Beware of the Clones

It looks (kind of) like a Mac. It runs like a Mac. But is it a Mac?

Nope, it’s an OpenMac. Created by Psystar, these computers slice the price of an Apple Mac considerably—the OpenMac costs $399, while a real Mac costs over $1,000. The Psystar computers run OS X and are supposedly Leopard-compatible.

You’re already looking for the catch, right? Here it is: these computers violate Apple's End User License Agreement for Macintosh OS X. In laymen’s terms, running the Mac operating system on a non-Apple product is strictly forbidden. The Psystar web site is currently not functioning, claiming an overload of traffic. But could Apple’s Steve Jobs already be out to stop the copycat company?

The price may be tempting, but knock-offs are never as great as the real deal. [PCWorld]