Wiggler

Στο γνωστό site του ο Cringely αναφέρει ότι όχι μόνο δεν είναι φήμη αλλά γίνεται ήδη σε εργαστήρια της Apple. Αναφέρω εδώ τα σημαντικότερα κομμάτια του κειμένου αλλά και παρακάτω γιατί η Apple είναι καλυμμένη νομικά να το κάνει αυτό.

• Now for the interesting part: I believe that Apple will offer Windows Vista as an option for those big customers who demand it, but 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 not by using compatibility middleware like Wine, but rather by Apple implementing the Windows API directly in OS X 10.5.

• I’m told Apple has long had this running in the Cupertino lab — Intel Macs running OS X while mixing Apple and XP applications. This is not a guess or a rumor, this something that has been demonstrated and observed by people who have since reported to me.

• Remember Steve Jobs’ first days back at Apple in 1997 as Interim-CEO-for-Life? Trying to save the company, Steve got Bill Gates to invest $150 million in Apple and promise to keep Mac Office going for a few more years in exchange for a five-year patent cross-licensing agreement? The idea in everyone’s mind, of course, was that Microsoft would grab lots of Apple technology, which they probably did, and it quite specifically ended an Apple patent infringement suit against Microsoft. But I’m told that the exchange wasn’t totally one-way, that Apple, in turn, got some legal right to the Windows API.

• That agreement ran for five years, from August, 1997 to August 2002. Even though it has since expired, the rights it conferred at the time still lie with the respective companies. Whatever Microsoft grabbed from Apple they can still use, they just aren’t able to grab anything developed since August 2002. Same for Apple using Microsoft technology like that in Office X. But Windows XP shipped October 25, 2001: 10 months before the agreement expired.

Στο τέλος αναφέρω και τη γνώμη του site MacDailyNews για το άρθρο.

• MacDailyNews Take: No copy of Windows XP to buy and no need to even take a chance on Windows Vista means no money for Microsoft. As we have always said, even as many short-sightedly threw in the towel, the war is not over. And, yes, we shall prevail. For the naysayers we trot out our favorite example once again: In 1929, Ford held just over 61% of the U.S. market for automobiles. GM’s market share stood at just 12%. Ford was thought to be invincible, with GM regarded as a niche auto maker. But, in 1936, just seven years later, Ford held 22% of the market for new automobiles while General Motors held a 43% share. No company is invincible. Not even Microsoft.