"Aqua is proprietary and thus IS NOT SUBJECT to GPL."
Very true, in its current form, but to redevelop it to run on Linux, they would need to use at last some Linux APIs which are subject to GPL.
"Should I need to re-install, XP can’t won’t activate"
Why do you need to activate? It doesn 't need to be activated in order upgrade. Maybe you should do some fact finding. :)
"In what way does that make them NOT a manufacturer of software?"
Apple produces software only for the purpose of enriching the Mac user experience. Not directly as a profit making exercise.
The profits are indirect via hardware sales. It is not their core business.
" I think they’d do well to spread both their software and OS X to the PC"
If software was their core biuseinss I'd agree with you.
"But you’re advocating against that very system while wishing it would happen"
I am not advocating against anything. I am telling it how it is.
"But how would OS X do in a truly open and competitive market? Could it survive and compete toe to toe with Windows? I think it could"
I do too.
The problem is that that world doesn't exist. What Micheal Dell says in public and what really would happen are two very different things.
Lets face it, the Mac just a very stylish PC now that the switch to Intel has happened. Its unique ability to run OS X, legally, is its defining feature. Without that the Mac would go into decline and OS X with its purpose gone would too.
"They don’t want Apple to really compete"
Apple doesn't need to compete. They have their own market, its us.
"They are also a software manufacturer."
They only produce software for Macs (except for iTunes)
Software development which is subsidised by Mac and iPod sales. If there wasn't a hardware sale to go with it, OS X would be much more expensive.
"Yep. Just look at how Microsoft has completely killed off Windows because it only sells the OS and not the hardware."
MS survives on software sales alone because they have a captive market. They have locked in PC manufacturers with OEM Windows licensing deals. It is almost impossible to buy a brand name PC without Windows. Except for a Mac.
Mr and Mrs Joe Public are not going to go out and buy another OS when the PC they just bought has an adequate, seemingly free, one already.
Linux is free and it has barely made an impression in the desktop OS segment. Server-side is a different story however.
If PCs came without an OS we would have a vibrant and diverse OS marketplace where software producers would be vying for our OS dollar. People would choose their OS according to their needs. Operating Systems would be far more advanced due to increased competition.
Unfortunately that is not the case, MS does have a stranglehold on the OS marketplace and that isn't going to change anytime soon.
Further to the Aqua on Linux discussion, another problem is that Linux is GPL. Were Apple to develop Aqua for Linux they would have to release the source code into the public domain. It is highly unlikley that they would be able to develop anything for Linux without some GPL dependency.
Where's the profit in that?
The real magic of the OS X is that old thing where "everything just works". The reason for that is the fact that it is developed for a closed hardware platform. Mac hardware is a known quantity and OS X is optimised to take advantage of it. If some other hardware is introduced, stability will suffer. Just like Windows.
"1) Upgrades, after installed over XP VOID the XP license so it cannot be used again."
Hello!! If you pay for an upograde of the license, after the upgrade you don't get to keep using the old one, thats way its supposed to work.
If you want to keep using the old one, you should to buy a full license for the new one.
"3) You cannot make backup copies of your DVD movies. So after it’s scratched or warped you have to re-purchase it."
You can't do that with OS X alone either.
Third party sofware will be available for Vista to do that just as it is currently for XP and OS X.
I am no MS fan, but if your gonna pick on em, at least make valid points. You only degrade the impact of your other points by not doing so.
Aqua on Linux:
Desirable as it may be for some people, Aqua on Linux or OS X on non-Apple hardware is just a bad idea and isn't going to happen.
Apple is a hardware manufacturer. It is never going to make the kind of profit selling OS X alone as it does selling a whole computer with OS X installed.
Mac (and maybe iPod) sales pay for OS X development. Your $129 per copy doesn't cover it.
If everyone one could have OS X on their generic PC, why would they bother to buy a Mac?
Mac sales would decrease.
The Mac would become unprofitable, then that division of Apple would die off and so would OS X
as a computer OS.
Why Apple Really Needs to Do Something Special Now
Why Apple Really Needs to Do Something Special Now
Why Apple Really Needs to Do Something Special Now
Why Apple Really Needs to Do Something Special Now
Why Apple Really Needs to Do Something Special Now