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MacOSX provides functionality simular to os.startfile in the LaunchServices framework. 
I've tried to prototype a startfile implementation using this framework, (see issue3177-os_startfile_macosx.txt) but I'm not too happy about it because the APIs don't actually work as expected.
In particular:
* The patch implements "open" (default), "edit", "print" and
 "explore" actions.
* "open" and "explore" work fine
* "edit" does not work as I'd expect because the function used
 to retrieve the default editor for a file returns the default
 application that can open the file, not necessarily one that
 claims to be an editor for the file-type. As an example, 
 'os.startfile("file.html", "edit")' starts Safari instead of
 an editor.
* "print" works for some file type, but not others (depending on 
 whether or not the target application implements the required
 AppleScript API)
* "execute" is untested, I haven't found an application yet that claims
 this role.
Other notes:
* This patch links Python with the ApplicationServices framework
 (which contains the LaunchServices framework)
* Because the API uses Apple's application frameworks users might get
 annoying crashes when calling this function in a subprocess.
* The code attached code is a prototype, it should be correct w.r.t.
 resource management, but isn't fully baked yet. One example of that
 is the use of a generic RuntimeError exception to signal problems,
 others are the lack of documentation and tests.