In what is surely going to be one hell of an interesting battle to watch, PsyStar began selling a new computer this past Moday which they initially dubbed the 'OpenMac' computer. The kicker? For just $399, you get a PC that's fully capable of running the Apple Leopard operating system for a fraction of the cost of buying an Apple Mac computer.

The link to one of their many useful documents ( http://www.psystar.com/psystar_open_computer_osx86_reinventing_the_wheel... ) has several different comparisons between the Apple and their machine hardware. Most notably, they do a comparisoin to the cheapest Mac currently on the market (the Mac Mini) and the OpenMac beats it by cost up to 150%, has more ram, more storage and runs faster. Here is an excellent link with more detailed comparisons: http://www.psystar.com/openmac_the_apple_alternative.html

PsyStar are (obviously) having a few legal issues with Apple at the moment, seeing as the Apple EULA specifically states that their operating system can only be installed on their hardware. It will prove interesting though to see how the battle goes. If more of these small companies pop up to start mass producing Mac's for a fraction of the cost, we will start to see more Mac support for applications appear. It will also start the inevitable spyware/malware/virus wars that currently plague Windows users at the moment, who outnumber Mac's about 10-1 in the home on average.

If a court rules that Apple can have hardware competitors, you would think it would help the Mac OS gain in popularity. I think it just kills them at the moment that they have as much as 90% markup on every piece of hardware in their machines and someone can do a better job far cheaper. Stay tuned!