psystar change if there were even 10 companies doing this?

What a shit machine.

Give me a Mac over a Psystar any day of the week.

May 09, 08 - 05:01 am Comment from: ken1w

Mac OS X 10.5.3 is being tweeked right now to kill the clones. That's why it hasn't been released yet.

Psystar has done the "franken-Mac community" a great disservice. Before, Apple was ignoring the relatively small number of people hacking Mac OS X to work on generic hardware. Now, Apple will actively work to make each update break previously successful hacks.

Why does CNET support and condone the use of stolen software I wonder?

And soon it will be a paper weight on your desk. Not worth it.

May 09, 08 - 09:13 am Comment from: DRM sucks

"Unless, of course, two or three college dropouts in one their parents' basements counts . . ."

As opposed to the garage? Like, for instance, Apple?

May 09, 08 - 10:08 am Comment from: hagar57

No updates means no security updates either. A sitting duck.

He! He! You'll see arriving the news Mac minitower within few weeks... and disapears the Psystar... Could even be Psystar is Apple's invention, to grab a good marketing basis to have the best estimates of who, what and how much to manufacture...

Oh! Forgot to tell you: Zun Tang just baught one... i've heard!

May 09, 08 - 05:17 pm Comment from: neomonkey

This has opened the door to other hackentosh sellers. I responded to a Portland Craigslist post selling a "G5 clone," that actually turned out to be an Intel hackentosh, simply to point out that there was no such thing as a G5 clone. I guess my questioning of what the person was smoking prompted this response:

You're such a sad and angry person! There is nothing you can do about anything I'm doing. In fact at this point you have given my friends and I quite a laugh so we look forward to hearing back from you after you read this. What's really sad is that you're probably some wimpy, winey, faggot of a nerd that got beat up a lot, who has to pay for sex and feels that the only vent in your life is harassing others while
hiding behind a computer screen. Sooooooo suck it up! MAN UP! And go get yourself a hooker to release some of that pathetic tension you call a life!

PS: You most likely bought the pystar thinking it would be nice and are mad you couldn't figure it out.
LOL!!!!!!!

Such lovely people, these hustlers trying to screw the unwary out of their money. But I also suspect that Apple is incorporating a fix in 10.5.3 that will brick the hackentoshes, just as they did with the FairPlay and iPhone hacks. It will be funny as hell when that happens.

If anybody wants to write this cretin, this is the address: