But why is it hard to open up? If apple force them to use only ATI and Nvidia gfx. Only selected Intel chip and chipset. I dont see there would be a problem with drivers.

I’m writing this from a Pentium 805d based system running 10.4.8.

I can do everything you can do on your Mac, iChat, Skype, Burn DVDs, edit DV.. and my system (450 usd) has a geekbench score of 203 – not bad. It boots in 14 seconds.

I took a look at Vista and was let down.

After using OSX on my desktop, my next laptop will probably be a Macbook. I’m also more keen to buy apple consumer hardware that will get along nicely with my new OSX desktop. That includes ipods, iphone, iskates or whatever they dream up next year.. (I’ve already patented iskates, don’t think about it)

I’ve purchased a few apple applications along the way. I’ve spent about 75 dollars on mac apps in the past few months.

Let’s say Steve says something like this, “Nothing beats a Mac, but if you already bought a machine with the hopes of running Vista and you were let down, well, I have a surprise for you. Apple is now offering OS X for PCs without support – however there are several partners of ours who are offering support packages”

Apple can sell OSX for 49 dollars without support (and 6 months free .mac). Donate half of all that to charities (let the buyer choose from several)

I am sure there are companies out there who would jump at being an apple preferred support provider. Per incident, per month, per year..

The problems I have had so far have been solved very easily with forums and nice fellows on irc.macspeak.net #osx86 – this is not rocket science.

So let’s say there are 20 million people worldwide who take Steve’s offer. These are folks who already have a PC and don’t have the cash to throw down right now on a shiny new mac. I pulled that number out of my ass, it may be more, it may be less.

At 20 million copies sold, that would be $490 million to Apple and $490 million to charities. Think about that.

They should get some tax breaks as well..

It would be simple enough to have a Hardware Compatibility Check that folks could download to save themselves the trouble of trying to install on a machine that did not support it.

Just don’t tell me OSX needs ‘tightly coupled hardware’ to be a success.. bahh..

Or let’s say it this way – in the future it will be a huge competitive advantage for Apple to control the hardware as they can do better software in still small release cycles at reasonable cost….

Many people probably wont like this, but look at MS. They were mainly a software company and have made some strides in hardware. Yes, the first Xbox ran them $4bil in debt, but with the 360 they are making strides and will be turning profit per console sold soon.

Just because a company is what it is now, does not mean they can not expand.

Also, for someone who walks into an apple store and then to a dell store, would probably say “well, Windows XP runs on this machine and it is $XXX amount cheaper”. I do not think the average computer person (ie, mother father buying for thier kid) really cares that much about the OS, in regards to cost. They will buy the cheaper hardware, because…it is cheaper.

Just enough stuff would work to give the average beige box owner a flavor of running OSX. I think that lots of them would run to the nearest Apple Store and buy a Mac. Most of them don’t know what they’re missing, giving them a taste would be a great way to promote sales.

Also, please I beg of you all, don’t say the “Apple is a hardware company” line. I’m so sick of that. You mean it’s written in stone? They can never, ever become a software company? Gee, I think they can pretty much do what they want. If they wanted to dump all their hardware and just sell software they could do that. It’s been done before you know, and to success. Again, I don’t ever see them doing that, but I have an open mind and I’ve learned never to say never.

Leopard also runs on less demanding hardware. Right now Apples hardware is quite competitive for its specifications. It would only lose the low cost conscious purchasers, but would gain from the OEM revenue for Leopard.

Peace!

Mac hardware sales produce way less of their revenues that 5 years ago – the iPod took care of that. This trend will continue as they start selling iPhones (presuming that line does well.)

And, the less they depend on physical Macs to bring in revenue, the easier it would be to license OS X to other computer makers now. Now, will MacOS X run well on some hand made box someone assembled in their garage? I doubt it. And device drivers would be a problem. Currently, OS X depends on EFI which I don’t believe any current PCs use… so, someone like Dell would have to make machines specifically for OS X – it wouldn’t be a buy OS X at the store and install it on your current machine.

Still, while unlikely in the near future, it remains a possibility as Apple grows into new areas.

I for one am perfectly happy if things stay just the way they are.