EFIX-USA Has PCs Capable of Running OS X

EFI-X USA is prepping to sell the first PCs capable of fully running Mac OS X, complete with Software Update functionality. However, the computers, dubbed “Millennium,” need to be equipped with the EFI-X USB module for users to benefit from the Mac OS experience.

The EFI-X USB module, developed by Art Studios Entertainment Media, allows a stock PC to run EFI-based operating systems, including Apple's own OS X. This also means users are able to perform normal system updates, just like they would on a real Apple Mac. The beauty of it (at least for those who cannot afford a real Mac) is that Apple won't be able to lock these systems away from its software update routine.

So, basically, as a Millennium 4 owner, you get to update to 10.5.6 the very way real Mac owners do. The system will reportedly sell for $1,899, plus the additional cost of a $199 EFi-X dongle. It is touted as being able to deliver “85-90%” of the performance of a top-end Mac Pro for less than half the price, according to a company spokesman. Best of all, customers get to place custom-orders too, while faster models (Millennium 24 – based on Xeon hardware) use up to six quad-core processors.

Davide Rutigliano, the co-creator of the EFI-X dongle and CEO of Art Studios Entertainment Media insists on pointing out that “...We at ASEM do not sell or condone the sale of clones that compete with ANY brand. We have our own clientele and our own small and nice market share, and we are really happy that way.”

“We implement real EFI in our device. There is nothing that links our product to the hack world... Yes, it is [legal],” Rutigliano says in an interview with Muzzle, a Dutch Hackintosh community site. “We made sure to create a product that goes in the same direction of all other computer companies and not against them in any way.”

According to an AppleInsider report, the Millennium computers as well as the USB module enabling them to run OS X may escape Apple's wrath in its continuous attempts to lock OS X to its own hardware. Contrarily, Mac cloners such as Psystar sell PCs able to run OS X, but also ship the systems with Leopard pre-installed on them. EFI-X USA and Art Studios Entertainment Media shouldn't have any legal problems, as they don't pre-install anything on their products. They do, however, “enable” customers to run OS X on non-Apple computers, one of the no-no's of Apple's EULA.