My intention of this thread is to explain why I think releasing OS X to run on non Apple hardware would be beneficial to Apple. I also want to correct some myths floating around.
1. "OS X would encounter numerous stability issues if it ran on a large spectrum of hardware."
This myth comes from projecting problems with Windows onto other operating systems. People assume that because Windows runs on such a wide array of hardware, it's stability issues stem from that and the same thing would happen to Apple.
To that I say look at Linux, BSD etc. These systems not only run on X86 hardware like Windows does, they run on SPARC, PowerPC etc. Look at the stability of these systems, BSD especially, which combined with Mach, is the foundation of XNU, OS X's kernel.
To understand why Windows encounters issues would require an entire page of it's own, but to summarise: Legacy support, Microsoft has to drag a huge amount of legacy support throughout Windows to maintain compatibility, they create a new kernel for each Windows release then dump a load of legacy crap on top. Apple builds on the same kernel, they also packaged all legacy from pre OS X releases into an emulation layer called classic, rather than drag it all through OS X. Also bad design choices, Microsoft built Windows on sand, now they face a constant battle of improving security whilst retaining compatibility. Look at Vista and 7's compatibility issues with XP, look at IE8 and its IE7 compatibility mode, look how many companies are sticking with XP and IE6 because they have apps that do not run under IE7/8, look at how many issues UAC brought about because software couldn't run in admin mode.
2. "What happens if someone plugs in an older video card, it doesn't work, the user hates Apple."
Solved with a certified hardware scheme. You wont be able to install OS X on old machines, you can only install on new certified hardware. If you try and install OS X on an unsupported machine and it fails to run or doesn't run properly, then you don't receive any support. Just to clarify I'm not talking about DRM to prevent installs on non certified machines etc.
Plus if a user has the knowledge to open up his machine and install new hardware, or even build his own machine, then he has the knowledge to differentiate between hardware and software. If his Nvidia card fails, he blames Nvidia, not Microsoft.
3. "Who's going to buy Macs if you can run OS X on cheaper hardware?"
Well firstly, people don't always buy cheap. Dell, HP etc. sell cheap desktops, expensive gaming PC's, expensive workstations and draw in a profit from all. Alienware, Falcon Northwest sell machines that cost more than Apple's, make a higher profit margin, and draw in a profit. And they all compete over Windows, people are not buying an Alienware machine because it comes with a better OS, they are buying it for it's hardware.
There are so many Mac users who are scared crapless of competition. They believe that Apple hardware cannot compete and if other companies have OS X, Apple hardware is doomed, it's normally the same users that then go on about the benefits of Apple hardware. Let's look at a few reasons to buy Apple hardware: excellent aesthetic design, excellent build quality, excellent customer service, features that would normally cost extra on a PC (webcam, microphone, wifi n, bluetooth, optical digital audio in/out, IR sensor), features found on no PC (multitouch buttonless trackpad, FW800), great resale value.
We can see this already because Apple hardware actually has a larger userbase than OS X, there are people who buy a Mac just to run Windows or Linux, theres a few users I know of on this forum. Granted this number is not a lot, since a lot of people don't know how or didn't know they could install Windows on a Mac.
Now of course some Mac users will buy a cheaper PC running OS X if one is available. But this would easily be offset by profit from software, and new users to the platform. Think about it, outside of the North America and Western Europe, the Mac is a relatively alien platform. Even inside aforementioned areas, there are still a hell of a lot of people who view Apple as "that iPod company that makes weird non Windows computers". If OS X is running on hundreds of millions of computers all over the world, that is a lot of new exposure to OS X and a lot of new people who are going to use OS X for the first time. And some of those users will go and buy PC's running OS X, but some will buy Macs. Apple's Mac marketshare will dramatically increase, and OS X marketshare will skyrocket.
4. Apple makes huge profit's from hardware, it can't make anything from software.
Look at Microsoft, look at Google. Whilst both make hardware, they both make the majority of their money from software and services.
1. "OS X would encounter numerous stability issues if it ran on a large spectrum of hardware."
This myth comes from projecting problems with Windows onto other operating systems. People assume that because Windows runs on such a wide array of hardware, it's stability issues stem from that and the same thing would happen to Apple.
To that I say look at Linux, BSD etc. These systems not only run on X86 hardware like Windows does, they run on SPARC, PowerPC etc. Look at the stability of these systems, BSD especially, which combined with Mach, is the foundation of XNU, OS X's kernel.
To understand why Windows encounters issues would require an entire page of it's own, but to summarise: Legacy support, Microsoft has to drag a huge amount of legacy support throughout Windows to maintain compatibility, they create a new kernel for each Windows release then dump a load of legacy crap on top. Apple builds on the same kernel, they also packaged all legacy from pre OS X releases into an emulation layer called classic, rather than drag it all through OS X. Also bad design choices, Microsoft built Windows on sand, now they face a constant battle of improving security whilst retaining compatibility. Look at Vista and 7's compatibility issues with XP, look at IE8 and its IE7 compatibility mode, look how many companies are sticking with XP and IE6 because they have apps that do not run under IE7/8, look at how many issues UAC brought about because software couldn't run in admin mode.
2. "What happens if someone plugs in an older video card, it doesn't work, the user hates Apple."
Solved with a certified hardware scheme. You wont be able to install OS X on old machines, you can only install on new certified hardware. If you try and install OS X on an unsupported machine and it fails to run or doesn't run properly, then you don't receive any support. Just to clarify I'm not talking about DRM to prevent installs on non certified machines etc.
Plus if a user has the knowledge to open up his machine and install new hardware, or even build his own machine, then he has the knowledge to differentiate between hardware and software. If his Nvidia card fails, he blames Nvidia, not Microsoft.
3. "Who's going to buy Macs if you can run OS X on cheaper hardware?"
Well firstly, people don't always buy cheap. Dell, HP etc. sell cheap desktops, expensive gaming PC's, expensive workstations and draw in a profit from all. Alienware, Falcon Northwest sell machines that cost more than Apple's, make a higher profit margin, and draw in a profit. And they all compete over Windows, people are not buying an Alienware machine because it comes with a better OS, they are buying it for it's hardware.
There are so many Mac users who are scared crapless of competition. They believe that Apple hardware cannot compete and if other companies have OS X, Apple hardware is doomed, it's normally the same users that then go on about the benefits of Apple hardware. Let's look at a few reasons to buy Apple hardware: excellent aesthetic design, excellent build quality, excellent customer service, features that would normally cost extra on a PC (webcam, microphone, wifi n, bluetooth, optical digital audio in/out, IR sensor), features found on no PC (multitouch buttonless trackpad, FW800), great resale value.
We can see this already because Apple hardware actually has a larger userbase than OS X, there are people who buy a Mac just to run Windows or Linux, theres a few users I know of on this forum. Granted this number is not a lot, since a lot of people don't know how or didn't know they could install Windows on a Mac.
Now of course some Mac users will buy a cheaper PC running OS X if one is available. But this would easily be offset by profit from software, and new users to the platform. Think about it, outside of the North America and Western Europe, the Mac is a relatively alien platform. Even inside aforementioned areas, there are still a hell of a lot of people who view Apple as "that iPod company that makes weird non Windows computers". If OS X is running on hundreds of millions of computers all over the world, that is a lot of new exposure to OS X and a lot of new people who are going to use OS X for the first time. And some of those users will go and buy PC's running OS X, but some will buy Macs. Apple's Mac marketshare will dramatically increase, and OS X marketshare will skyrocket.
4. Apple makes huge profit's from hardware, it can't make anything from software.
Look at Microsoft, look at Google. Whilst both make hardware, they both make the majority of their money from software and services.