Tiger to run Windows apps?

Stumbled on Mathew Rothenberg's (possibly aka Mac the Knife & Naked Mole Rat) blog and was surprised that he was expecting this to be a feature discussed at WWDC. On Aug. 28 he still holds out hope that it will be one of the yet unannounced features. I know he's be wrong before, notably about Tablet Macs, but I get the feeling that he has heard actual rumblings about these things. The thing I am wondering about is if such a feature is planned, when would it fit into Apple's strategies. We all know the "Why would anyone write for a Mac" argument. That was true in the past, but most of the existing apps that will be ported to X, are already here. I'm sure Apple is beginning to worry about new generations of software. Isn't that what the new technologies like Core Image and Video are pointing toward. Apple's own application work is pointing in this direction also. As X evolves and Apple adds new technologies that developers will want to exploit, would the "Why would anyone write for a Mac" lose relevance? Especially with Apple leading the way with its own brave new generation of software? At that point, wouldn't the ability to run all the legacy Windows apps be a bonus? If so, when would Apple play this card? Maybe 10.5?

http://blog.ziffdavis.com/rothenberg...8/28/1870.aspx
http://blog.ziffdavis.com/rothenberg...6/26/1349.aspx

I've used Macs probably longer than most of the whipper snappers here, and I have never once needed to run a Windows app. Still, my point is that at some point might this be a feature that would help lure switchers. You know the guy who doesn't want to switch because he has so much invested in his old copy of Duck Hunt. Another point I was making is Apple future is in new applications. Imagine be able to say, "Sure Duck Hunt will run on it plus you can run all this cool stuff that a PC can't." I know Windows apps running in X probably will not happen. Just speculating if there is a point at which it could pay off.

As for Rothenberg being a moron, he's probably no Ryan Meader or he wouldn't have the job he does. Then again, maybe I'm just nostalgic for MacWeek.

I don't want no stinkin' PC. Hell, I can't even think of a Windows app I want to run. There are plenty of Mac apps that I wouldn't want to live without and you list many of them. This is one of the points I was trying to make. As Apple pushes the envelope with its software, it is more and more in control of its own future. All the cool stuff are belong to us.

Rothenberg's blog just got me thinking about the old argument about developers would no longer write for the Mac if it also ran Windows apps. Again, I'm not saying that Apple will offer Windows apps running in X, but I am saying I think this someday no longer be a valid argument. Up until now, a lot of the focus on X has been bringing it up to par with OS 9 and trying to update old apps to work with it. I'm suggesting we are turning a corner. New technology is Apple's future. It's the stuff that might finally grow market share. And Apple is creating this new stuff itself, as well as offering the technology up to Mac developers. That will keep the developers here, and hopefully create a new generation of them. At that point, if they could pull off Win 32 apps running inside X it would be a bonus like Classic support was. It would not be earthshaking, but it would probably help instead of harm the platform. I can't say if the benefit would be worth all the work, however, so I will leave that decision to Steve. I also dream of the day Apple will no longer have to kiss Microsoft and Adobe butt.

Nah! Just buy a PC instead.

I'm joining the crowd.

Gee, I wonder. Nah, couldn't be. Could it?

Just wondering here, but this also could make any advantage the Mac had mute (application, not OS). It works both ways. Maybe knowledge of this is also pushing Apple into the next generation of software technologies. I mean it's doubtful that this would support Core Image and Video, etc.. The past is the past and this development might finally lay it to rest. Bring on the future. MS hates the future. They are not sure they can control it.

Any chance Apple owns part of this startup?

Remember this argument? Linux in 10.4

Could it be? Nah! Could it?

(Doing my best Kormac style work here. )

Before everyone starts screaming vaporware, a final thought.... If this stuff is real and Apple does not embrace it, what are the implications for Apple's future?

OK, you call Enderle and straighten him out about what he saw. I'll move on...
What will be the implications of a perpetual motion machine on Bush foreign policy?

OK! You've convinced me! I'm buying a cheap PC. With Transitive's new technology I be able to run my favorite Mac apps on it anyway.

That can be arranged.

Remember we are dealing with Steve here.

That's exactly what I have been arguing. I'd like to know though what do you think the apps that make the Mac special are? Is your Mac version of Photoshop that much better than the Windows version? Dreamweaver? Anything by any major software vendor? MS Office may be better in a few small ways, but that's pushing it and it is lacking in other areas. I'm betting that the things you like that Windows does not offer are made by none other than Apple, and perhaps a few smaller companies or our great shareware community. Face it: the major applications vendors offer versions for both platforms, and we are always bitching about how they screw us over because we are the minority. So I'm suggesting that the over consolidation of the industry and the domination by a few players has us in a rut. Apple is pushing toward new types of software design. Where does it go from here is the real question. Apple will offer even more that will differentiate the Mac, and it will allow new creative developers to do so also.

This all reminds me of a thread several years ago. I was arguing that the threat of copy protected CD's and Microsoft's desire to control the market would push Apple into offering a way of selling music for the iPod and iTunes. They had to. I got lots of replies about how it could not be done. One guy told me that he was in the music business and I just did not understand how difficult the licensing issues would be. Apple had to do it. And they did. Look how the tables have turned. Copy protected CD's could soon use Fairplay. Microsoft is looking a lot like Bill Gates at prom time.

I don't know if Transitive's tech really works, but I do know you shouldn't rule out anything based on past assumptions especially when your talking about Steve Jobs and Apple. There are plenty of ways to consider the possibility besides "emulators blow goats" and "no one will write for the Mac". How do you know Adobe isn't already planning to kill Mac support? What would Apple do then? What if QuickTransit really works and some of our Mac apps could run on the Dark Side? What then? What if the G6, eCLipz or whatever the hell else they have up their sleeves, leaps enough ahead that games for other platforms could actually be playable on the Mac. Would it be worth using the technology just to build a "game layer"? Could there possibly be markets where the ability to run legacy Windows and Linux apps would help Apple? Could Apple use it to allow easier porting of apps to the Mac as part of some Cocoa toolkit or framework? Who else in Transitive's list of 6 PC makers could integrate it into a OS besides Apple? What would those companies want the technology for? Make up your own wild ass idea. Try to think different. Try to think like Steve Jobs.

I'm not asking you to believe me (quite frankly, I know nothing), or Rothenberg's rumor, or even the Wired story. I'm just asking you to think about it. Are a few new features added to Photoshop every 18 months all you see for the future of computing? I see a new breed of apps that interact with the OS and their fellow apps and even the hardware in new ways. That's where the Mac's prosperity lies. As the future unfolds, if you could run almost any old app that hasn't been made obsolete yet, that might be a good thing. Think of it as being like the transition period when you needed Classic. If it doesn't happen by the time 10.9, no make that XI, ships I will be happy to admit I'm wrong.