This would be hilarious, considering how devoted many Apple users are to their computers and the Apple OS. Interesting article that makes some good points & observations...

"Will Apple Adopt Windows?
02.15.06

This would be the most phenomenal turnabout in the history of desktop computing. There's just one fly in the ointment.

By John C. Dvorak

The idea that Apple would ditch its own OS for Microsoft Windows came to me from Yakov Epstein, a professor of psychology at Rutgers University, who wrote to me convinced that the process had already begun. I was amused, but after mulling over various coincidences, I'm convinced he may be right. This would be the most phenomenal turnabout in the history of desktop computing.

Epstein made four observations. The first was that the Apple Switch ad campaign was over, and nobody switched. The second was that the iPod lost its FireWire connector because the PC world was the new target audience. Also, although the iPod was designed to get people to move to the Mac, this didn't happen. And, of course, that Apple had switched to the Intel microprocessor.

Though these points aren't a slam-dunk for Epstein's thesis, other observations support it. The theory explains several odd occurrences, including Apple's freak-out and lawsuits over Macintosh gossip sites that ran stories about a musicians' breakout box that has yet to be shipped. Like, who cares?

But if Apple's saber-rattling was done to scare the community into backing off so it wouldn't discover the Windows stratagem, then the incident makes more sense. As does Bill Gates's onscreen appearance during Apple's turnaround when Jobs was taking a pot of money from Microsoft. The Windows stratagem may have been a done deal by then. This may also explain the odd comment at the Macworld Expo by a Microsoft spokesperson that Microsoft Office will continue to be developed for the Mac for "five years." What happens after that?

This switch to Windows may have originally been planned for this year and may partly explain why Adobe and other high-end apps were not ported to the Apple x86 platform when it was announced in January. At Macworld, most observers said that these new Macs could indeed run Windows now.

Bigger companies than Apple have dropped their proprietary OSs in favor of Windows—think IBM and OS/2. IBM also jumped on the Linux bandwagon over its own AIX version of Unix. Business eventually trumps sentimentality in any large company.
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Another issue for Apple is that the Intel platform is wide open, unlike the closed proprietary system Apple once had full control over. With a proprietary architecture, Apple could tweak the OS for a controlled environment without worrying about the demands of a multitude of hardware add-ons and software subsystems. Windows, as crappy as many believe it to be, actually thrives in this mishmash architecture. Products, old and new, have drivers for Windows above all else. By maintaining its own OS, Apple would have to suffer endless complaints about peripherals that don't work.

As someone who believed that the Apple OS x86 could gravitate toward the PC rather than Windows toward the Mac, I have to be realistic. It boils down to the add-ons. Linux on the desktop never caught on because too many devices don't run on that OS. It takes only one favorite gizmo or program to stop a user from changing. Chat rooms are filled with the likes of "How do I get my DVD burner to run on Linux?" This would get old fast at Apple.

Apple has always said it was a hardware company, not a software company. Now with the cash cow iPod line, it can afford to drop expensive OS development and just make jazzy, high-margin Windows computers to finally get beyond that five-percent market share and compete directly with Dell, HP, and the stodgy Chinese makers.

To preserve the Mac's slick cachet, there is no reason an executive software layer couldn't be fitted onto Windows to keep the Mac look and feel. Various tweaks could even improve the OS itself. From the Mac to the iPod, it's the GUI that makes Apple software distinctive. Apple popularized the modern GUI. Why not specialize in it and leave the grunt work to Microsoft? It would help the bottom line and put Apple on the fast track to real growth.

The only fly in the ointment will be the strategic difficulty of breaking the news to the fanatical users. Most were not initially pleased by the switch to Intel's architecture, and this will make them crazy.

Luckily, Apple has a master showman, Steve Jobs. He'll announce that now everything can run on a Mac. He'll say that the switch to Windows gives Apple the best of both worlds. He'll say this is not your daddy's Windows. He'll cajole and cajole, and still hear a few boos. But those will be the last boos he'll hear, for then the Mac will be mainstream. We will welcome the once-isolated Apple mavens, finally."

I seriously doubt this will hapen but hey, in the corporate world, things like this happen everyday. The almighty $ buck $ steers it. I would seriously loose respect for Steve Jobs if he pimped Apple.

In the mean time, I guess I'll just keep my current mac systems until the software is just completely outdated.

moving to fan gatherings

cborgman said:

I didn't know Andrea had a Mac!

The BBC's Internet Media Player has been trialling and Microsoft have been heavily-involved.

It looks like it will only work with Windows Vista.

I think it's a great idea. Basically, the BBC will "leak" every tv and radio broadcast onto the internet for free and users of the service will distribute the files amongst themselves, using the I.M.P. software.

Seven days after broadcast, the files will automatically self-destruct. I believe that users with non-U.K. ISPs will have to pay for the service.

You can view a video of some BBC bloke and Bill Gates discussing the project at a conference, last week, if you go to this page: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/h...828336.stm

Some people are very critical of the idea for being too hippy-dippy but I have no idea why!

http://www.inaniloquent.c...241199b0df

I'm only mentioning this because I find it odd that the trialled software only works with Windows software. The BBC's remit states that it has to reach as many Brits as possible, by any means possible. They currently use Real Audio to stream their radio because it's the most popular streaming audio format. If the most popular streaming audio format changed to Ogg Vorbis, they'd change to that. I'm only mentioning Ogg audio as an example...

The BBC also have their own open-source video codec called Dirac - they really do seem more ready than any other broadcaster, when it comes to the net. I'm waffling. I just find it all fascinating.

While we're at it, it'd be nice to get laptops standardized. For example, it's insane that every different model of laptop requires its own specially made power adapter. I had an older laptop given to me by my brother sans adapter, and discovered that to buy the adapter would cost me more than the stupid laptop was worth in the first place. The motherboard is another area that needs to be standardized. There's no reason why I shouldn't be able to take one motherboard and put it in a different laptop as long as the components (processor & RAM) are compatible. We've been able to do this with PCs for YEARS.

Adding in a link I found: http://www.vanshardware.c...andard.htm

Ok, rant over.

With the Apple name behind them, I think switching to Windows would make a heck of a lot of financial sense. More Macs would permeate the work places. The graphical interface of Windows could be programmed to appear identical to the Mac OS for those die-hards out there, yet they could be adjustable to return to the Windows GUI with a couple of clicks. All software would be compatible. Then it would be left up to if all hardware was interchangable.
[Edited 3/29/06 11:53am]

I've always used Windows...

i trully wouldn't mind if it stayed looking the same as well as...ugh!! who am i kidding? hell no!

The Beatles' record company, Apple Corps are taking Apple Computers to court again.

They agreed to share the "Apple" name, so long as Apple Computers didn't venture into the music business.

I believe that the sound chip within early Apple computers was called the "sosumi chip" (say it slowly), but I don't know how true that is.