When can I get one DW?

I have been a longtime fan of the Apple computer since the Apple IIe times.  I used to have an original black and white, all-in-one Macintosh and now, through work, I get to play around with a Mac mini.  I always considered that the Mac did things a little better than most, but like Sony, did not understand how to share the sandbox with the other kids so ended up being left out.  Well, they are left out no more.

I wonder if Gates and company regret saving Apple's hide with that infusion of cash a few years back.  Apple now runs on the same type of hardware (though not all of the same because they are the only manufacturers of their systems, where anybody can manufacture Windows PCs).  I would imagine that game developers are salivating at writing open code that can, for the most part, simply be compiled for either Windows or Mac OS X.  It means increased revenue for them and a more level playing field for Apple because the Mac community would not have to wait so long for game ports anymore.  Of course, with the rise of the gaming consoles, this could all be a moot point.  However, if we expand this same thought, one begins to understand why Microsoft may want to sit up and take notice.

I used to program in C and C++ for a little while (very little) but I understood that it was the flow not the platform that made the difference.  If you program in open source, then you can use a compiler that is optimized for the final platform your program will run on.  This would mean that developers could essentially write code once and be able to sell it for either the Mac or a Windows PC.  No more pains in the Mac community because a certain program was unavailable on Mac.  The Intel-based units should all but eliminate that barrier.  Sure, the various utilities out there may not have an easy path to work in both systems, but the other things should.

Which brings us to this little hybrid program that Apple has initiated.  No, they will not sell Windows on Apple machines (I think they would lose a good number of customers if they did that), but by acknowledging the inevitable (Windows running on these yummy Intel-based systems) and embracing it (by releasing Boot Camp), Apple has definitely made a huge mark in the market and if proven to be just as well working on their hardware, they will have opened up a huge stream of revenue.

Think about it.  I can buy some Apple hardware with the Mac OS X of the day thrown in.  For $200, I can then install Windows on that same hardware.  So, now I have doubled what I can do and how I can do it for shitloads less than just a few months ago.  Amazing.

So, Honey, when can I get one?

Peace.


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