Comments on: Will Apple be Open any Time Soon?

By: Matt Smith

Matt Smith — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 01:50:57 +0000

Throughout this whole escapade, I’ve been rooting for Psystar/OSx86. Running OS X on “white box” PCs IS possible, and despite a couple hiccups, is an overall pleasant experience. And these hiccups aren’t anything that couldn’t be resolved with the official support of Apple.

If this goes through, it would be a huge slap in the face to Apple, and also to all of the traditionalists out there who insist “No OSx86!” “Psystar’s Illegal!” I’m sick of it. Nothing would make me happier than having an official court ruling claiming the opposite.

However, we have to face reality. Apple will do everything in their power to ensure that the ruling doesn’t come out in favor of Psystar – it would kill their business model. Steve Jobs is NOT stupid, and neither are his lawyers.

But I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

By: iowafan4life

iowafan4life — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 04:19:59 +0000

i agree if mac does put there os on other machines bill should kiss his mula goodbye. but apple is pretty strong on their own computers so i dont see them having it run on onother machine

By: DualBoot32

DualBoot32 — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 22:13:41 +0000

I think that psystar is doing a great things in the way of forcing apple to loosen its shell but still i do agree with the guy who said it is like putting a Ferrari’s engine in a toyota but when you think about it apple did that with boot camp and truthfully i think Vista is the ferrari but still… if both operating systems would work together with like a boot camp for windows and maybe even charge like $5 for it i think that would be a great thing for apple and also microsoft and they can still charge for Leopard or the New Snow Leopard like they usualy would but have it be compatable with windows and be able to run in even a virtual machine but having leopard on vista would be one thing i would HAVE to get!

Signed,
DualBoot32

By: Eliot Schreiner

Eliot Schreiner — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 19:39:24 +0000

I’d think Apple probably won’t do that anytime soon. I think they’d be more likely to bring down their prices to a more competitive stance then to let 3rd party hardware builders use their software.

Maybe Apple would decide to combine with one of the other PC companies like the Cingular-AT&T thing.

By: Adam

Adam — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 18:29:13 +0000

Apples products may be well constructed physically, however they lack the average techies appeal due to the robotic like interface and lack of customization in the software department. Apple is the “Abercrombie” of the computer world, sure they look nice and market to the preppy upper middle class and up, but on the inside, they are just a fad. A fad that will quickly disperse when people realize that Apple is just a marketing genius with a poor excuse for a Kiosk as a computer competitor.

Lets take the Ipod for example, no matter how much they jazz the thing up with flashy colors and slimmer designs, it does 1 thing and one thing only, play media. For $249.99-$500.00 USD you are getting a piece of machinery that plays a media file, bottom line. But wait, lets mosie on down to the local Best Buy or Wall-Mart and fish me up an 8 gig Sony WZ that has a mini SD card expansion for even more data, and what is this? Its smaller and has a bigger screen and is less then half the price? Most importantly, the sound quality is the same if not better and the interface is easy to use, as well as PC integration, because really, who the hell wants to use ITunes on a PC? ( or even a mac ) Its not just this particular model either, its every MP3/4 player in the store, none of which exceeding the $200 mark.

So answering the question, no, Apple will never make their products open source. They rely on the ignorance of the non-tech savvy people with medium sized or larger wallets to use their easy to use software. The reason Linux is free is because it is difficult to use, but you can literally customize every aspect of the GUI to fit your needs. Lets see you try to change the properties of a folder to read only in a Mac, something as simple as this requires editing data files which in itself are inaccessible.

Ok I’m done, just needed to vent my anger.

By: SIX

SIX — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 16:24:58 +0000

^ Of course it will go in Apples favour.

They will hammer them to hell and back.

Most likely, Psystar will be financally crippled before they even get anywhere near a verdict.

And I will belly laugh.

If you want OS X, buy a Mac. Simple as.

By: Owen

Owen — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 15:44:29 +0000

Like Chris said for google chrome, to create competition that progresses things have to be open. Not necessarily open source though. The reason why osx isn’t gaining in the market share is because the chunk of people out there who like to customize their computers themselves can’t use osx due to hardware support. Imagine how many more computers would run osx if it could. I know I would be if there was the hardware and software support that it sorely needs. Until apple decides to play catch up and support new technology when YOU want to add it to your machine not them then they will always seriously lack in the competition of which could lead the market. Until then I will have to stick to gaming, 3d modelling etc on my pc and a laptop running osx.

Imagine the millions of gamers and artists and programmers who are stuck or forced to use a of due to no alternative support or minimal if any. Stuff running bootcamp for two os’s when he future could be windows having to do it to catch up to the leader. Assuming apple takes he lead.

By: Irockman1

Irockman1 — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 22:38:25 +0000

Apple makes their money off of hardware sales. The software may sell the hardware, but you can’t get the software without the hardware. If OSX is set free, Apple will lose a LOT of money. A lot people will buy any old Compaq with Leopard on it. They wouldn’t care if Apple’s hardware works a hell of a lot better with the OS. Most people just care about how much something costs.

I really hope this goes in Apple’s favor. This is just another stupid loophole.

By: be

be — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 21:05:44 +0000

i would prefere it… mac os x runs perfect on windows pcs, but it is until today illegal : (
… but this prevent nobody from using it ; ) … but it is some work to update the kernel, so some of the hackintosh users buy an apple machine so problems anymore (theoretically ^^)

i would prefere the open source, but i would be afraid that the prices of the hardware will fall down and down….

By: Smartalyx

Smartalyx — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 05:58:50 +0000

I forgot- the best example of the double standard most people use in regards to Apple/Microsoft is virtualization. How many here recall (and maybe even participate) in the outrage that Microsoft dared to make it a difficult task or even legal to virtualize Vista? And yet, can I virtualize OSX? Where is the appropriate outcry?

By: Smartalyx

Smartalyx — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 05:29:41 +0000

There are historical stories that can argue both sides of this- IBM clones killed IBM computers (I believe there was even a lawsuit that made clones legal- Psystar should look into it)

But the arguments as I have read them seem to break down to Apple makes a great product they shouldn’t have to open it. Well if Apple does indeed make a superior product, then opening it up WILL NOT hurt them. There are how many brands of cars on the road and Ferrari does just fine.

So either Apple makes a superior product and will survive “true” competition or their product is only “better” by virtue of their monopoly and small user base.

By: tawni

tawni — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 05:12:34 +0000

I would love for them to go open source but unfortunately it won’t happen. I understand their strict licensing after the clone debacle back in the early days of OS 6 but I would replace Vista on my Quad Core in a heartbeat if they would just open it up.

By: TheDub

TheDub — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 02:10:02 +0000

First of all I’d like to remind anyone who doesn’t know that Microsoft did not copy Apple by making Windows. In reality both Apple AND Microsoft stole the ideas of Xerox.

Another important point is that some people seem to think if Apple ran on non-apple machines it would suddenly support ALL HARDWARE. This is not the case, if Apple was force to open up they can choose to only support certain pieces of hardware, aka the same pieces of hardware that are in their Mac’s. nVidia cards, Intel Processors, etc.

I own a Macbook Pro so I’m not just a “jealous” PC user looking for OS X cheap.

Imagine though if Microsoft did not let Windows 7 run on Apple computers or in any kind of simulation software. They would have many lawsuits to deal with. Psystar machines from what I have watched read and been told run OS X with no problems except the automatic updates has Apple tries to hard-code them to stop working on non-apple machines. Yes Apple does OWN the software but Microsoft OWNS Windows. If Microsoft can not hard-code their software to not work on a particular configuration, such as an Apple computer, I do not see why Apple can hard-code theirs for only their machines.

By: Vista or Xp - Geeks!

Vista or Xp - Geeks! — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 00:40:26 +0000

[...] Will Apple be Open any Time Soon? [...]

By: darkelink

darkelink — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 19:28:30 +0000

I think apple should put out their OS onto PC for the simple reason that it might make microsoft stop making rubbish like vista and trying to copy apple. It would also mean that apple would indeed get more money and we could see some custom hardware that ran really cool apps using quartz composser and xcode tools that are free with OS X.