Got a tip for us? Share it...
• • RSS

Lack of 'Mac' Branding Raises Questions. OS X for PCs?

Thursday June 5, 2008 11:10 pm PDT by Arnold Kim
TheAppleBlog raises a question that has been on the minds of many this evening regarding the notable lack of "Mac" branding on WWDC banners. Their conclusion? Is Apple planning on distributing OS X to computers other than Macs?

At MacRumors, we try to avoid purely speculative conclusions, but in so much as it's been on the minds of readers, we'll post this as a discussion piece. A few rumored changes could be positioning Apple for a transition to sell OS X for generic PCs:

- Changing .Mac to Me.com (platform neutral)
- OS X Leopard (not Mac OS X Leopard)
- 10.6 to be Intel only (dropping PowerPC would be necessary)
- "No new features" in 10.6 could be due to resources devoted to just making 10.6 "PC compatible"

Again, this should not even be considered a rumor. Only speculation, and it assumes that the above rumors are, in fact, true. Others also believe that Apple's lack of action against Psystar is also suggestive of these future plans.
[ 316 comments ]

Top Rated Comments

(View all)

Avatar
Digital Skunk
48 months ago
YAWWWN!!!!

Wake me when WWDC is here.

It'd be nice to run a stable version of 10.6 Snow Leopard on an HP Black Bird 002 though. :D
Rating: 0 Positives / 0 Negatives
Avatar
bunyip
48 months ago
My guess is they dropped the Mac to make the point that it's not just on Macs anymore - it's on the iPhone as well, and, dare I say, a new mystery tablet.
Rating: 0 Positives / 0 Negatives
Avatar
syklee26
48 months ago
if Apple doesn't sell full blown OSX and just some stripped down version of OSX to PCs, I think it makes good sense to do that in order to promote the superiority of OSX and the ability to easily integrate Apple goods into full OSX equipped systems.

Give stripped down OSX some features like Time Machine, which won't hurt the sales of Macs.

Plus, another reason to have stripped down OSX is to sell another software products (which other than R&D cost next to nothing to produce) to sell with iPhones.

Apple probably understands that the world of computer tech is more or less merging into phones. They need to hit more market.
Rating: 0 Positives / 0 Negatives
Avatar
zap2
48 months ago
I'm feel a no, but who knows.

The OS X Leopard I feel like is named that because of OS X iPhone. Apple has also called the OS X iPhone , iPhone OS, so I question how important Apple holds the names of their OSes
Rating: 0 Positives / 0 Negatives
Avatar
SirOmega
48 months ago
Well, this is about the most far out rumor I've heard so far.

In other words, NO. Not a snowball's chance in hell. I'll eat my hat.
Rating: 0 Positives / 0 Negatives
Avatar
cwc123188
48 months ago
+ the fact that Apple hasn't made a move on destroying Psystar.:cool:

I think the move to sell OS X to other PC makers could potentially bring down Windows but- it would one day make OS X as bad as Windows IMO.:(
Rating: 0 Positives / 0 Negatives
Avatar
ZrSiO4-Zircon
48 months ago
Mixed feelings if Apple decides to sell to generic PCs....
Initial thoughts: It's the tight integration between software and hardware that makes a OS X so great.
Bringing OS X to the wild west that is the PC hardware world I think would devalue OS X to alot of people.
I dunno, I'll ponder about this :P
Rating: 0 Positives / 0 Negatives
Avatar
Marble
48 months ago
It would sure represent a complete transformation of Apple's corporate strategy. They've had great success with the iTunes+iPod model and the OS X+Mac model (and, for that matter, the combination thereof for the iPhone). Not only can I not see why this would happen, I don't want it to happen, as it would open up a ton of unpredictable variables onto Apple's future, and recall an unfortunate chapter in its past.
Rating: 0 Positives / 0 Negatives
Avatar
Epicurus
48 months ago

Is Apple planning on distributing OS X to computers other than Macs?


No.

If anything Apple is simply trying to divorce the "Mac" name from the operating system at its most basic level. Think back to when the iPhone was first announced and Jobs said "iPhone runs OS X". Not "Mac OS X", just "OS X". Now that the iPhone's OS (whatever you called it before) can sit at the table as an equal player with the Mac's OS (both have full SDKs and an army of developers), there is no longer any reason to be delicate about the distinction. Both OS's are born from the same core (OS X) but run on different hardware, in different working environments, and with different goals. Apple just had the good sense not to follow "OS X iPhone" with its natural extension of "OS X Mac". Thank goodness for that.
Rating: 0 Positives / 0 Negatives
Avatar
4God
48 months ago

....NO. Not a snowball's chance in hell...


Hmmm....fitting that that we just heard of code name Snow Leopard.
Who says a Leopard can't changed it's spots? :D;)
Rating: 0 Positives / 0 Negatives

[ Read All Comments ]