New Mac Clone Appears on Ebay... For a While

Tired of Psystar news? OK then, why don't we talk about this fellow who is selling "non Apple Mac OS X" systems that come "pre-loaded with genuine Mac OS X 10.5" on eBay. OK, so it's Mac Clones Strike Again... again, but hey, at least the name of the "provider" name is not Psystar.

"A seller by the name of 'chris555' is now offering on eBay a $549 'Non Apple Mac OS X' system that comes 'pre-loaded with genuine Mac OS X 10.5'," AppleInsider is reporting. "Two such systems are currently available for direct purchase, the seller says," according to the same source.

Actually, the seller "used to say" that he was offering "Non Apple Mac OS X" systems pre-loaded with Apple's latest OS, since eBay is now listing chris555's offer as "unavailable": "This listing (160236944431) has been removed or is no longer available," says the online auction and shopping website that people and businesses use to buy and sell goods and services all over the world.

So, either the item number (160236944431) is incorrect, or the listing was deliberately removed by eBay, in which case Apple (or Psystar... nah) might have something to do with it. Either way, interested parties should consider the offer "canceled," eBay says. Here, have a look.

For those who are not very familiar with Psystar, it is a Miami-based company which has benefited from a lot of exposure lately, thanks to its Open Computer (earlier dubbed OpenMac). The system eliminates the need of actually buying Apple hardware to run Leopard. Of course, some of the features found exclusively with Mac OS X 10.5 on Apple machines aren't available with Psystar's. Apparently, the Mac clones Psystar makes come into conflict with Apple's EULA (end user license agreement) because Apple specifically states that no third-party hardware is allowed to run its OS.

However, this too comes into conflict with a 1984 U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision that states that a software publisher can't require consumers to run a certain operating system on a specific type of hardware.