Mac OS X on Intel

If you are interested in following the development of Mac OS X on Intel, you might like Twin Mac.

I'm going to wait for the real thing. I'm definitely buying an Intel Mac, and wish they were available now as this iBook is getting a little long in the tooth - it's two years old, near retirement age for computers. But I'll hang tough and wait for the Intel machines.

Why do I want MacTel? Because my interest isn't just OS X; I also like Linux and while there are Mac distributions, those often lag behind the Intel Linuxes, and there is much more choice in the Intel versions anyway.

It's a pretty sure bet that you'll be able to dual boot these boxes, but ideally, I'd like to run native OS X and Linux under VmWare. If it is possible, I will want to run Windows under VmWare also - now there's a laptop I could use for anything, anywhere. That's why I want Mac on Intel: flexibility and choice.

Virtualization products like VmWare should work. Apple would have to go out of their way to prevent them from working, and that wouldn't seem to make much sense. Virtualization would give Apple hardware both a blessing to come to corporate desktops and create a tremendous desire to bring them in. Users wouldn't have to give up anything, and could run whatever, wherever. If I were Apple, I'd be working with Vmware right now, and would make sure that nothing got in its way. Virtualization is the future, and Apple has put themselves in the ideal position to take advantage of that: while nobody else is likely to be able to offer Mac OS X as a guest OS, Apple can serve up anything they want.

Imagine no more worrying about whether you have the right OS for the app you want to run; you do. Does it run better on Linux than OS X? Run it under Linux right there on your Mac. Still have some "must have" Windows apps? Great, bring 'em on.. have your cake and eat it too. True freedom.

This would also free developers from the tyranny of "wrong choice". Many now feel "stuck" with Windows because of the popularity factor, but would prefer Linux or Mac for development. With a VmWare Intel Mac, developers would have whole new markets to exploit. I think that Windows development would die a death of attrition but niche OSes and less popular Linux distros could benefit greatly..

Someone is going to point out that, disregarding OS X, you can do that now and very few people bother. I think that that adding OS X to the mix could be the force that moves things to the necessary tipping point. Sure, some Linux folks are going to ask "what do we need OS X for?" and some Mac folks are going to ask the opposite question (and there are plenty of Windows folks with no idea why this is important), but I see this as something with powerful synergistic possibilities.

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Fri Jun 23 16:14:59 2006:   TonyLawrence


There are strong rumours that Apple will be adding virtualization to the 10.5 release. Right now they mention Parallells (see http://aplawrence.com/Reviews/parallel.html ) on their website; maybe they've licensed technology? We'll know soon.



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