Windows on Intel Macs now official

[Dimension Zero]

You have to ask yourself, why would Apple go out of their way to officialy rubber stamp something that would turn around and bite them in the ass?

Apple makes the majority of their money from iPOD sales. Yes, they make some money from iTunes running on Windows but their bread-and-butter is now iPODs.

Apple has always been stubborn to play well with others. However, due to the success of the iPOD maybe they are slowly becomming a hardware company?

We will see a ton of Apple computers running Windows simply because Apple is trendy and looks cool. I would love to replace all those biege and black PCs out there with a sleek looking Apple. Apple's hardware is always top-notch as well. By running Windows they are going to see a huge increase in hardware sales which is why their stock went up 8% after this announcement.

Have you tried to run Mac OSX in a Windows environment? It's better than it was under OS9 but still doesn't hold a candle to Windows. Corporate environments run Windows because it simply works better. Everything is automated with Windows XP and Windows 2003 server.

I think Apple is doing this so they will sell a lot more hardware and make a lot of money like they did with the iPOD.

OSX will still have a cult following but I doubt when given the choice users will choose OSX. Why should they choose OSX? You are limited to fewer applications and introduce more compatiblity problems. This is because OSX is such a small percentage of the market.

Believe me, I hate to see this happen. I really wish OSX was 50% or more of the market share. If it was, OSX would be kicking Window's arse.

But, the only way Apple will ever catch up is if they buy a time machine back to the early 80s and allowed people to make clones. Apple was always ahead of Microsoft but held on too tightly to control. Microsoft took off like wildfire since anyone could build a PC and the rest is history.

Microsoft makes so many poor products it's not a matter of who is best. It's who has the largest numbers at this point..... It sorta reminds me of the success of mp3/wma/aac over any of the high resolution formats (DVD-A, SACD, etc.)

What's cheap and easy wins.

[Howardk]

In my opinion letting Windows run on Mac will boost apple hardware sales and convert a percentage of Windows users to OSX. . . This gives Windows only users one more reason to move to a Mac. . . eventually many of these Windows only users will switch to OSX, once they spend some time in the enviroment and see the simplicity and beauty compared to Windows. Long time Mac users will boot to Windows only out of necessity, like to run a coporate application, and then reboot back to OSX.

IMO, this is not the end, but another well thought out beginning for apple.

[froyo]

By rockridge

They may not have a choice.
When Apple came out with the iPod, it was Mac only. Once they made it available to the Windows crowd, sales went through the roof.

Hello. Yes rockridge as you can see in my post, I also made the point that iPods and iTunes became massive when they opened them to PC's. However I don't follow your logic though. How does that relate to Apple officialy allowing Windows to be installed on a Mac machine? It's a different dynamic. Apple sells machines with Intel chips and a Mac OS. They make no money from Boot Camp, unless of course they start selling Boot Camp, but the profit would be minimal. They are not forced to do anything. I don't quite understand the point you were trying to make.

By Dimension Zero

Apple makes the majority of their money from iPOD sales. Yes, they make some money from iTunes running on Windows but their bread-and-butter is now iPODs.

That's probably debatable. I would venture that maybe iPod's are their highest profit generating item, but I believe if you look at their financials, computer hardware is still their highest gross revenue. But iPod's are definitely their most profitable venture. It's actually a separate division of Apple now. And as was pointed out already by many including me, iPods did not become massive until they were PC compatible. And also, I wouldn't poo poo iTunes, they have sold a boatload of songs. What was that milestone a few months back, 100 million? That's not chump change and that again happened only after iTunes became PC compatible.

However, due to the success of the iPOD maybe they are slowly becomming a hardware company?

Apple has always been a hardware company. They sell hardware. Mac's. The only thing that is software only that Apple sells is Final Cut. By that I mean that you can buy Final Cut without having to buy Apple hardware. It's a software sale. However, you can't run any Apple software without Mac hardware, even Final Cut. Everything else has always been based on hardware sales. Even iTunes is somewhat tied to iPod sales which of course is hardware. Just like Digidesign, Apple makes their money selling customers hardware. Always has.

Apple's hardware is always top-notch as well.

That is definitely debatable. You can definitely find hardware components on PC's that are just as good if not better and much cheaper most of the time. Also you can pick and choose what you want, not what Apple dictates. That has been one of the main points of contention in the past.

By running Windows they are going to see a huge increase in hardware sales which is why their stock went up 8% after this announcement.

That is definitely very debatable in the big picture of the entire computer market. I don't see how that can happen. Forget audio professionals or video or graphic professionals. Why would the regualr Joe on the street buy a Mac for $2500 when he can get a Dell for $700 that will do just as well for their purposes? I definitely don't see the public in general running out to buy Mac's just because they can install Windows now. Mac's are still way overpriced compared to run of the mill PC's. Most people would rather do the opposite of that scenario, that is buy their $700 Dell and install a Mac OS. Now that I can definitely see being massive. That is the same scenario as iPods and iTunes. Yes in that case, I would agree. However, this is not that case. Most people will stay with the more affordable PC hardware. Mac Mini's will probably see a jump in sales maybe, but they are somewhat limited and will not make a huge impact in the big picture.

I think Apple is doing this so they will sell a lot more hardware and make a lot of money like they did with the iPOD.

Again, this is not the same scenario as the iPod. The iPod is priced just like other MP3 players, maybe a little more but not much, their prices are certainly competitive. They also have the 'killer app' that everyone wants, namely iTunes and the ease of use of the interface of the iPod. However as we have all commented, if the iPod and iTunes was still Mac only, it would not be the same thing it is today. This scenario is different. Mac hardware is still infinitely more expensive than your run of the mill PC. No matter how 'cool' Mac's and Mac OS may be, they are not cool enough to make the average guy shell out over $2000 if he can basically get the same product, sometimes better, for $800 or less. This move changes none of that.

OSX will still have a cult following but I doubt when given the choice users will choose OSX. Why should they choose OSX? You are limited to fewer applications and introduce more compatiblity problems. This is because OSX is such a small percentage of the market.

In the big picture of the entire market of computers OSX is relatively puny. In multimedia it is the OS du jour. It's a major force. Developers for audio, graphics and video would be stupid to drop Mac OS. They would see sales drop. This move doesn't affect that either. It doesn't force the regular Joe to buy a Mac or a Mac OS and it will not affect software development for a Mac OS either.

I really wish OSX was 50% or more of the market share.

I highly doubt that's what Steve Jobs is trying to do. Let me rephrase that, if he is trying to achieve that, then he should be locked up in a mental institution. Apple has been a magnificent success by all accounts and they have never been more than 5% of the market. They have made their stockholders a lot of money and their excutives are rich. Very rich. And their whole identity is based on being different, being the small guy with the unique workflow. Taking half the pie negates all that. They would no longer be the little guy or different, they would be the big guy, the same as the other guy. It's also a supremely unrealistic goal when you consider that Microsoft sells software to all computers everywhere. A $300 computer can use a Windows OS. How many people around the world in third world countires in Asia, Europe, Africa, South America, etc are going to run out and spend over $2000 for a Mac?. If the price of Mac's dropped to be the same as PC's then that would be realistic. Otherwise it's a no go. However if, and only if, Apple decided to sell their OS separately of Mac hardware, then that percentage could go up to 10% or 15%. That would be realistic. Apple will never own more than that. Not as long as their computers cost what they do. As you said

What's cheap and easy wins.

That applies to PC's and Apple hardware is too costly for the entire world to consider it an alternative. If the OS software could be installed on the $700 Dell, then you have something. Not before then. Even then I highly doubt the Mac OS would ever command more than 10% or 15% of the entire market. Microsoft is way too engrained a culture for people all over the world to shift or consider.

[roberts]

It easy...
When XP gets a virus and crashes you'll be able to boot up in OS X and continue to work. Then people will just forget about XP and stick with OS X.

[jimlongo]

Apple makes the majority of their money from iPOD sales. Yes, they make some money from iTunes running on Windows but their bread-and-butter is now iPODs.

It's all publicly available information.
Vaires from quarter to quarter, but I can't find any where iPods outsell computers.

For instance in Q2 2005 they sold 1million computers for revenue of 1.5 billion and 5.3 million iPods for revenue of 1 billion.
Q3 is about the same, except 6 million ipods for approximately the same revenue.

Other music products (Itunes) is about 250 million dollars.

They don't really tell you profit straight out, so i'll leave it to you to speculate some more.

I'd say from a business point of view there's a lot more market share to be taken in computers than iPods.

[rockridge]

... It sorta reminds me of the success of mp3/wma/aac over any of the high resolution formats (DVD-A, SACD, etc...

It also shows that people will always gravitate to smaller, more efficient systems.

If Apple had continued development of their original OS, i truly believe their market share would be greater today. To take a UNIX based system developed years ago and constantly tweak it is just not smart when the market share is so small.

Microsoft developed NT at the same time as their DOS-based windows... right up to 2000. That policy didn't hurt their bottom line.

But it's amazing how Apple's computer business continues to "survive" despite constant OS and hardware changes over the last 5-6 years. I guess it's a tribute to their marketing... it's not because they have a lean, efficient, bug-free OS.

[rockridge]

In my opinion letting Windows run on Mac will boost apple hardware sales and convert a percentage of Windows users to OSX. . .

... hope springs eternal... i guess there's a good chance of increased sales of iBooks and the Mac Mini, but now that Mac hardware is so close to less expensive PC hardware, why would anyone go for a Mac tower?

If Apple wants to lure Windows users away from Microsoft, make it easy for the user. Have future versions of OSX run on a Mac, on a PC, on any anything a user wants; on any configuration he might have.

[Andre Knecht]

[…] but now that Mac hardware is so close to less expensive PC hardware, why would anyone go for a Mac tower?[…]

Because it runs OSX (and Windoms is relegated to option status)?

[rockridge]

Because it runs OSX (and Windoms is relegated to option status)?

What if the tides were turned, and Apple was asked by PC makers to create software to allow OSX to boot on any PC?

Would it be reasonable to think that Windows had fallen out of favor, and hardware vendors were turning to a better option?

If OSX was really taking off with the general public, do you think Apple would be making this concession to Microsoft at this moment?

[CME]

Just some grumblings and my .02 . As far as the 64-bit version of XP, isn't the core duo chips 32-bit? I have looked and found no evidence they are 64 bit so that's a mute point. As far as performance of Apple's vs. PC's go, check out some of the benchmarks of a MacBook Pro on Windows XP before Apple released Bootcamp and was having driver issues. It was outrunning other laptops with the basically the same configuration. Here is the link. So while it did have slight CPU advantage (2.0 vs 2.16 ghz), it still was faster. So as this whole thing unfolds, there will definately be some major changes, but I think it will be impossible to see how it will end up. I just recently got into macs though and hope, and really don't see, how this will hurt apple. I'm betting Mr. Jobs is planning on first showing that Apples really are as fast if not faster than PC's, on level footing (Windows XP), and then show how much better OSX is. Now if they'll sell it seperately we could see it take a major step forward in sales. But then again that will just lead to more viruses ect. as hackers have a reason to mess with OSX if it's used on enough PC's.