Apple may not be planning to release an Intel Atom-powered mini-notebook running OS X any time soon. But thousands of hackers have built their own by installing OS X on officially unsupported machines like the MSI Wind U100, Dell Inspiron Mini 9, and Asus Eee PC 1000H. And now Russian computer company RussianMac says it will sell you a netbook with OS X pre-loaded.
RussianMac is joining the ranks of companies looking to sell so-called “hackintosh” computers with Apple’s OS X operating system on non-Apple hardware. US based PsyStar is currently in a legal battle with Apple, fighting to retain the right to sell computers running OS X. RussianMac says each copy of OS X is legally purchased, even though it’s a violation of Apple’s licensing agreement to install the operating system on hardware without the Apple label.
Anyway, long story short, hackintosh computers can usually be sold for lower prices than Apple products because the hardware is cheaper (although some people will tell you that it’s also less reliable). And one of the machines RussianMac is offering is a MiniBook, which is basically a netbook with OS X preloaded. From the pictures, it looks like RussianMac is installing OS X on the Asus Eee PC 1000H and/or Eee PC 901. The netbooks have 1GB of RAM, WiFi and Bluetooth, and sell for between $500 and $700, depending on screen size.
RussianMac is getting a lot of attention today, and the web site appears to be down. But you can see some screenshots of the company’s various hackintoshes at 9to5Mac.
PsyStar has also said it plans to offer a hackintosh netbook in the US.
via UberGizmo and Netbook News.de
Psystar declared bankruptcy today. Interesring to see who’s stupid enough to peddle the Russian stuff.
You either support innovation and excellence or you get out of the way. There’s plenty of us here that will pay Uncle Steve for what he delivers.