OS X Without the Mac

Traditionally, with we talk about Apple's Mac with the OS, we refer to it as "Mac OS X".

Now, Appleinsider has revealed that Apple has decided to trademark the "OS X" with the "Mac".  As explained, it's likely because Apple's OS exists in multiple devices that are not Macs:  iPhone, iPod Touch, and Apple TV.

Not to mention on a myriad of non-sanctioned devices like my MacWind.  So here's where I think this is interesting.  Just OS X.  

What I'm about to say is mere speculation on my part (I have no sources, this is not a rumor, but just my educationed musing) but consistent with Apple traditon of taking unassuming steps that are laid out on a road map that eventually somewhere.   Can this be the towards possibly licensing OS X for use outside of Mac computers?

Here's why based on Apple's past actions.

• PowerPC to Intel transition - no one thought that was possible.  Blood enemies and all.  Things change.  Time change.
• Apple has AMD chips running OS X in Cupertino.  We have to be very naive to think otherwise.  Cell chips?  You bet.  
• No disk drive.  Now, no user changeable batteries on some Macbooks.  Already, that exists in the iPod and iPhone lines.  And let's not forget no firewire on the unibody Macbooks.  Apple is very sneaky at adopting new technology as they are at dropping older ones.
• USB - Apple wasn't the first to use it but it was certainly the one that introduced the public to it with the original iMac.
• iPod Touch with recoding abilities.  Right.  VOIP is more like it.  iChat Voice or Video years down the line?  Definitely.
• Some experience now with certifying apps - may translate that experience into hardware certifications.

Those are behaviors that Apple has exhibited in the past that had me wondering about this trademark change and potential of OS X licensing.  Nothing in those behaviors sugget OS X on Viaos or Inspirons.  Nor should we just take Apple's word if Apple executives, Cook or Schiller, offers Apple's explanation for this change in trademark.  

Apple likes to surprise people so don't be surprised if OS X licensing is in the cards.  Apple will still make Macs.  And as far as licensing, I'm sure Jobs and Co. has made sure Apple always come out on top - in technical and financial terms.

If this happens, it'll be soon.  Windows 7 is coming soon.  Based on personal judgment and what I'm reading in the press, Redmond may have a remedy for it OS woes. The public is still fuming over Vista and corporations are sticking with XP.  If Apple wanted to take OS marketshare, this is the time.

Source:  Appleinsider

Note:  I know the other side of the argument:  Steve Jobs will never let this happen.  I'm almost with you on this one.  Jobs has never public said he regretted not licensing the Mac OS in the 80s but he has publicly said he marvelled at Microsoft's ability to make deals.  Maybe Jobs, health willing, will try to make a few of his own now.

Apple Announcement For Macworld: We've Got Nothing (Go Home!)

Onox was right (unfortunately) about no new products outside of refreshes of existing Apple products.

I am going to say it now.  No new mobile product from Apple at Macworld.  We might see a refresh of the iPhone with lower entry prices for the 8GB at some later date.  We'll likely see a 32GB model as well.  That's about it.

However, we will not see a tablet, Macblet, iTablet, MacTablet.  Nor will we see anything new multi-touch hardware.

Here's why I think this to be the case.  This week, many Apple sites have reported (when they're not reporting about President-Elect Obama being a Zune user ) Adobe offering a limited presence at MacWorld 2009.  If you recall earlier this fall, Apple execs made a lot of buzz about new products and leaving no umbrella room.  Well, they sort of did that will the iPod line, they lowered the price of the entry Macbook, and will do so with iPhone early part of 2009, either through power prices or added memory capacity.

Now, Appleinsider is reporting a line of other companies not making their presence felt in at the January event (second most important event in January in my mind).  Why is that?

The economy for one.  But as AI mentioned in its post, many of those folks have already paid for the venue and, thus, cost should not be an issue.  Nor is travel expense given that companies like Adobe lives in the area.  So, what could it be?

Hence my guess:  no new products other than Mac desktop refreshes.  New Mac Pro.  New iMac.  Maybe new Mac Mini (or that Mac Hybrid that I wanted).  For any other company, that would be news in of itself but this Apple.  Two years ago, the iPhone.  Last year, the Macbook Air.  This year, nothing.

And let's face it, people are about mobility now.  Desktops don't get people excited like they once did.  Supposedly, attendance will also be down.  I'm guess people are thinking they won't see anything exciting at this year's keynote.

So, let's hope that I'm wrong.

Source:  Appleinsider

MacWind Update: Keep it?

Dave the Mobile Warrior informed me last night that he may get rid of his MacWind.  I was curious to find out why he would do such a thing.  It was his idea that we get the Wind and install OS X (we own our copies).

So, I'm a bit torn now.  Folks, what should I do?  I truly do like the new Macbooks and the 13" LED are just what I was waiting for.

Anyway, I want to run some benchmarks on it before I do get rid of it or something.  We got it on eBay with the live.com 30% discount.  So, the cost came out to about $350 which isn't bad for the configuration. The same Wind was on Amazon for $480 at the time. (Sounds like Dave the Mobile Warrior might do well under the Obama plan...hmm...)

The thing is that it's a not real Mac.  So, there are quirky workarounds that has to be employed to get it working the way it should.  The mic doesn't work so you need a Bluetooth or USB headset.  The Wi-Fi works but through a 3rd party utility.  Otherwise, you'll have to get some specific wireless card that OS X recognizes.

I like it because it's light and small.  I just have an issue with real estate.  It's a nice toy.  That's pretty much what I have say about it.

So, what do you think?

State of Installing OS X on Non-Mac Hardware

Will Apple eventually license OS X?

I don't know but I'm beginning to come around to the idea that maybe Apple may offer OS X to 3rd parties.  Why is that?  Intel.  Since the early days of the Apple-Intel partnership, folks started trying how to efficient get OS X installed on non-Mac hardwares.

So, in a word or two, what is the state of this form of Mac jailbreak?

I think Apple will eventually loosen up but we don't know when that'll be. In the mean time, there are a few solutions with netbooks and an unreleased netbook from the maker of EEE PC that is perfect to be the next Hackintosh.

Read here to find out more.

Mac Hybrid

People are all over the place when it comes to what sercet product, if any, will Apple be introducing that require them to warn investors of lower margins in future quarter?

Some Apple fans think Apple will merely be lowering prices but others think Apple will actually introduce a brand new product that will cause panic and pandemonium among its competitors.

We'll know between now and Macworld 2009, when we think Apple will truly introduce a new product.  In the mean time, we analyze a bit about the Apple TV situation and came up with the "Mac Hybrid".

What is the Mac Hybrid?  Please read at On Apple to find out.

O2 Will Not Subsidize Macbooks With Wireless Rates

Earlier there was a rumor going around that O2 will be subsidizing Macbooks for those who sign up with wireless plans.  Makes a lot of sense; I've been talking about it a lot here.

However, that is an unfounded rumor as reported by The Register .  Nevertheless, it is clear the direction bloggers and perhaps some wireless folks are thinking of as the direction we are headed.

We'll continue to bring you news such as these in case you're interested in jumping on any such deal.

Last year, Compusa subsidized laptops, from $600 to $400, if customers sign up for a two-year voice plan (I don't remember who).  So, why not data this year?

Related Onxo Posts:

• EEE PC with 3G connection.
• Dell works with Vodafone to bring 3G to netbooks.
• 3G modem growth
• Should Apple work with others to bring wireless access and subsidize Macbooks?

Netbooks - Almost Perfect

Camerahacker wrote a post about netbooks from a media perspective.

I encourage people heading on over and check it out.  It's a very good read.  While I am sure netbooks are not made with mobile warriors who deal with media in mind, it would certain be something someone can consider designing one.

Consider that duo core Atom chips from Intel are on the way, there is likely enough power in those CPUs to power some photo editing and, at the minimum, allow SD video to be downloaded.

One thing I would like to add to CH's argument is the battery life.  I think for a device to be consider a netbook, there ought to be a minimum battery life requirement.  Say, 15 hours at the minmum?  It is not an unreasonable number consider they are "netbooks" meant to satisfy 97% of all tasks mobile warriors do:  e-mailing, web surfing, basic office work, etc.

And remember, aside from a small screen, there are Pentium caliber chips in some of these netbooks that can bench-press a lot of hefty tasks.

So, we ask for longer battery life and Firewire (even Sony's four-pin one would suffice).  Anything else?

Note:  Wired got the MSI Wind to run OS X which they find runs faster than XP.  Take a look.  Earlier attempts at installing OS X in Asus' EEE PC were successful if not for the lack of Wi-Fi access.  Wired may have gotten Wi-Fi to work on their Wind.

What Jobs Will Really Announce Tomorrow At the WWDC

While mainstream Mac sites are reporting pretty much the same thing, there are a few dissenters who believe that that things will not be as Apple fans are hoping for.

Plus, it's hard to argue against dissenting opinions when every single line of the iPhone firmware is examined and even every word that is omitted from a banner is scrutinized and debated over.

I love it! But I also think there is also a time when we'd want to come back and take a deep breath and realize that we're not going to get everything we want. Eventually we may get some or all of our wishes by Cupertino but certainly not all at once.

Some realistic announcements. Remember, we're talking about a keynote that is about two hours at most. The bulk of that will be dedicated to reported the great success that OS X Leopard has achieved and maybe a jab or two against Vista. He'll show a new commercial or two with our lovable PC and Mac characters. He'll probably do the same with the new iPhone 2 operating system. He'll probably brought out a couple of high profile geeks, I mean, CEOs whose companies have developed software or games for iPhone 2.

So, it doesn't leave a whole lot of room of different announcements. Like one web pundit who took a leap and ventured to surmised that the new iPhone may not be announced at all. He argument is that this is a conference for developers, not really a forum for new product launches. While I think he does have a point, a very good point in fact, I think it would be a mistake for Apple to talk about the new features for the iPhone without a new iPhone.

Will another even take place the week after or two weeks from the WWDC? I doubt it. Money's on the new 3G iPhone making a grand entrance.

In fact, I will go as far as to say that Jobs will tease us with all the features he'll give us now and make them better via the reality distortion field. Then behind him will be a slide of the world of the map where he'll list the territories where deals are in place where the iPhone will be introduced (dates optional but not likely. You'll see why in a bit). Then he'll brought out a couple of developers, maybe the same folks. Maybe a couple of new ones.

Then to bring it home, there will be one or two CEO's from a Fortune 100 company whose companies has secretly participated in a limited deployment of the 3G iPhone in the field and crow about how great it is and how much more productive it is than anything else they have ever seen.

He'll thank them. Then he'll thank the iPhone team again if he has not already. Then "one more thing". After a dramatic pause and allowing a buildup of angst from the developers and bloggers providing live text feed, he will say, "it's available now. Including the UK and Canada. The rest of the world next week (or something like that)." (See why he can't bring in the availability dates earlier when he rolled out the map of the world now?)

And as much as I would like for it to happen, we'll not see a Mac tablet. Not until Macworld 2009 if that.

I love to be wrong about this.

I am praying for a "before you go, there's something else I want to show you. Remember how upset some of you were when we discontinued the Newton? Well..."