Apple Inc (AAPL)

[langostino]

We don't yet know

... what steps Apple will use to tie OS X to Mac boxes only and/or prevent it from working if installed on non-Apple boxes.

It makes sense to believe that the steps taken in the current developer versions of OS X and the developer x86 boxes are not the same as will be unveiled in a couple weeks ... since those have already been cracked. Beyond that, though, it's all speculation and educated guesses. Rumors that Apple will include special hardware dongles and mate the OS to them make sense.

What doesn't make sense, though, is that whatever hardware modifications Apple makes to aid in locking the OS, would necessarily prevent Windows or Linux or Solaris from being installed. On that we just don't know.

But we do know the basic consequences of the choice -- not only would it probably be unnecessary, it definitely would be (IMO) a poor idea from a strategic standpoint.

There are tons of people who work in the Windows environment because they have Windows-only apps they need. Making sure Windows can be installed on the new Macs means those people can make Mac hardware their next purchase for only the additional cost of a Windows license, and won't sacrifice that software.

There are also plenty of people out there who would have switched by now by simply don't want to shell out several thousand bucks to buy the Mac version of their existing software libraries. Apple blocking them from installing Windows on the new MacIntels would be keeping that several thousand dollar barrier to a potential hardware sale, when it could just as easily accomplish what it needs to in a way that could remove the barrier.

JMHO, but I think Apple has plenty of avenues to try and lock Mac OS to Mac-manufactured boxes that doesn't block Windows from being installed on them.

Not to mention that Apple is not unaware that Schiller's guidance has now been relied on and built into people's expectations, and going back on it would entail a pretty good backlash. If they were going to do something different than Schiller guided, it stands to reason they'd have subsequently had someone make a public comment in an interview to pull back from that.