Psystar Defies Apple, Releases Mac Clone

	Macintosh clone from Psystar (click for larger image)

Despite an Apple lawsuit, Psystar has expanded its line of Mac clones with a compact desktop.

Psystar introduced the Open(3) Wednesday on its Web site. The basic configuration includes the Mac OS X Leopard v10.5, an Intel 2.8-GHz Core 2 Duo E7400 processor, 2 GB of system memory, a 500-GB hard drive, and an Nvidia GeForce 8400GS graphics card.

The system starts at $600, which does not include a monitor, keyboard, or mouse. For that price, the only Mac offered by Apple is the Mini, which comes with a slower processor, less memory, and reduced storage.

Psystar's offerings, however, come with some serious risks. First of all, Apple's lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco last year, asks the court to order Psystar to recall every clone it has sold. Apple is accusing the company of copyright violation by selling computers with its Mac operating system.

In addition, there's no guarantee software built for Apple computers will run on Psystar machines. While Psystar says it has found no incompatibility problems, it also is careful to protect itself and doesn't promise full support.

"Psystar cannot guarantee that any third-party software will work in Leopard," the company says on the support section of its Web site. "Psystar cannot be responsible for every piece of software our customers choose to run on their computers. Support for third-party applications may be done at the discretion of the Psystar support team."

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