Psystar set to leave Chapter 11

By Stephen Withers
Friday, 03 July 2009 07:44

Strategy

Embattled Mac cloner Psystar says it is ready to leave Chapter 11 protection.

In a customer newsletter, Psystar officials say the company is ready to emerge from Chapter 11 protection, a provision of US bankruptcy law that allows a company to continue trading while it reorganises its affairs.

"Although this [Chapter 11 protection] was critical to our continued daily operations, we are now ready to emerge and again battle Goliath.

"More information will be available in the coming days when we will be formally discharged by the Bankruptcy court."

When Psystar entered Chapter 11, the list of its largest creditors included founder Rodolfo (Rudy) Pedraza, law firm Carr & Ferrell, and carriers DHL and FedEx.

Company officials blamed the downturn in the economy causing a drop in sales combined with suppliers tightening their terms and being unable to deliver all the items that make up a Psystar computer, "forcing Debtor [Psystar] to pay higher prices for parts in order to fulfill customer orders in a timely manner and to assure satisfaction with the product."

One effect of Chapter 11 protection is that any legal action involving the company (such as Apple's suit alleging copyright and other violations) is automatically stayed. Apple successfully applied for the stay to be listed, allowing its case to proceed.

Psystar previously responded to Apple's suit by counterclaiming that the Mac maker was in breach of anti-trust regulations, an assertion that was rejected by the court.

In related news, Psystar announced the Open(7), the latest model it is selling with the option of Mac OS X preinstalled. Features include Intel 'Nehalem' Xeon CPUs and sound-deadening side panels. Prices of "our fastest and most quiet computing configuration available" start at $US1499.

The company also announced the release of DUBL, the Darwin Universal Boot Loader, which among other features provides a graphical boot menu and the automatic detection of multiple operating systems.

All new Psystar systems will ship with DUBL, and it will be offered as an upgrade for existing systems that are still under warranty. Psystar officials said "we are planning an open source release for the general public."