$5000 EFiX Photoshop Contest
Art Studios Entertainment, the company behind the EFiX device that we covered a while back, just launched a competition to design the interface for the EFiX USB device. The company also says that the winner of the best UI design will receive $5000 USD in cold hard cash.
The EFiX was launched a while back, with much excitement in the hackintosh community. The device simply installed into a USB header on a motherboard and allowed users to install Apple’s Mac OS X Leopard without the need for hacks, cracks or system modifications.
Those in the hackintosh community know that more often then not, their systems are unable to form normal system updates without preparing the system. Because the kernel and other areas of Leopard are patched in a hackintosh setup, a major system update could render the entire setup useless. More recently, there have been ways around this annoyance. However, with an EFiX module, you’re not running a "hack"-intosh in even the most basic sense of the word. There’s just no hacking to do. Build a system based on the EFiX hardware compatibility list, and you’re up and running. Perform all system updates as you would on a real Mac.
OS X aside, the EFiX is definitely not an OS X install device. It’s designed to allow easily installation of almost any operating system. From legacy BIOS operating systems like Windows XP to EFI-based setups like Leopard, the EFiX module handles them all. The process is seamless and non-intrusive. This means there’s no emulation layer of any kind, and the host operating system interacts with your hardware directly.
We interviewed Davide Rutigliano, CEO of Art Studios a while back. Davide sent us several EFiX modules to give away, and that’s about to launch soon as well.
Our full review of the module is nearly complete, with a full comparison between our custom built rig and an equivalent Mac Pro. Full results in the review, but what we can tell you is that our custom built EFiX rig, running Leopard, smashes the Mac Pro — and for a lot less money. But of course, you all knew that [grin].
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jincongz Awesome! I do hope that the contest for the EFI-X won't be limited to USA. I love my MacBook, and want to build a budget gaming (funny, it's not an oxymoron any more) rig soon.Reply -
Tindytim jincongz want to build a budget gaming (funny, it's not an oxymoron any more) rigHow well will it play Crysis-Oh wait...Reply -
nekatreven Hmm... Looks like we may finally get a fair Apples to apples comparison of the Apples. :)Reply -
hellwig Just read the interview with the EFiX creator, pretty good stuff. I must say I agree with the guy that most of us Windows users have no reason to buy a Mac when we've already invested so much in our PC.Reply
I'd have to think people who develop skins for Litestep and similar desktop replacement progams will have the advantage here. I think what would be especially interesting is to abandon the whole Starter Bar, Start Menu, or square-grid desktop icon pattern and really have at it. Unfortunately my artistic skills are seriously lacking.
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jincongz ^. You're only designing the choosing screen. It's not an actual OS. If you've ever booted a mac holding option, that's what they're trying to make.Reply