Quo Computer: a hackintosh shop in California

It has been possible to buy a PC with the Mac OS X Apple operating system for some time: a handful of internet resellers provide them. Quo Computer's innovation then is not the computer itself but the sales outlet: for the first time it is opening a physical store on US territory to supply PCs with OS X.

You often hear Linux fans going on about freedom of choice when it comes to putting an operating system on your PC. Hearing about people who want to run Mac OS X on their PC is much less common, OS X and Mac computers often being considered a package.
Indeed the first people to tell you so are Apple themselves. Written into the conditions of use of Mac OS X is the formal ban on installing the system on equipment made by any other manufacturer and they regularly take resellers of PCs working on Mac OS X to court.

Quo Computer: imitator and proud so to be

Quo Computer’s approach looks very much like provocation to us: not only are they going to offer hackintoshes on a website but also in a store in Alhambra on the outskirts of Los Angeles. Its founder, Rashantha De Silva is hoping to imitate[Apple] as much as possible, and also recognises that «Apple will no doubt attack».

However beyond the legality or otherwise of the product, De Silva reckons that their approach is actually in Apple’s interests. He claims that Quo is setting itself apart from ordinary hackintosh resellers by offering high quality machines accompanied by exemplary customer service. He is also counting on winning orders from local communities and schools.

He says that Quo’s computers should allow a wider number of users to get to know Mac OS X and therefore increase the market share of the operating system, potentially therefore increasing sales of Apple computers too.

Whether or not Apple will allow Quo to go on operating for long is very doubful but we also wonder if the business model really is viable. People buy hackintosh imitations so they can use Mac OS X on computers that are cheaper to buy than Macs. Because Quo are positioning themselves in a higher segment in order to give better quality products, they may well find that potential customers will prefer the original over the copy.