Psystar and its Open Computer/OpenPro have stirred up a frenzy in the Mac ecosystem. While our forums overflow with references to the mythical "xMac"—generally agreed to be a smaller, expandable, and less-expensive Mac tower—Apple has given no indication of being interested in producing such a product. Meanwhile, tinkerers and hackers are building "Hackintoshes," custom-built PCs that run a hacked version of Leopard. Psystar clearly saw a market opportunity and is trying to cash in on it.

Apple has not responded to our requests for comment over Psystar and its "open" computers. However, we were able to get some feedback from our other favorite Apple co-founder: Steve Wozniak. We talked about the cloning days of yore, when Power Computing made rather vanilla-looking PCs that had PPC 600-series processors and ran System 7. Psystar's efforts are somewhat similar, "except not with Apple's blessing," says Woz.

But, there is that questionable legality. Mac OS X's EULA specifically forbids running the software on non-Apple hardware. But, according to an article at Wired.com, breaking a EULA isn't so easy to lay the smackdown over. A lawyer that Wired contacted said, "Generally speaking, these user agreements are much weaker than other forms of litigation. Companies make them as broad as possible but there's no way to basically enforce them." So Apple will most likely fight back with technology, not legal briefs.

Woz agrees. "I'm sure that when Apple went Intel, they included copyright code in a ROM that is necessary," he told Ars. This is probably located in an Intel-based Mac's EFI boot ROM. But Psystar's machines are purported to emulate the Mac's EFI. This is where Woz thinks it won't work in the long-term. "You have a right to run Mac Software on any non-Apple computer, but you don't have the right to copy codes that are built into Apple's hardware, so you are stuck," he said. Most likely, Apple will add a tweak to a Leopard update and it will break compatibility with the OpenPro. After all, Apple is under no obligation to ensure compatibility with non-Apple hardware.

In the end, the OpenPro is an interesting product, even if just from a curiosity standpoint. We will have to see if Psystar is able to actually ship the computers, though, and if customers will be satisfied with their purchase. If so, Woz might give it a chance. "I need another tower and I like the price, so I may get one."