Stephen Withers
Monday, 16 June 2008 13:52
Opinion and Analysis
Page 1 of 2
Move over Psystar - the EFiX development team claims to have created a USB device that allows the installation and use of Mac OS X on non-Apple PCs. What's more, it is supposed to enable users to to install Mac OS X straight out of the box!
According to the
EFiX website, "It allows its user to install Mac OS X straight from the original DVD without having to worry about patches, replacing files and anything like that." Beyond that, the site is light on details at this stage, with far more than its fair share of broken links.
Speculation is that the product - scheduled for release on June 23 - is a flash drive containing an EFI emulator, a boot loader, and associated patches has been squashed by the EFiX crew, who say "EFiX is neither a memory stick or thumb drive. It is a completely unique device with very intricate protection above and beyond your wildest imagnation."
Psystar, a previously little-known systems integrator in Florida, caused a minor sensation in April when it announced its Open Computer - a PC configured with parts chosen for maximum compatibility with Mac OS X, plus the option of having Apple's operating system factory installed.
Reports are circulating that the EFiX product doesn't work on any old PC - understandable due to the wide variations in components - and that it instead requires a Core 2 Duo CPU with an Intel chipset.
AMD support has been ruled out, at least in the short to medium term.
But US residents may miss out - see
page 2.
