Hell freezing over? Apple in talks with Intel

[Kurt]

Not mentioning the extensions' conflicts...

[Kurt]

All Apple has said is that they won't prevent anyone from being able to install Windows on their Intel-based systems. Doesn't mean Windows will, by default, be able to run on it.

We'll see what they use as measures to prevent OS X to run on non Apple PC's, but my guess is they will use a simple DMI Asset tag in the BIOS.

They will face another big challenge, which is to justify their price premium. I wonder if they will price their PC's comparatively to other PC manufacturers. They could get away with it before because the platform was entirely different, now not so anymore.

[Jessterw]

All that is changing is the processor. That in no way equates to the platform being entirely different. If that logic were true then they would have made a shift of a similar nature when they switched to the PowerPC all those years ago. The premium is not because of the processor that they use, it's for the package.

That said, I'm sure there will be some pricing changes eventually, as there's no doubt that doing so, regardless of processor being used, would aid in enticing new customers.


As far as stability, using an Intel-based Mac as a reference point for Windows isn't that far fetched an idea in that Mac hardware is a known, whereas commodity PC's can be comprised on any given number of components from various vendors. It has nothing to do with the stability of Windows or OS X.

[az]

Their hardware is expensive for a number of reasons:

- They are smaller, and use more exotic hardware, thus they pay more for the hardware than, say, Dell (thouh part of this will change with the move to x86).

- They are probably subventioning their software with their hardware sales.

- Their cases etc. probably cost a bit more than your average PC case.

- You pay for the brand/"experience".

BTW, I don't think it will be possible to hack a Windows PC into making OSX run. They probably will require a special TPM or will have other hardware differences to ordinary PCs.

AZ

[cjolley]

BTW, I don't think it will be possible to hack a Windows PC into making OSX run. They probably will require a special TPM or will have other hardware differences to ordinary PCs.

Sort of like the 10 minutes that it took to break the "unbreakable" DVD encription.
Once they release hardware there will be 10 times as many programmers working on the crack as Apple used to write the OS in the first place.
Maybe more.

[Kurt]

@Jesterwild: I'm sure they'll keep their price premium. What I'm worried about is their ability to justify that premium over comparable hardware.

They might have to adjust the price of OS X upwards, so as to maintain a price premium on the hardware that's acceptable for their target audience. Wait and see...

[Chrono_Wanderer]

yuck. the whole idea of pre-packaged hardware lol

i am pretty sure os x will be cracked quickly after it comes out (the x86 version)

[Jammrock]

yuck. the whole idea of pre-packaged hardware lol

i am pretty sure os x will be cracked quickly after it comes out (the x86 version)

Apple has done a very good job at keeping people from cloning Macs. If Intel and Apple build the locks into the hardware in places that can't be programmed it will be significantly harder. Plus you will have to buy very specific hardware that is directly supported by OS X/XI anyway, as the driver support will be limited to Apple approved hardware.

[Chrono_Wanderer]

just curious, isn't os x built on freeBSD? if so then drivers can't be too bad...

[Sasq]

yuck. the whole idea of pre-packaged hardware lol

i am pretty sure os x will be cracked quickly after it comes out (the x86 version)

See the problem there, is your thinking pre-packaged like Dell.

Because of the strict control over hardware, as Jesse pointed out elsewhere, the user expereience on a mac is why they sell.

[schmosef]

What does Apple do for motherboard design these days? I'm also curious about chipsets. Do they use an integrated chipset or do they have separate ICs for memory/bus controllers?

[TnT]

One thing people haven't discussed much is the possibility of running OS X through an emulator. PearPC has been going, but mapping PPC to x86 isn't as "simple" as being able to run a x86 version of OS X through a different OS. I'm leaving my Mac admin job after the summer, but man, if this was available a couple years ago it would've made administration easier because I could run the admin tools on my Linux box at home.

[Kurt]

Apple said they will try to not let you run it on non-Apple hardware.

Maybe VMWare will release a fix, but if it's illegal, they won't. Ditto for MS.

[GT98]

See the problem there, is your thinking pre-packaged like Dell.

Because of the strict control over hardware, as Jesse pointed out elsewhere, the user expereience on a mac is why they sell.

Well Dell isnt that bad...as long as you dont buy their cheap shit. I'm very happy with my Insprion 600M Laptop (though I need a faster HHD for it now) and 100 Precision 650 Workstations I support at my job have been pretty trouble free minus hard drive failure issues. My old Man and a friend have Inspirion 8600 Laptops and they are pleased with them also.

If Apple can come out with a PowerMac that has decent performance for about $1500 bucks or less with a monitor I'll get one or get a Mac Mini.

[schmosef]

Game Developers React To Intel Switch