Mac OS: The End is Near?

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1923151,00.asp

So perhaps, with this prediction in mind, what would the Mac users say if the platform OS was scraped for Windows given the facts listed here?

I would say that Dvorak is a laughable fool who has made Apple bashing his life's mission ever since he had a tiff with Jobs years ago. I would also mention that this idiot has also been predicting the downfall of Apple for years.

Let's assume that Apple actually did do this, then that would be the end of Apple, period.
Nothing left to say really is there ? Except that I'll buy a PC at that time.

IMO it's more likely we'll see a version of OS X released for windows machines. At which time I'll buy another PC !

You can't spell Dvorak without the letters D-O-R-K.

This is just one of those windy columns he's famous for. Next week it will be about how Bill Gates secretly uses MacOS at home or how OS/2 is sure to make a big comeback.

What facts? Dvorak has no facts.

First, Dvorak's a moron. Apple makes most of its money on hardware sales, and it sells hardware by making really really good machines that are closely integrated with the OS. Peripheral makers don't get to dictate how drivers work; they have to follow the standard interfaces. This is why Mac OS X is so much more stable than Windoze. What chip happens to be inside doesn't matter a hell of a lot; Mac went from 68000 to 68030 to PowerPC, and now Intel Core Duo. But there's far more to a computer than the CPU, and that's where the difference lies.

Apple's going to continue to tie the hardware and software together. A few morons will try to run low-tech third-world Windoze (or Linux) on superior Apple hardware (currently, doing so destroys the BIOS and ruins the machine! Hahaha!), but frankly that's just stupid when Mac OS X exists. Apple will never allow Michael Dell's piece-of-shit white-box PCs to run Mac OS X, because the crappy PC hardware would impair its functioning... It wouldn't be as bad as Windoze, but it'd be broken. Why anyone buys PC hardware is beyond me; it's unreliable garbage, until you get into extremely expensive stuff, and then you can't get drivers.

Second, if in some fantasy world Jobs left Apple and they hired Dvorak as their CEO, no sane Mac user would willingly drop back 15 years to the ancient technology of Windoze. At this point, most would probably flee to desktop Linux (especially the easy-to-use distros: Linspire, Mandriva, SuSE). Linux is only 5 years behind Mac OS X.

Huh? I was pretty sure OS X and other linux variants already ran on PCs?

The core OS, Darwin, does run on PCs.

("Linux variant"? Darwin is based on BSD and the Mach kernel, not Linux.)

It's always been rumored that Apple has kept an Intel-based version of OS X -- not just Darwin, but the whole software stack -- running in-house, though probably on a custom machine, *not* a stock PC. There's a lot more to PC compatibility than just running the Intel instruction set.

Dvorak is a professional troll. (Nice work if you can get it.) Don't take what he says seriously.

If Ulrika was here she'd be crucifying you all RIGHT NOW.

Ah my bad I should have said unix variant.

As noted by Liberty Tesla, OS X is totally unrelated to Linux. Linux isn't even Unix. OS X is a proper Unix system, descended through the BSD (Berkeley) branch (as opposed to the AT&T System V branch). Linux is a totally unrelated POSIX-compatible (the Unix programming and shell interface standard) OS hacked together by a drunken Finn and some random people he met online; Linux isn't bad, it works better than Windoze, but it's not as reliable as a real Unix.

OS X compiled for Intel chips could, in theory, run on a white-box PC, though you'd have to pick the hardware very carefully to have something compatible, and it would still have many problems, and generally be a terrible experience. However, OS X detects when it's not running on Apple hardware and dies with a message that theft is illegal and wrong. Apple's business depends on locking their OS to their hardware, whatever that hardware happens to be currently.

I think it would be great. I'd start buying Mac's again.

Briana Dawson

I could have told you the end was near in the early 1990s when they stopped making games for the Amiga. That meant IBM's specs had won. (The Apple II had lost out somewhat earlier, but it could have been because the GS was a disaster and that Mac was the new benchmark... which it was.)

One can tell the future by watching the state of video gaming... notice picture cellphones came out after the Gameboy Color?

Theory? It's not theory, it's practice. It's BEEN practice. OS X did not initially (and only in most recent versions) fail to run because of hardware. From what I've read it runs pretty decently too considering what a typical user has for PC hardware varies drasticly person to person.

There are even well thought out guides that take you step by step through the process of installing OS X onto pc hardware. Which hardware is required at a minimum and what runs well, and all that jazz.

Agreed



*yawn* Another PC basher? Or could you just not afford something decent & buy the first cheap Dell you could? Or just frustrated you lack the technical know-how to build one?? Expensive stuff? well DUH! Technology is always expensive! What do you call expensive? $50? $100?

I was impressed with the Power Mac G5. Till I saw the video card in it. No Dual Video cards? What about Quad-Video Cards? 1000 Watt power supplies? How about 8 Gigabytes of RAM or more? Just for your consumer level PC, that is.



I dunno. I only bother to restart my system once a week. Sometimes less. It's on 24/7. So far no problems.

Linspire is.. ick. Mandriva was Ok. SuSE is fine. I'll stick to Redhat.

And BTW- I highly doubt Apple would drop OS X. It's like saying M$ is gonna drop Windoze.

Yes, this is all just bizarre conspiracy theory. OS X is a terrific selling point for Apple; without it they'd just be another premium hardware manufacturer, and have to deal with all of the compatibility problems that everyone else does, which they're not set up for. The only reason they'd drop OS X for Windows is if they wanted to become just another premium hardware manufacturer, at which point Sony would kill them.

Apple's strategy at the moment seems to be to provide a complete "digital lifestyle" kit, which can be used with third party equipment, but doesn't have to be. Someone who buys a Mac gets OS X and iLife as well, everything fits together, everything works, no downloading drivers or installing codecs or any of that guff (well, until you try to play your first AVI, that is, but people who have scrappy AVIs in odd codecs tend to know about different players). You have to be the one who designs the OS to do all that, or at least it's an immense advantage.

NEVER EVER pay attention to a thing John C Dorkcrack says. He has some kinda personal issue with Apple obviously. I wouldnt even say he is just being a passionate Windows user, or even Windows biggot...he just hates Apple for some reason.

So coming to this, at most of you say the Mac OS isn't going to die out anytime soon. I guess that begs the question, what makes it keep itself alive?

I think mainly the only reason the Mac is still here is because its a cheaper solution for most educational institutions to have around, also many of them use them in their graphics and art classes. So in a sense, I suppose Mac has the upper hand when it comes to graphics design, but for anything else, why would I think differently?

I haven't really seen a big push for Mac in years except because of the iPod. Why would I want to switch to Mac just because I have an iPod?

If you don't know then don't switch, just continue to troll and give us all a laugh.

So I'm putting a reasonable argument, yet the sign of 'trolling' always comes to play. I don't know so thats why I'm asking. I'd say thats reasonable isn't it no? I didn't come out and say the end is near, I'm asking for opinions.

I don't see that as trolling.

You also don't see Mac OSX as a superior OS to Windows. So there ya go.

And thats why so many people are using it right?

Just the elite, hon. Just the elite.

Laughing My Ass Off

Actually it would be elitist.

Einsman is right - he is asking reasonable questions - the person acting like a troll is you.

Dam right !! LOL

Don't worry I'm sure some fish will come along to bite your bait