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General discussion

Apple ditching OS for Windows?

Feb 16, 2006 3:13AM PST

Interesting News from John C Dvorak, renowned Tech Writer for PC Mag. He writes that Apple may be moving to ditch it's OS for Windows. No matter how improbable this seems to me, they make a good point when they remind us that we all laughed when we heard Apple would partner with Intel. He writes that Yakov Epstein, professor of psychology at Rutgers University, made four observations: "The first was that the Apple Switch ad campaign was over, and nobody switched. The second was that the iPod lost its FireWire connector because the PC world was the new target audience. Also, although the iPod was designed to get people to move to the Mac, this didn't happen. And, of course, that Apple had switched to the Intel microprocessor." These are really valid points. But I just cannot see this happening. What is your take? Is this conceivable?

Discussion is locked

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My take
Feb 16, 2006 3:30AM PST

Sounds like my prediction of a $299 MacMini...

I highly, HIGHLY doubt that Apple's OS will be given up on by Apple. Why? Its a superior operating system compared to Windows. Windows Vista is going to be a pain in the neck from all the videos I have seen.

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Maybe
Feb 16, 2006 5:44AM PST

The only option that I could see Apple doing is opening up their hardware for MS Windows to be installed on it.

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Inconceivable!
Feb 16, 2006 3:46AM PST

Haha, my favorite tagline from "The Princess Bride." Anyway ...

I also highly doubt that Apple would do away with OS X. John Dvorak had talked about it in the TWiT podcast a while back, and while he made some interesting points, I don't think Steve-O would let that fly.

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doubtful... before that happens...
Feb 16, 2006 4:22AM PST

Running Windows does not seem like an option for Apple.

Before Apple ever lets go of their market share, I think they would at least try to expand the Macintosh OS to greater hardware platforms.

If Apple sold their OS in a box on the store shelf for $149.99, I would buy it in a heartbeat. I like Apple's software, but as a service/repair technician, I am not too fond of their hardware.

Maybe the move to Intel will change that opinion of mine...

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mine too

favorite quote ever!
V

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Dvorak is a tool
Feb 16, 2006 4:56AM PST

...ignore it.

-Kevin S.

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Yeah ...
Feb 16, 2006 5:34AM PST

... he can be Mr. "Glass Half Empty" quite a bit ...

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Apple should sell OS X w/out restriction
Feb 16, 2006 7:03AM PST

I think they should sell OS X without the install restriction. They put a message in the set up that says something to the effect that they will only SUPPORT OS X installs on actual Apple computers. But I think Apple should let people install OS X anywhere at their own risk.

Why not make it easy for people to put OS X on their vanilla box? Then the free market can decide how far other vendors will go to support OS X anywhere.

Scott

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Not going to happen
Feb 16, 2006 7:04AM PST

Reasons:
1) Steve's ego - he has touted Apple's superior hardware and software for too long, he's not going to tout "Apple modified" crap anytime soon. I think he'd rather shut down.
2) No matter what, it would still be Windows, and only a complete re-write of the software by Apple would make it worthwhile to have labeled as Apple anything.
3)Think about it, do you think that Apple would gain any marketshare by offering the same thing as others at Apple prices? No. They have superior software to sell machines.

To counter observations mentioned to support a switch:
1)Firewire vs. USB - USB 2.0 edges out Firewire in transfer rates and is more universal. Sticking to one interface helps reduce cost (and size- the nano would have to be bigger to support Firewire because there is currently no room for the chip).
2)Switcher campaign - well, people just made fun of it, they didn't pay attention to the stories. I still prefer the old "Think Different" campaign myself.
3)Intel - I think that Steve has adequately explained why the move is being made.

Okay, I'm done.

-Ryan

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On most points
Feb 16, 2006 7:22AM PST

For the most part, I agree, Ryan, but I disagree with you on point number 3. I think if Apple were to produce a box that could run both Mac OS and Windows, they would make a killing. Apple produces an elegant piece of hardware. I have a lot of PC using friends who are envious of my Mac's design. There are tons of way-over-the-top gizmoid looking options out in the PC world but d*mn few of them have the design elegance of Apple hardware. I've said this before - people pay for what they _want_ not what they need.

And also, when you look at overall preice/performance, equivalently equipped Macs and PCs aren't THAT much different in price. See the Mac vs. Dell laptop thread that was on here a few days ago as an example. It's just most Dell's ship with jack-all. Most Macs come packed with goodies.

-Kevin S.

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I Agree
Feb 16, 2006 7:35AM PST

I agree Kevin. I think that Apple make great products. Too bad they are still a niche product manufacturer who has no real Apps or support. I would buy a Mac if it wasn't a fortune, ran even 1/20th of the Productivity and Business applications that my employers and most of the civilized world use, and I was able to play games on it. But no such luck. The entire market is geared towards PC's. If I could PC software support, PC peripherals, and UPGRADEABILITY without having to drop THOUSANDS UPON THOUSANDS for all new hardware every two years, I would be a mac enthusiast.

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Pretty Cool
Feb 16, 2006 7:59AM PST

I think that if they had the ability to run Windows Vista on the new Macs, then that would really make me want to switch to Apple hardware.

I wouldn't switch to run Windows, because if I am going to buy a Mac, I'm not about to wipe the hard drive down and use Windows. But, heres the thing. You can run a lot of Linux distributions on the Mac (not sure about Intel processors though), you can run (obviously) Mac OS and if they would allow Windows to be run on their hardware...that would really sweeten their hardware.

I'd love to have 4 G5's side by side, each running a different OS (Mac, Win, Lin, BSD)

Oh, one more..I need a server too. (Beginning to drool)

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Mactel Linux
Feb 16, 2006 8:12AM PST

I saw earlier today (I don't remember where) that somebody had Linux Running on an iMac Core Duo, so that's obviously an option on the new hardware.

Also, Apple isn't keeping Windows from running on their hardware. You can blame that on the PC industry people for not using EFI (which seems to be the main reason that they are having such trouble booting XP on a Mac).

-Ryan

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Slashdot Post
Feb 16, 2006 8:19AM PST
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Fallacy of numbers
Feb 16, 2006 8:39AM PST

Let's be honest here... a large percentage of what PC users ACTUALLY USE is available on the Macintosh. i.e. most people only use Microsoft Office and Adobe/Macromedia Products throughout the course of the day.

So, I always get just a little bothered hearing the claim that the Mac is a "niche product." I call b*llsh*t since the Mac runs what most people run on a daily basis.

Games - different matter. You want a killer game machine, go with a PC.

-Kevin S.

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I want a Mac because...
Feb 16, 2006 7:52AM PST

They are sooo friggin gorgeous!

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I always forget
Feb 16, 2006 8:16AM PST

About all of those cost-analysis thingies.
Point noted and observed.

-Ryan

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APPLE IS IN THE HARDWARE BUSINESS
Feb 16, 2006 11:12PM PST

Apple will fight tooth and nail to keep the iPod and iTunes closed because it's all about SELLING IPODS!!!!!!! It is well know that Apple makes virtually nothing selling music on iTunes. They use iTunes to get people to buy iPods. They in turn make a ton of money on iPods. Think about it....$400 for an iPod? For $500 you can buy an Apple computer!Mac Mini. The margins on iPods are huge! iTunes makes poeple buy iPods!

From a personal perspective I had a Creative Zen Micro that worked fine except the integration with WMP sucked! Thank God it got stolen. I replaced with an iPod because of iTunes. Now I am probably buyinga
Nano fo my wife.

BTW - Apple is in the OS business to sell hardware. The better the OS the more people want the very expensive hardware. It's all about filling the Gates Gaps....useability, stability, reliability, good
design.