“Would Apple ever switch to Windows? Jobs concluded his [recent WWDC] keynote address by noting that the operating system is the soul of the Mac. This was hardly a revelation to those who have followed Apple’s history – particularly during the brief period when a less compelling Mac OS was enticing enough to power a clone market that quickly eroded Apple’s hardware sales. While, from Microsoft’s perspective, the Mac OS has always been Windows’ friendly rival (or historical R&D lab), Microsoft too is now pumping billions of dollars into R&D in an attempt to withstand competition from Linux, just as Intel has stepped up its investment to compete against a resurgent AMD,” Ross Rubin writes for Engadget.
“Today, such a switch seems unlikely because Microsoft still has a long way to go to make Windows a clearly superior alternative to Mac OS. Indeed, the spyware and viruses that plague Windows drive many to seriously consider the Mac platform. However, Longhorn is focused on greatly alleviating the security flaws in Windows. Ultimately, Apple doesn’t want to win the virus war simply because the Mac’s low market share makes it a less “desirable” target. A lot can happen in 20 years, particularly if the PC market saturates to the point that operating system R&D becomes harder to justify and Apple continues to see more of its growth coming from cross-platform devices such as iPods,” Rubin writes.
“A Macintosh without Mac OS would probably be about as successful in the PC marketplace as Sony has been. Consider, however, how far Microsoft has come since the missteps of Windows 3.1 and infancy of Windows 95,” Rubin writes. “Much more so than in chips and especially around Infinite Loop, software may be more art than science, but, as Bill Gates has shown with Corbis, a big enough bankroll can buy a lot of art.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: This must be Wacky Wednesday. The day Apple drops their own operating system in favor of one from Microsoft (of all places) is the day Apple, not just the Mac, dies.
“The news business abhors a vacuum and will therefore create anything to fulfill its need to suck.” – MacDailyNews
Related MacDailyNews articles:
Geek.com columnist: Apple’s getting out of hardware and evolving into mainly a software company – June 22, 2005
Related MacDailyNews articles:
PC World names Apple’s Mac OS X Tiger ‘Best Operating System’ – June 01, 2005
Apple’s Mac OS X Tiger ‘is the most advanced operating system on the planet’ – May 31, 2005
TrustedReviews: After using Mac OS X Tiger ‘going back to Windows XP is something of a joke at best’ – May 18, 2005
The Butler Group: ‘Apple’s Mac OS X Tiger the best desktop operating system in the world to date’ – May 13, 2005
BBC News: Apple’s Mac OS X Tiger ‘the most stable and reliable OS, well ahead of Windows XP’ – May 10, 2005
Windows users show strong curiosity about Apple’s Mac OS X Tiger – May 09, 2005
Windows tech writer Thurrott: ‘In many ways, Mac OS X Tiger is simply better than Windows’ – May 07, 2005
EarthWeb: Apple’s Mac OS X Tiger is a ‘serious enterprise operating system, a pivotal release’ – May 06, 2005
BusinessWeek: ‘Tiger bolsters Mac OS X’s edge as the best personal-computer operating system’ – May 06, 2005
The Guardian: Mac OS X Tiger a powerful solution while Microsoft’s Longhorn remains on drawing board – May 06, 2005
Chicago Sun-Times: Mac OS X Tiger shows ‘there’s never been a more compelling time to switch to Mac’ – May 05, 2005
Dan Gillmor: ‘With Mac OS X Tiger, Apple is plainly in the lead today’ – May 05, 2005
Jupiter Research VP: Apple’s Mac OS X Tiger ‘runs rings around Microsoft Windows’ – May 04, 2005
The Independent: Apple’s ‘faster, smarter, simpler’ Mac OS X Tiger ‘a must-have’ – May 04, 2005
Mac OS X Tiger review for a Windows PC audience finds Tiger’s ‘far, far better than Windows XP’ – May 03, 2005
Boston Herald: Mac OS X Tiger should compel Windows PC users to think about switching to Apple Mac – May 02, 2005
PC World review gives Apple’s Mac OS X Tiger 4.5 stars out of 5 – April 30, 2005
Ars Technica: Mac OS X Tiger ‘at least twice as significant as any single past update’ – April 28, 2005
BusinessWeek: ‘Tiger bolsters Mac OS X’s edge as the best personal-computer operating system around’ – April 28, 2005
Associated Press: Mac OS X Tiger ‘provides another excellent incentive to switch from Windows’ – April 28, 2005
Mossberg: Apple’s Tiger ‘the best, most advanced personal computer operating system on the market’ – April 28, 2005
InformationWeek columnist: Apple’s Mac OS X Tiger ‘a compelling upgrade’ – April 28, 2005
NY Times: Apple’s Mac OS X Tiger is the most secure, stable and satisfying OS on earth – April 28, 2005
Windows is weak, Longhorn will be cosmetic upgrade; Apple can deliver killer blow to Microsoft – April 27, 2005
Thurrott: ‘Longhorn is in complete disarray and in danger of collapsing under its own weight’ – April 27, 2005
Wired News: Apple’s Mac OS X Tiger ‘full of welcome surprises’ – April 27, 2005
Thurrott: Longhorn ‘has the makings of a train wreck’ – April 26, 2005
Thurrott: Longhorn demos ‘unimpressive, fall short of graphical excellence found today in Mac OS X’ – April 26, 2005
Apple posts QuickTime movies of Mac OS X Tiger features in action – April 13, 2005
Let me guess..
“It’s the OS stupid”
Come on, let em’ rip. You guys know you want to.
I agree though, a completely ridiculous assertion. I couldn’t imagine it happeneing, and if it did….. well then lemme see that Linux OS again….
is it even worth suggesting something like this?
jobs would rather sell his sole to bill gates than use microsoft
Apple a windows clone maker????? Hell would have to freeze over first. Not a chance of this!!
Scenario:
Apple sells Mac OS to Microsoft.
Steve Ballmer assumes CEO-ship of Apple.
I jump off the Verizzano Narrows Bridge.
End Scenario.
See it is over…
We in the “real IT world” have never taken the Apple software, OS or hardware seriously. At best it is over priced eye candy.
However, we would look at purchasing a iPod for personal use if they were designed around “Windows” standards.
The future of Apple is as a niche hardware manufacture. Perhaps a generic laptop running Longhorn supporting the cutting edge .NET framework API that will soon control the internet would be worth a look in the future…
But for know the Apple platform is dead.
©
is this news? is this for real? did someone get paid to write this? is this person employed as a journalist? was this written (and posted) simply to incite a flame war?
Again, I would like to review what in my opinion are the reasons I like Mac Computers:
a)Operating System: Features, its design that makes easy to use (“common sense”), innovation (even before OS X) and nowadays knowing that it is stable, more secure than the alternatives, and will even work on differente processors
b) Hardware Design: Functional, Neat, and shall I say beautiful, also and more options from a Mac Mini, to a XServes (still less options than in the PC world)
c) Price, since some years ago, I think there are very reasonable prices even better than many “cheap” prices.
Now in regards to the switch to INTEL processors, how will the three criteria going to be affected?
IMHO, nothing at all. That is: Operating system
is going to be Tiger or Leopard, they will keep improving it. Hardware design: I expect that Apple wil continue to make very good hardware designs, I don’t think changing processors or motherboards should impact design. And prices? I’ve read that some people (“Analysts”) believe they will lower prices, but even though I myself would welcome that, I cant see the connection between changing processors and lowering prices, maybe margins could be higher for Apple and will have MORE money for R&D.
Brooklyn boy I see huh Stab? Maybe SI, either way we are in the same neighborhood.
Sputnik, you crazy! And I love it. I work in the “real IT world”, glad we have you as a spokesman. I am busy telling all my clients how god awful Windows is. Good thing you are around to refute my assertions.
i was just over at engadget reading this story and then i came here a little while later and saw the story and i was about to start yelling at MDN for posting the same article twice (or giving an article a new heading, etc. as they have done before)….heh. confused the heck out of me. oh the joys when your two favorite sites get too close for comfort. it’s like switching the radio cuz a horrible song is on only to the next station playing the same song (i can count the times it’s happened to me on one hand).
It’s my opinion that Windows is way more up to date than Mac OS X. Mac SO X is like a dinosaur compared to Windows. So it’s my guess that, Apple making all these switches will start their switch to Windows in about 2007, when Microsoft releases their Great Operating System, code named Longhorn. That is going to be Apple’s final transition. It only makes sense, this is why they are moving to intel. To ease the developers off of the primitive and ugly Mac OS X operating system Steve Jobs is embarrassed to have to demo every year or so.
*someone slaps me*
Wait, Never-mind.
Bye!
“But for know the Apple platform is dead.”
I’ve been hearing this nonsense since 1985. It’s no truer now than it was then. But … Windows idiots WILL dream.
Sputnik, what the hell is .NET?? More vaporware?
What a stupid article!! What moron!!!!
“But for know”
Don’t you mean NOW?
What are you people talking about? Don’t you realize that Macs already run Windows (soon to be released in, oh, 2011)?
Sure they would, but not as long as Steve is around. If Apple started to lose money on computers, they might drop them all together, or offer windows versions (and quit pouring money into OS development). Plus they could make a bundle selling OS X to Sun or IBM. If they did ditch computers (or just OS X) they’d focus on being a gadget company. Hello Apple PDA (running some version of Windows).
I thought all Windows PCs run MacOS.
7.1
Seriously though, this columnist is simply juxtaposing the current media standard article about OS X being released for all Intel PCs.
In short, move along, nothing to see here.
you don’t know what .net is?
it’s essentially a bunch of standards and technologies which allow multiple programmers to program in multiple languages and yet corroborate with the same project.
so in other words, it doesn’t matter if you’re a C programmer, java, C++, C#, VB etc… as they all can be used under the .net platform.
It’s all about standardization.
If Apple converts to Windows, I will convert to Amish. Screw technology.
Fortunately Apple and the Mac are Steve’s babies. Don’t expect any kind of conversion to anything MS to ever happen, esp. under Steve’s watch.
moron – n : a person of subnormal intelligence
stupid – adj 1: lacking or marked by lack of intellectual acuity
dumb – adj 1: slow to learn or understand; lacking intellectual acuity
retard – n : a person of subnormal intelligence
cretin – n : a person of subnormal intelligence
I see a pattern developing.
Will Microsoft ever switch to Linux?
Will Oracle ever switch to FileMaker?
Will Pizza Inn ever switch to Pizza Hut?
This just in: OS X Leopard is actually Longhorn. Why do you think the release dates are so close? Steve was right that OS X was leading a secret double life. It’s so obvious. The both are animals that begin with “L”. In fact, there is an “L” in Intel too. Coincicdence? I think not.
Blow Me!! That’s the dumbest suggestion I’ve ever heard so far from any writer on the planet earth.
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It just amazes me that people get paid to write shit like this.