The units sold can run different operating systems but the company chose to install Mac OS X from a copy bought from Apple.

[6] The Rebel EFI was a shareware product that included a modified bootloader bundled with other software tools that allow users to install Mac OS X to any PC-based machine.

[8] Early efforts to research Psystar shortly after their announcement of a Mac clone in April 2008 resulted in questions regarding the company's very existence and just how legitimate they were.

[9][10] Several addresses were provided (five in four days) and Psystar was taking credit card numbers but not processing them because their processing company, Powerpay, had revoked Psystar's account "for three primary reasons: product/services not as represented in application, sales volumes grossly exceeded, no address verification utilized";[11] and there were claims that their website had malware on it.

[10][12] The developers of the OSx86 Project claimed that Psystar did not get permission to use their code and then reworked their license so that it specifically forbids commercial usage.

"Psystar produced incomplete financial records," Dr. Matthew Lynde, who works as an economics consultant for Cornerstone Research, said in a declaration during trial.

After digging through invoices, purchase orders and other documents, Lynde was able to pinpoint only 768 sales of machines with Mac OS X pre-installed.

[16] However, Psystar argues that Apple's prohibition against third-party installations will not hold up in court: "What if Honda said that, after you buy their car, you could only drive it on the roads they said you could?

"One effect of the judge's orders is that Psystar won't be able to use bankruptcy as a stall tactic against Apple—that trial is set to begin in January.

'All of Psystar's creditors are now free to sue in any court of competent jurisdiction to get their debts paid,' an attorney familiar with bankruptcy told The Mac Observer.

The ruling applies to all current and future versions of Mac OS X and Judge Alsup made it clear that "Psystar will be selling Rebel EFI at its peril, and risks finding itself held in contempt if its new venture falls within the scope of the injunction.