OT - Save the Mac Mini

[Bill Marriott]

Scott,

> I've always thought that they could sell a version of the OS to WinTel 
> users at an inflated price.  Compare what OS X costs compared to what one 
> pays for a full Windows license and there's a bit of profit in it. 
> Possibly (in turns of turnover) as much as they get in hardware.  At least 
> it would be revenue they are not getting now.

Well, they're clearly primed to do that ... a friend of a friend of an 
acquaintance downloaded something from BitTorrent and installed it on a 
drive attached to a Windows machine I'm familiar with....  and when I saw 
the Mac OS X Tiger desktop zoom up on the screen, I had to gasp, and felt a 
little choked up. Dear god. Mac OS X. On a PC. Working just splendidly.

It's just a business decision at this point. Not a technical one. I would 
bet anything that if they released Mac OS X for non-Apple hardware at the 
same price as Windows Vista Ultimate, they would quickly outsell Vista and 
turn the industry on its head. Maybe that's how they're forcing Microsoft to 
do updates for Office on the Mac (or maybe they're not doing this for fear 
Office won't be done for Mac). Who knows. Maybe Leopard?

Meanwhile, if you REALLY wanted a $400 Mac with GREAT specs....