I have always wondered if there was a reason why Macintosh doesnt just release it's operating systems for use on IBM based machines. I would be more than willing to try it based on things i have heard but I would be forced to buy a Mac when i have a wonderful machine now. And I know you can get like a clone or something but I would be more interested in something just native only to the machine and not utilized in like a dual boot or a cloned environment. I primarily just want to know if anyone knows why they dont go head to head with microsoft like that? Thank you

Tony

Tony--Florida

http://www.apple.com

Email a certain Mr Steve Jobs

I'm told the official reason is because Apple views itself as a hardware company, not software.

That, and I could understand why they won't do it from a compatibility point of view... I mean, think about all those different hardware configurations, and think about all those driver problems that can arise in Windows because of all those hardware configs and badly written drivers conflicting and everything else. I'm not saying it wouldn't be possible and it wouldn't work, but they're just saving themselves the hassle from that point of view by supporting one set of specific hardware.

the new mac os is based on linux so if you want a macish experiance move to linux. not only will the look and feel be novel but also you will be asking yourself alot of the time what the hell do i here? then get frustrated at the lack of programs and head back to the world of windows. or like most mac uses be happy in you own little limited world and never look back again. i personaly dont like the os or most of the apple products. only lately has my eyes glanced in there direction because the technology is now functional with great ideas. before apple has been about looking good now they look good and function well.

all text needs typos. There there for the reader to find,to distract them from the total lack of content.
google it! wasnt the answer to the question i asked so dont be dense and give me that repl

The poster above me is incorrect in more ways than possible.

its not based on Linux one bit.

Also, if Apple released their software for all platforms, it would suffer the same discrepancies as Windows, Linux, etc. Driver problems and incompatibilities that do arise.

*SHOCK* - Apple, incompatibilities?

Exactly. They see themselves as better than everyone else and -it just works- so in order to achieve this they have to cheat.

And no, it doesn't just work.

Why serve in heaven when you can reign in hell?

The core of OS X is UNIX based (via BSD), Linux is also
UNIX based.

Moving to Linux won't give you a Mac-like
experience at all, but Linux is a mature, usable OS, the
community support is better than MS support by miles and
as for the lack of programs, just because the proprietary
software isn't available for Linux doesn't mean there's
not an open-source free program to do the job.
And thanks to the repository
system it's just one click away!

The real reason OS X isn't available for non-apple
hardware is partially to maintain stability in the OS, but
also that Apple makes most of their money from
hardware. If people could buy Apple software and run it
on third-party hardware, Apple would no longer be able
to afford to develop the software.

---

To the 2 previous posters: if you know nothing about
Macs, and don't like them, why the hell are you answering
questions in the Mac section?

Biscuits are good, but keep the crumbs off your keyboard!

I know enough about Macs to be educated. I owned one for two whole months before I threw in the towel and decided I didn't like it, unlike the plethora of Microsoft haters out there who in actuality have very little experience with PCs. All I'm saying is people take the facts and abuse them. If Apple released their system for the potential millions of hardware configurations like on Windows, I'd like to see it become successful then - because I don't see it happening.

Medion MIM 2080
Toshiba T2130CT
Macintosh Performa 450

All working wonderfully.

OK, when did you try Macs out? Just curious.

I don't think I'd describe myself as an MS hater, although I
definitely have a problem with a lot of that companies
policies. But here is not the place for that.

I've used PCs for years for many different purposes, and I've got decent experience with Windows and several UNIX based (mostly Linux) OSs.

And I'll be the first to say that Macs do have their
problems, the biggest one is the price of the hardware.

But, going back to topic, OS X for non-Apple hardware
will never happen. For the financial reason; it would just
hurt Apple too much. And because the reputation Macs
have for "just working" IS based on truth.

Back in the early days of OS X it was really buggy, but for
the past few releases the OS has been solid as a rock;
though the big Intel switch over caused a few problems.

I've found that most of the problems people have with Macs are really just based on unfamiliarity with the UI. A UI which as you use it you realise to be one of the most logical, and elegant, interfaces of any operating system. And getting more functional and elegant all the time.

Enough of the rant.

Biscuits are good, but keep the crumbs off your keyboard!

When did I try Macs out? Try reading my post again.

Medion MIM 2080
Toshiba T2130CT
Macintosh Performa 450

All working wonderfully.

you just said:

"I owned one for two whole months before I threw in the
towel and decided I didn't like it"

No mention of when that was. I'm just curious about what
version of OS X you were using when you tried Macs. I've
heard a lot of people making complaints about OS X
problems they had with early versions of the OS, in the
early days there were lots of bugs in the system, and
these bugs caused stability problems, which made some
people dislike the system.

If you are one of these people I'd advise you to have
another look; if you tried a more recent version (OS 10.3
or higher) you would have used basically the same OS as
Macs come with now so if you gave it a good try and then
decided you didn't like it, fair enough.

Biscuits are good, but keep the crumbs off your keyboard!

it was at the beginning of this year, it was a Mac Mini, with OS X 10.5 Leopard.

I also before that ran an iBook G3 with Panther and OS 9, and didn't like it either.

I prefer the classic ones. The only Mac I've kept is my Performa 450, which is a fantastic computer. We also used those ones in primary school as well [elementary school if you're from the US] and they were great. Brings back good memories.

Didn't mean to get your back up, I just get a bit pissy at some people these days...

Medion MIM 2080
Toshiba T2130CT
Macintosh Performa 450

All working wonderfully.

Sounds like you've at least given OS X a real
chance, which is all anyone can ask, and decided
it wasn't for you. I can understand that, I feel the same way about Ubuntu Linux, I tried it, I acknowledge
that it's a well thought out OS and pleasant enough to
use, but it's just not for me.

And I wish you the best of luck in your future dealings with Microsoft. ;)

Biscuits are good, but keep the crumbs off your keyboard!