pbs.org — Robert X. Cringely offers an intriguing reason behind Apple's recent strategy of Boot Camp: '... I also believe that Apple will offer in OS X 10.5 the ability to run native Windows XP applications with no copy of XP installed on the machine at all. This will be accomplished...by Apple implementing the Windows API directly in OS X 10.5.'
Apr 21, 2006 View in Crawl 4
chewie67Apr 22, 2006
"Sounds like wild dvorak conjecture. I want whatever they're smokin. It must be the good s**t."When it comes to Apple, Dvorak has as pretty good track record of late. You do want what they're smoking.
booc0mtacoApr 22, 2006
Talk about innovative...I heard there were games for the mac laptops that used the gyroscopes in there as controls... Try that on a dell :-)
geminitojanusApr 22, 2006
"Re-implementing the ENTIRE Windows API (and everything that goes with it) is a HUGE undertaking."And the essentials have already been completed with the WINE project. Why couldn't NeXT/Apple have done the same in the same time frame [truth be told, they could do it better, as they've actually got the ability to hire people to do nothing but re-implement the Win32 API]."To make something that is truly compatible seamlessly with Windows apps would take many many years (definately longer than the 5 year window they had a patent cross-license)."First of all, patents don't come into this at all; you can't patent an API (yet), and the US Justice Department said that Microsoft had to open up parts of its API that were previously lock, stock, and baracaded inside of Windows so that Linux and other implementations would become inter-compatible. Secondly, and here's where it gets sticky; If you believe the rumors about Red Box at NeXT, they've had a compatibility layer since before their acquisition by Apple, and thusly, could have been implementing a compatibility layer since nearly the beginning of WINE, which means they could have been developing an internal copy of it for as long as Windows has existed (Windows in a modern since; Win9x/NT).So it's entirely /possible/ Apple has this technology. It's entirely possible they built this technology into Leopard. It becomes even /more/ likely once you see that all of the previous NeXT moves are slowly starting to work their way through Apple (the switch to Intel processors, Blue Box'd support for Classic applications, etc). It could be that this was the whole reason behind buying NeXT over BeOS in the first place (rather than just getting back Steve Jobs).
piscineroApr 22, 2006
This is my prediction. R.X. Cringley's predictions are not going to become a reality. Never going to happen. Mac Os X 10.5 Leopard will be an evolution of the current OS. New features, some more eye candy supported by the new hardware but nothing else. Cringley is reading to much into the whole Boot Camp issue. People wanted to run Windows in their new Intel Macs and Apple provided an easy way to do it. No support (at least while in beta) and nothing else. This helps sell computers, I know of two switchers already who have bought Mac book Pros because they can run Windows and that gives them some confidence in taking the leap.I switched to Mac two years ago, never looked back. The system is steady and reliable. I can do more than what I was able to do in Windows and became more productive. That being said results may vary depending on your particular area of work. Mine is science and engineering. Those who like gaming or particular applications available only for Windows could set with a PC or a dual-booting Macintel but I'm not sure that is the best solution. IMHO Mac Os X is a more advanced and reliable OS as compared to Windows and Linux, some could have a different opinion which I respect fully. Changing the kernel and building a compatibility layer for Windows will incorporate stability issues and will bloat the OS. Not everyone needs to run windows. For those who need to do it Apple is offering dual booting. Those who don't need it (my case) keep on with their life's and don't have to suffer of a bloated or unstable OS.Apple has maintained consistent to a design philosophy and their OS has evolved steadily to a very nice and robust state. The switch to Intel haven't, or shouldn't really change the experience of the end user. Incorporating this compatibility layer would go against to what Apple has achieved in the last decade and in my opinion it's unnecessary.
johnnysoftwareApr 27, 2006
Yeah, right. And I believe that I will be able to watch live television shows broadcast from anywhere on earth using no camera and no playback equipment.Honestly, why do people even pay attention to these pundits anymore?