Do you crave a Mac but baulk at shelling out thousands of dollars for Apple's alternative PCs? ( dpa )
A company by the name of Psystar may have the answer for you.
On Monday it released what it calls an Open Mac, for 400 dollars. The clones, which are standard Intel-based machines, use a piece of software wizardry called an Extensible Firmware Interface to trick Apple's Leopard operating system into thinking it is running on a genuine Mac.
The basic machine comes without any operating software, but Psystar offers to sell users a copy of Leopard and even preinstall it so that buyers get a fully operational Apple clone straight out the box.
Legal experts said the tactic could violate the licensing agreement on the Leopard software and that Apple is likely to sue.
The OPen Mac sale price is 200 dollars less than an original Mac with lower specifications, but there's a catch. The company's website crashed shortly after announcing the new product - either because it was inundated with eager buyers, or with threatening letters from Apple's legal team.