Get ready for this headline in a couple of months. Some are fearing that Apple’s endorsement of Parallels as a way to run Windows on their Mac shows that Apple will not have a product similar to it. However, just because Apple thinks something is a cool product, that does not mean that they will refuse to create their own product. I think I had seen Steve Jobs show off the iPod with Bose accessories and other boombox-style systems before the Apple Hi-Fi.
My wife had told me of the scenario she expects at WWDC. Steve Jobs goes online to show off either a built-in bit torrent system or a new version of Safari. He decides to download a file. The file appears on the desktop. Steve laments that the file is an “.exe” file. “Well, maybe I’ll just click it anyway,” he says. The audience erupts as the Mac OS 10.5 can run Windows programs without Windows.
Leopard would not compete with Parallels. Parallels allows you to run Windows on top of Mac OS X. Leopard would allow you to run Windows programs like X11 programs. I would expect this WINE-like functionality to be available only on the Intel version of OS X.
This sort of thing isn’t my area of expertise, in fact nothing probably is, but as a vanilla Mac jockey all I can say is this, if any mac can run the likes of Half-Life 2 (for eg) then the genie really will be out the bottle and Mac sales will rocket (IMVHO).
It’s widely reported that the Bittorrent stuff is going to be an OS X Server only deal.
I like your wife’s thinking on the matter. Wish I had his Steveness’ phone number… It would (will?) be a show stopper supreme.
Does the Mrs. do Atlantic City? I might want to borrow you guys for a weekend if she nails this one 🙂