|
|
ONLINE FEATURES
Book Reviews
BW Video
Columnists
Interactive Gallery
Newsletters
Past Covers
Philanthropy
Podcasts
Special Reports
BLOGS
Auto Beat
Bangalore Tigers
Blogspotting
Brand New Day
Byte of the Apple
Economics Unbound
Eye on Asia
Fine On Media
Green Biz
Hot Property
Investing Insights
Management IQ
NEXT: Innovation
NussbaumOnDesign
Tech Beat
Working Parents
TECHNOLOGY
J.D. Power Ratings
Product Reviews
Tech Stats
Wildstrom: Tech Maven
AUTOS
Home Page
Auto Reviews
Classic Cars
Car Care & Safety
Hybrids
INNOVATION
& DESIGN Home Page Architecture Brand Equity Auto Design Game Room SMALLBIZ Smart Answers Success Stories Today's Tip INVESTING Investing: Europe Annual Reports BW 50 S&P Picks & Pans Stock Screeners Free S&P Stock Report SCOREBOARDS Hot Growth 100 Mutual Funds Info Tech 100 S&P 500 B-SCHOOLS Undergrad Programs MBA Blogs MBA Profiles MBA Rankings Who's Hiring Grads | |
FEBRUARY 26, 2003 BYTE OF THE APPLE By Alex Salkever An Open-Source Opening for Apple [Page 2 of 2]
And much as we Mac lovers hate to admit it, many of us need to run Windows programs from time to time. This could be at work where a specific program doesn't have an Apple version, an all-too-regular occurrence. It could be at school, if the entire software bundle a class uses comes from a PC outfit and Mac versions aren't available. I use Virtual PC when I need to run Windows programs, such as music jukebox Winamp, that have Mac versions but are markedly superior on PC platforms. Virtual PC fills a critical need -- which is why the Connectix deal should be a call to action at Apple HQ. Think what would have happened if Microsoft had bought Virtual PC in, say, 1999. Apple would have been in a pickle. Steve Jobs would have had to bow, scrape, and do whatever it took to make Redmond happy and keep Virtual PC going. Or Apple would have had to throw a ton of cash and developers at the problem and build its own Virtual PC. STREET CRED. Oh, how times have changed. Apple now has cash to burn -- billions, really. Today, 5 million Macs run OS X, the new Unix-based operating system that has liberated Apple from its creaky, archaic OS 9. The open-source movement has matured to the point where it's putting out increasingly polished software. And Jobs's troops have street cred in the open-source community for their contributions to the Unix-based Darwin software that powers OS X. Jobs & Co. also recently released its own version of a piece of technology called X11, which allows Unix and open-source Unix-based applications to be translated to Macs far more easily. In fact, X11 should mean that many Unix and Linux apps can simply run on OS X Macs with no code alterations needed. The upshot? Making a Mac-ready version of Bochs isn't just possible but positively easy. Apple has the financial resources to dedicate a few engineers to the task of polishing Bochs to meet Jobsian ease-of-use and boy-is-it-pretty standards. Ultimately, Apple could weave Bochs into the operating system. Perhaps even as early as the upcoming Panther release (you know, the one after Jaguar OS X 10.2), Apple users could pop a Windows CD or DVD into the drive, and OS X would seamlessly launch Bochs and run the Windows code. In fact, I bet Apple could get this process to run smoothly enough that loading PC software would differ only slightly from launching Mac programs. BEWARE REDMOND'S WRATH. Of course, ticking off Microsoft could lead to problems down the road. Redmond has promised it will integrate the Entourage mail client into Microsoft's dominant Exchange server, which allows group scheduling, companywide address book sharing, and other useful functions not currently available to Mac users. That's important for businesses that want to use Macs for some functions in a mainly PC environment, since it allows the two to communicate via the server. If Redmond decides not to continue support for Entourage in Exchange, it would be a big blow to Apple. An even worse possibility -- Microsoft might let Office v.X wither. Microsoft has no reason, though, to get steamed if Apple does build its own Windows emulator. After all, Mac users would still need to pay for a Windows software license. To offer PC emulation in an above-ground fashion, Apple could sell Windows licenses twinned with Bochs software as part of a package deal. That might save Redmond the trouble of keeping Virtual PC for Mac up to snuff and would still send a steady stream of dollars to Microsoft's coffers. What's more, PC emulation is exactly the area where Apple should rely on the open-source community for software and development. Lots of Unix and Linux users need it, so it's highly probable that a strong open-source support group will develop around Bochs or other PC emulation. That gives Apple a ready-made support and research team for Bochs. So, all the stars are in line. Take control of Apple's PC-emulation destiny, Steve. Gather the forces of the open-source revolution, and open the Bochs.
 Salkever is Technology editor for BusinessWeek Online. Regular "Byte of the Apple" columnist Charles Haddad is on temporary leave Edited by B. Kite Get BusinessWeek directly on your desktop with our RSS feeds.  Add BusinessWeek news to your Web site with our headline feed. Click to buy an e-print or reprint of a BusinessWeek or BusinessWeek Online story or video. To subscribe online to BusinessWeek magazine, please click here. Learn more, go to the BusinessWeekOnline home page  | | FEBRUARY |
 Copyright 2003, by The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. All rights reserved.Terms of Use | Privacy Policy |
Printer-Friendly Version
