<p>I was wondering if having an Apple laptop next year would be an inconvenience...I'm looking into getting the g4 powerbook...</p>
<p>Sent S off with an Apple laptop freshman year. Sophmore year had to replace it and told him he could have either Apple or PC. He opted for another Apple. Said he had less trouble with viruses than the PC users. He also has an iPod but they are cross platform now too.</p>
<p>So short answer is no it doesn't appear to be a problem though you should probably get Microsoft Office installed. Buy it through the school and it is or at least was real cheap. Think they still have the same deal.</p>
<p>In fact if you get a PC you might want to get XP Professional through the school if it doesn't come with it.</p>
<p>Things are changing with the new deal between Apple and Intel. Check it out before you decide. Soon everything will be cross-platform. (Not this year, though.)</p>
<p>My son, a serious Apple guy, thinks they're selling out!</p>
<p>Yes will be interesting to see how it works out. Presumably if the hardware is intel you could install and boot Windows. The question is will Apple put anything proprietary on the board. If they don't then you could probably install OSX on any or at least many Wintel boxes. Would Microsoft tolerate that? Would Microsoft kill Office for the Mac? How many current Mac developers will make the architecture switch?</p>
<p>Cloning almost killed Apple a few years back and the switching to OSX was very hard on their customer base too. This move could put them much more directly in competition with Microsoft and I am not sure they can survive it. On the other hand IBM and Motorola haven't been very reliable partners or suppliers.</p>
<p>Apple will not allow OS X to run on anything other than a Mac. That would be financial suicide. Apple makes 80% of their profits from hardware, and if people could run OS X on cheap generic PCs, they would do that. It would destroy Apple. (as patuxent notes, that's what the cloning program nearly did)</p>
<p>They don't care if you run Windows on an Intel-based Mac. Someone will surely make a hack so you can do that fairly soon after the Intel Macs come out.</p>
<p>Most Mac developers (I'm one myself) will gladly make the transition because Apple has made it very easy for us. Developers will continue to support PPC Macs for years, while making native Intel software too. At the WWDC keynote where the news was broken, Steve Jobs had various high-profile guests on stage, affirming their commitment to developing for Intel Macs: the manager of Microsoft's Mac Business Unit, the CEO of Adobe, and the co-founder of Wolfram (makers of Mathematica). In short, having the software you need is not a concern.</p>
<p>I don't think they're selling out. It's a risky move, considering the lampooning Apple has given Intel processors in the past, and Apple zealots' fanatical hatred of all seen as being opposed to the Mac (Intel included). But it's true, I think the PowerPC processor has hit a brick wall and Apple needs to move on. If Intel will help them do that, then so be it and all power to 'em.</p>
<p>Bottom line: Apple has learned from their past. The transition will be almost invisible to end users. If you want to buy a Mac now, go ahead. PowerPC support won't disappear overnight.</p>
<p>As I'm sure you know, TD, you can already run Windows on an Apple via a virtual Windows Desktop program.</p>
<p>You mean Virtual PC? Yeah, there is that, but it's much slower than if you were to run Windows natively on the processor. Now I'm thinking more along the lines of dual-booting than emulation, like Mac OS 9 as opposed to the Classic Environment in OS X.</p>
<p>Yes, that's the correct name. Slower, sure, but better than a PC to the mind of someone who loves his G5 and needs to run a couple of Windows programs!</p>
<p>Well the one thing I will say is there is not much money in hardware. Gross dollars yes but not much profit. If Apple doesn't put a chip on the meotherboard then they open OS X up to the 98% of the hardware already on the market. Cloning was a bad idea because it only undercut their own market back when they did it but a gradual abandonment of the hardware market in return for opening up vast new software market - now that is another thing. But not sure Microsoft would stand for it.</p>
<p>Apple will undoubtedly make sure you can't clone the OS and run it on another Intel box. They will probably put a proprietary chip on the motherboard. The buzz I hear is the speculation as to whether you will be able to dual-boot another OS on the Apple box. With a sufficiently large enough hard drive you could potentially install Windows or Linux in another partition. Hardware geeks would LOVE this.</p>
<p>Cloning didn't work before because the OS would only run on Motorola and IBM chips. Why not release OS X for Intel processors, no propritary chips? Imagine buying a Dell or Gateway or HP with a choice of operating systems. The hardware guys would probably love it. Does Gates and Microsoft have the stones to risk another big federal court case if they yank Office for OS X or squeeze the hardware guys to crush the challenge?</p>
<p>Cloning didn't work before because when someone bought a Mac clone, the money for the OS would go to Apple but the hardware money went to the clone manufacturer. This did nothing to help the Mac OS's market share, but at the same time it took a huge chunk out of Apple's hardware money, which is most of its income.</p>
<p>Something to think about, though: what if Apple had made a cloning program before Microsoft Windows ever came out? The market was new at that time, as opposed to already dominated by MS in the mid-90's when cloning actually was introduced. Imagine if the Mac OS were as widespread as Windows is nowadays. Ah, heaven.</p>
<p>I do kind of fear what might happen if Apple grows enough to get Microsoft nervous. Right now Microsoft just sees Apple as an annoying little bug, despite all the buzz about how Tiger kicks Longhorn's ass and came out a year and a half before. If Apple takes a significant bite out of MS's market share, MS could clamp down. God help Apple if that's what happens.</p>