On 6/7/05, Cian Duffy <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > It appears Apple will sell machines that are capable of running x86 > Windows, and I guess Linux/BeOS/BSD/Whatever; but OSX will run only on > those Apple machines, using a seperate boot system to the IA32 BIOS. > Jobs mentioned letting people use Windows in a dualboot if the wanted > to, and said that it would never run on commodity boxes. > > Cian
This is certainly the strangest, but most exciting thing that I've seen in the Mac world since I started using the Mac 128 before the start of time. It's far more profound than the switch from System 6 to 7 and from 68K to PPC. I know this is going to sound strange but Microsoft won't be entirely hostile to this move. Even though Windows competes directly with the Mac OS, MS would *love* to be able to run Windows on Mac _hardware_. For us Mac (hardware + OS) users this is a win-win situation. We get access to a fast laptop (FINALLY) and we get access to Windows software, all in one fell swoop. It does open us up to X86-based viruses and exploits, but proper software design will minimise that danger -- Linux for Intel has a signficant user base now yet viruses and spyware are still virtually unknown. Plus, what this means is that Apple's future doesn't have to be exclusively tied to its hardware. With Apple running on X86 Dell now has a much stronger stick with which to beat Microsoft into submission, and, if necessary, Apple can become the OS supplier of choice for one of the big manufacturers. Yeah, I know there are Linux lovers who'll claim that Linux can do that but, I'm sorry, Linux is neat and full of promise, but KDE and GNOME are just not up to the GUI quality offered by Aqua or Luna (and, you can be sure that neither Apple nor MS will sit on their kiesters doing nothing). Even with the big hardware manufacturers dabbling in Linux we haven't seen anything stunning come from their labs GUI-wise. This is (potentially) the start of a desktop monopoly for Intel (not much different from the status quo anyway), but, given that many of the Intel patents are expiring or have expired anyone can get in on the game, even IBM or Motorola if they want ;-). Eric. _______________________________________________ yellowdog-general mailing list [email protected] http://lists.terrasoftsolutions.com/mailman/listinfo/yellowdog-general HINT: to Google archives, try '<keywords> site:terrasoftsolutions.com'
