“Dell is developing consumer PCs that can run multiple versions of Microsoft’s Windows and Linux software at the same time, [according to] the personal computer maker’s chief technology officer, Kevin Kettler,” Reuters reports.
“Users of the new Dell PCs would be able to simultaneously run multiple, software-generated computers on one machine, using an increasingly popular technology known as virtualization that allows greater flexibility and computing security,” Reuters reports.
“One virtual machine might run Windows Vista and handle every day computing tasks, while another could be used only to browse the internet, limiting any security threats to the parameters of the virtual machine – which could be deleted,” Reuters reports.
MacDailyNews Take: Or you could get a Mac which has as OS that – shocker! – can do everything and still surf the Internet unimpeded. What a crystal clear indictment of Windows’ shoddiness by Reuters and Dell!
“A third virtual machine might run a version of Linux that is compatible with programs on the user’s work computer. And a fourth virtual machine might run Windows XP software that is not compatible with the Windows Vista machine,” Reuters reports. “Such PCs could go on sale as early as next year, Kettler said in an interview by telephone while attending the LinuxWorld conference in San Francisco.”
Reuters reports., “He declined to say whether the machines will be able to run Apple Inc’s OS X software designed for its Macintosh computers, whose sales are growing faster than the overall PC market. ‘I can’t speculate on that,’ Kettler said. ‘Virtualization is very powerful. It’s an environment that would allow many different operating systems to co-exist. You can interpret that however you would like.'”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “MrKruser” for the heads up.]
MacDailyNews Take: He won’t speculate, but all signs so far point to it never happening. Apple’s Mac OS X Software License Agreement currently states: “This License allows you to install, use and run one (1) copy of the Apple Software on a single Apple-labeled computer at a time.”
Only Apple’s OS-unlimited Macs can run virtually all the world’s software. In other words, Apple Macs run the world’s largest software library. Period. Beleaguered Dell can dream, but, as things stand, all other PCs from all other PC box assemblers are OS-limited and cannot run Mac OS X, iLife ’08 (iMovie, iPhoto, iDVD, iWeb, GarageBand), iWork ’08 (Pages, Keynote, Numbers), Final Cut, Logic, and thousands of other Mac-only apps and plug-ins.
