[OT] really?

[Eric Dunbar]

On 6/7/05, Cian Duffy <myob87 at gmail.com> 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.