Steve Jobs Claims Several PC Makers Are Begging Him For OSX

[Kent Pribbernow]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000870031101/' target='_blank'>http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000870031101/</a><br /><br /></div>In a recent interview with Forbes Magazine, Steve Jobs makes the surprising claim that three of the top PC makers are asking him to license OSX for use on their PCs. That woke you up, didn't it? He also goes on to say that PC makers are complaining that their customers are sick of Windows security problems, which can't possibly be true. How on Earth could anyone tire from the sea of constant security vulnerabilities and virus attacks? It's what makes the PC experience exciting, I say. <br /><br />But seriously, wouldn't you love to know who those three PC makers are? I'm betting Sony is among them, and probably Dell or Gateway as well. That is of course...if Jobs is telling us the truth. Could he be making this up just to elicit a giant gasp from tech watchers? Maybe, but regardless whether his comment was factual or not, don't look for Jobs's trademark <b>One more thing®</b> to be a partnership announcement with a PC vendor anytime soon.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/panther_cd_black.jpg" />

[Jason Kravitz]

Those customers can just run FreeBSD instead of windows without any modifications :P

guess having software that runs the OS is a part of the draw (meaning more stuff runs on OSX then BSD)

I used to be a huge mac elitist up until a few years ago. My pocketPC game DevilDarts started as a Mac shareware game for OS 8... now I've spent so much cash on windows apps it would be costly to start over again. Can you still play Dark Castle on the OSX? That game was sweet for it's time.

[James Fee]

Those customers can just run FreeBSD instead of windows without any modifications :P I believe Darwin (http://developer.apple.com/darwin/) is or is being ported to Intel.

[jeffd]

make that 3 pc makers and ONE pc user! I don't care at all about having to buy mac hardware.. but I would so love to beable to install osx on my pc.

[Mike Temporale]

According to this InfoWorld article (http://www.infoworld.com/article/05/01/19/HNpcshipments_1.html) the top PC vendors are for EMEA:
Dell,
HP,
IBM (Lenovo Group),
Acer,
Fujitsu (Fujitsu-Siemens),

And for North America(US) it's:
Dell,
HP,
IBM (Lenovo Group),
Gateway (including eMachines),
Apple

*Note: the article talks about "units shipped" but doesn't define what a unit is. Regardless, I think this is a fair listing of the top vendors.

So from this list, the only companies that I can see doing this would be Gateway and maybe IBM. Gateway needs all the help it can get. If that means they sell OSX, then I don't expect them to think twice. IBM might have been interested, but they are too focused on Linux right now, besides they sold the PC business. So it would really be Lenovo's decision, and I'm guessing they would have to get IBM's approval to ship a ThinkProduct with some other OS on it. Unless it's already been outlined in the contract at the point of sale.

HP and Dell are both riding high. I don't see them adding this to their line up. They are all about streamlining, and this would require a lot of change. Helpdesk, design, hardware, blah, blah, blah... Nope, I don't think it's true. But that's just my $0.02 :wink:

[James Fee]

make that 3 pc makers and ONE pc user! I don't care at all about having to buy mac hardware.. but I would so love to beable to install osx on my pc.What, dual boot with XP Pro and OS X? :drinking: :multi:

[sojourner753]

I suppose its possible that other companies want OSX. But what I'm doubtful of is Apple actually giving it to them.

Apple is not a platform company like M$. Its a consumer electronics company. Could they survive the decline in hardware sales?

Not without major restructuring. Thats my $0.02 ... but I may need change. :)

[klinux]

I believe Darwin (http://developer.apple.com/darwin/) is or is being ported to Intel.

Darwin has been available on x86 since 2000. What people really want, in my opinion, are the GUI (Aqua) and the API (Carbon) that lies on top.

After all, if one just wants to a rock stable and secure system, Free/Net/Open-BSD has been available for decades.

[jeffd]

yea, OSX has the looks, and the structure. People just dont want to pay the premium prices. If OSX was on PC, I could gurantee you there would be a huge shift in programing to it. Of course transfering osx to pc would be a monumental task, of all things, were talking significantly different cpu instruction sets.

[Daimaou]

Honneslty I am dreaming of a MAC running XP natively... I love their design but cannot make it work with the OS, I bought mysefl a Mac at home and... pfff I don't get into the OS Logic :?

[sojourner753]

yea, OSX has the looks, and the structure. People just dont want to pay the premium prices. If OSX was on PC, I could gurantee you there would be a huge shift in programing to it. Of course transfering osx to pc would be a monumental task, of all things, were talking significantly different cpu instruction sets.

Actually every now and then I run into a rumor that Apple keeps a intell machine or two running OSX.

Granted this is only a rumor. But why not. Contingency has been known to save lives on occasion. :)

[RWC_Zippy]

Darwin has been available on x86 since 2000. What people really want, in my opinion, are the GUI (Aqua) and the API (Carbon) that lies on top.


And if all they want is a flashy GUI then just download Object Desktop (http://www.stardock.com/products/odnt/) or some other XP GUI changer. They have some great Aqua based packs out there... some total crap ones... but a lot of good ones too.

[rlobrecht]

I think what a lot of people want is a UNIX derivative, with a nice GUI, and a real copy of MS Office. OpenOffice is ok, but its not MS Office.

[klinux]

I have tried Stardock but it does a medocre job of emulating Aqua - which is 3D accelerated but seems to have more depth than the Windows' 2D desktops (with Stardock or not).

As a result, my PCs still look like PCs and my Macs still look like Macs.