How Apple Can …

How Apple Can Increase Marketshare. Last night I read this article about the dis-satisfaction of businesses who are getting squeezed financially by Microsoft’s upcoming software licensing. It mentioned that a number of companies are going to consider switching to Linux running emulation software like Win4Lin and Wine that would allow end users to run their Windows applications without a an expensive Windows OS. This led me to think that Apple shoud acquire Connectix and roll their VirtualPC emulation framework right into Mac OS X. Companies can then purchase new hardware, while still being able to use their old Windows software without being forced, pushed, bullied, and shoved by Microsoft into “renting” new software (and an operating system) on a two-year basis. I mentioned all this to my brother Damien, and he wrote up a short summary.

Something that Microsoft seems to have not factored into their future is the inevitable recession that the world seems to be sliding into. With reports that it will cost anywhere from 33% to 107% more per year to keep your company using Microsoft’s operating system, I think that many companies are going to start looking at the millions of dollars they can save by not using Microsoft. Many of these companies may benefit greatly by switching to an alternative and less costly operating system, especially if that operating system is able to run all their old/existing Windows software without a hitch.

A lot of readers have written in pointing out that you still need to own a copy of a Windows OS to use VirtualPC. I guess I wasn’t very clear. My point is that companies who want to save money by going this route can use the copies of Windows95, Windows98, and Windows2000 they already own. Buying new PC hardware forces the company into adopting WindowsXP because Microsoft has the OEMs between a rock and a hard place. But by buying new Apple hardware with integrated VirtualPC, you can avoid the WindowsXP licensing and use your older Windows OS’s while still having new hardware.

ThunderCats Erotic Fan Art. Yes, really.

This three-dimensional map of lower Manhattan is incredible. Someone at CNN really did an excellent job.

Posted by Cameron Barrett at October 6, 2001 08:05 PM

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