RacerX said:
Not really... NEXTSTEP was limited to hardware that it had drivers for, which was a far cry from any regular PC. I keep hardware compatibility list for NEXTSTEP on my site.
I've checked the nextstep for intel processors hardware compatibility guide
as far as I can see the supported hardware were regular components at that time
and most of the configuration of the main PC vendors were supported too.
Beside, as it is mentioned, the list contains only tested systems.
I installed nextstep on a few no-name PC based on intel processor at that time
and I dont remember having much trouble doing so.
Harware compatibility still remains true with any system.
You still need to check for the availability of a driver for Mac OS X
before thinking of getting a third party device.
I agree that both Next (and BeOS)
had their OS ported and available to other platforms
only after giving up the manufacture of their own hardware.
And for sure the Mac OS licence in the mid 90
was an unfortunate experience.
But imagine that Mac OS would have been available
and licenced to any x86 or 68xxx platform as Microsoft did with Windows
I like to believe the nowadays market positions would have been reversed.
The profit that can be made by selling huge amount of OS licence
can largely counterbalance the loss of profit on hardware.
Apple "enemy" remains Microsoft not Intel.
Apple's market slice drops from 25% to 5% against 90% for Microsoft.
If Apple want to have a chance to get a bigger piece of the cake
it'd better have its system getting widely spread.
We know that OS X can run on regular hardware.
Why spend extra effort for locking the system to Macintel Box?
Selling both hardware and software is not incompatible.
Lots of money can also be made by developing services around the system.
You will still find customers who appreciate Apple hardware design and extra integration
and would prefer to buy an Apple box rather than any alternative box.
Same as for Windows world, you still have users who prefer
to spend extra money by buying a branded PC
rather than assembling their own PC or getting a noname PC.
Look at IBM: It has been able to switch from hardware to service.
Look at Microsoft: It started with software
and now it manufactures (at loss for the moment) Xbox.
Look at Linux and BSD distribution,
one of the reason they spread, is they are available on most common platform.
I guess that sooner or later Apple's board will decide
(if not decided yet) to have OS X available on any hardware
if they foresee any extra profit.
