'Non-Apple' Macs hit the marketplace

Little known company Psystar is advertising a new ‘OpenMac’ PC that it claims is fully compatible with Apple’s Leopard OS, Macrumours reports.

The machine, which costs just $399, includes a 2.2Ghz Intel Core Duo 2, 2GB or RAM, a 20x DVD+/-R drive and 250GB HDD. The standard PC parts can be easily upgraded, too, meaning serious gaming is an option. Apple’s Leopard OS can be pre-installed.

Macrumours speculates that emulation is used to get Apple’s software working on the non-authenticated machine, possibly deriving from the work of the hobbyist osx86project.

It’s worth noting, though, that the use of Loepard on non Apple-licensed hardware is a direct violation of the OS’ End User License Agreement, so don’t be surprised to hear talk of a legal battle in the near future.

UPDATE: Psystar’s website appears to be down. We’re taking bets on whether that’s down to high volumes of web traffic or high volumes of Apple lawyers…