Open OS X?
AFAIK, the two most successful types of operating systems being used in the world today are originally based on the Unix and later Linux operating system kernel, or the Windows kernel and it’s registry system. Windows has become ubiquitous now for the desktop PC, but it missed out with it’s NT web server software and Apache and Linux took just a few years to gain almost 3/4 of the market for what to serve up web sites with. On the personal computer side of things, Mac OS X runs so well because it comes from a company that is in the business of selling really, really nice hardware like their computers are and Ipods. If you just want to buy the software, at under $100 it’s a third of WinXP’s $299 and because it is based on the FreeBSD flavour of Linux, you can download an image for it gratis if you prefer and start hacking away.
Because Jobs has close connections with the entertainment industry, they have become a sort of content pipeline for that as well, the software required to distribute it isn’t where the long term money is. That’s where I think the PC Mag article titled “Apple Needs to Make OS X Open-Source” came from. Which makes the post by linuxbobinux over at PC Magazine’s discussion forum hitting close to the mark: Now everyone can have a computer that not only slices, it dices too!
Windows runs better on Mac hardware, and Apple sells hardware not software so it makes a lot of sense that new computer purchasers will be looking a lot closer at the price difference between a new Windows with Vista and Aero, and see that the gap is getting pretty small. For me, the ultimate would be a new iMac which I would partition into three, with the other two being one with Linux for the programs, and one basic Windows for the corporate world. Windows Aero isn’t necessary when you’ve got Looking Glass for Linux - software with all the cool 3D stuff, and the smooth way Apple puts a computer together for one sleek package. For now, I just fake it on my desktop with an Mac style icon throbber and image in the same style as the expensive stuff sometimes.