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Dvorak says Apple to ditch OS X for Windows
John C. Dvorak has made a career out of posing novel hypotheses and occasionally surprising everyone (including,
one supposes, himself) by striking gold with an accurate one. This time Dvorak says he's convinced that Apple is going
to ditch its much-loved Mac OS X and switch to Windows
for its shiny machines. He puts together a bit of evidence here and there, most especially Apple's recent Intel
switch, and argues that Apple has said all along that it's a hardware company and that it has seen the error in trying
to maintain its own OS. Dvorak postulates that since it's OS X's slick GUI that makes the Mac distinctive, Apple could
"preserve its slick cachet" by grafting an "executive software layer" on top of Windows to make it
feel more Mac-like. As Dvorak points out, the real trouble would be keeping the cult of Mac from rioting, but while he
thinks Jobs could smooth out any dissent among the Mac-faithful, I'm not so optimistic.So, what do you think? Is Dvorak talking crazy talk, or is he really on to something (or is there something altogether more sinister going on here)?
Comments
28
Subscribe to commentsMichaelFeb 16th 2006 3:06PM
Everything the guy does is crazy. Just think Dvorak keyboard.
Jonathan HarfordFeb 16th 2006 3:06PM
Ha ha ha!
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Indeed, what could go wrong with a Microsoft solution?
JoshuaFeb 16th 2006 3:06PM
At what point do tech industy analysts cease being analysts and become morons? Dvorak seems intent on proving that his readers are very forgiving.
Dvorak doesn't seem to know Steve Jobs. Even if you don't like Jobs or Apple, you have to admit that Dell is more likely to ship an OSX computer then Apple is to ship a Windows computer.
...gag...
mandarinFeb 16th 2006 3:08PM
Oooooh boy... here come the cultists!
HIDE!
Felipe CeprianoFeb 16th 2006 3:19PM
Windows? On a mac? By default?
He must be kidding...
Period.
bryan ribasFeb 16th 2006 3:20PM
That is CRAP and I dont think it would ever happen. If so I would havt to go all linux. The cult would riot.
Gardiner WestboundFeb 16th 2006 4:05PM
That's crazy-talk. The Mac faithful HATE everything Microsoft with a passion. The Messiah couldn't bridge the gulf, let alone Steve Jobs.
Changing to the Windows OS would be like swapping a fine Swiss watch for a Hong Kong knock-off, and would be the end of Apple.
denFeb 16th 2006 4:25PM
Microsoft AND Apple should go *nix, and just develop GUIs. Then the OS wars can stop squabbling, and the real innovations will happen, on the Application level.
glitch p-uddingFeb 16th 2006 4:26PM
what he says makes perfect sense. it is well reasoned. the problem is that steve jobs doesn't give a rats ass about beating ms or gaining market share.
he likes the boutqiue computer business and makes insane profits.
for anyone else, this would be 100% correct and dvorak shouldn't be faulted for writing about it.
denFeb 16th 2006 4:38PM
...also. I recall "some" bitching and crying with MAC went OS X. BUT coincidently that move is when Apple really took off as a significant Personal Computing (PC) platform. But if you ask, 99% of the APPLE/MAC cultists don't even know that they aren't even on a "MAC" anymore, they laugh at Linux & Unix, they especially scorn Windows, but they're on technically a *NIX OS, and now are going to be on a Intel (PC) hardware platform. The moral of this story, MACs are just PCs with 'another' OS, and that OS isn't even MAC. It's MAC in name only. They thing they are actually stroked by is the GUI. But us PC (Windows & *nix) users have known all along, it's ONLY GUI. The power is actually in the Platform and Application. In my case, I want something that'll play the GAMES I want to play. I'll buy hardware (platform) accordingly.
TobiasFeb 16th 2006 4:39PM
Total waste of time but still interesting. One major flaw though... Microsoft would never allow Apple to use a different GUI on Windows...
denFeb 16th 2006 4:52PM
RE: 9
I honestly would NOT want to see another desktop
replacement for Windows. We have several already, although they are nice and all, they just add FAT on top of the existing bloat.
Microsoft would never "allow" it, but Microsoft can
try, but they can't tell me how to use MY computer. (Short of selling it illegally, etc. obviously.)
Ruan CaimanFeb 16th 2006 4:52PM
Article's not showing for me, either.
I think it was just after the Intel switch was announced that Dvorak predicted Apple will sell OSX for Wintel Machines. Now he says the opposite, they will ditch OSX in favor of selling pretty Windows machines.
The plus side of this would be that the main reason people have for not buying Mac - lack of software - would disappear. You could have the trendy looking iMac on your desk and still run all your apps.
Apple probably won't sell Windows, but the way web apps are evolving, they probably won't need to in order to support the same software. The next great platform will be neither Windows nor OSX. It is the emerging "Web 2.0" platform. The OS is demoted from a "platform" to a "window manager": showing nifty animations and making "Whoosh" noises when we minimize a window. The real action is taking place on the web browser level, and for now standards are mostly being followed on both sides.
It's funny how many links I try out from "Download" Squad that are web-based apps, not really the "Download and install" - type of apps.
DonFeb 16th 2006 5:10PM
Dvorak has his head up his OS!
EFeb 16th 2006 5:33PM
Does this bozo ever say anything of value... listen to him talk about nothing and his never ending quest to sell out ...this guy would get a Yahoo tattoo on his ass him they paid him enough...
tankFeb 16th 2006 6:20PM
den wrote:
"But if you ask, 99% of the APPLE/MAC cultists don't even know that they aren't even on a "MAC" anymore, they laugh at Linux & Unix, they especially scorn Windows, but they're on technically a *NIX OS"
Actually, it's the other way around. 99% of the cultists know the underpinnings of the OS is FreeBSD. It's the switchers who don't know or care if the OS has changed since the early days. They're just happy to be out from under the mess called XP.
Victor Agreda, Jr.Feb 16th 2006 6:37PM
As a Mac guy, this doesn't really offend me. What offends me is Dvorak acting like this is newsworthy. It isn't. It's wild speculation, which he should reserve for his blog. It's also never going to happen, no matter how many logical fallacies he strings together.
A couple of factoids:
-Dvorak didn't create the Dvorak keyboard
-OS X is UNIX-based (FreeBSD)
-Personally, I don't hate *everything* MS does, just often as not the *way* that they do things. Apple irks me almost as much though. Both are getting better with age.
-The cultists job is to be irrational. That's why they are cultists, not normalists.
John BartkowiczFeb 16th 2006 9:29PM
I think John mentioned this article on TWiT as a "Throw-Away" article. I'm a fan of John and his cynisism.
Is he a prophet? No. Could he be right? Possibly.
AFDFeb 16th 2006 11:04PM
"What offends me is Dvorak acting like this is newsworthy. It isn't. It's wild speculation, which he should reserve for his blog."
His columns in PCMag have always been filled w/speculation for as long as I can remember, and were one of the few interesting things to read in the magazine. This particular column can't be any less newsworthy than Downloadsquad writing an article about it. =)
Pete QuilyFeb 17th 2006 4:41AM
Dvorak. The only paid troll pretending to be a columnist.