Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Hardware, OS, Surveys and Polls
Should Apple offer a free OS X virtual machine inside every iPod?
The Butler Group, a European IT analyst, speculates that Apple could and should include a free 60-day evaluation of Mac OS X as a virtual machine pre-installed on every iPod with sufficient disk space. Their theory is based on Novell's current Linux desktop virtual machine distribution, Intel-based Macs right around the corner and the availability of a free VMware Player from EMC.The immense popularity of the iPod makes it the perfect distribution method for a Mac OS X virtual machine. It gives Windows users a chance to really fall in love with the Mac OS without having to shell out any additional cash up front for new hardware or software and competes head on with the latest Microsoft Windows offerings.
Butler Group's 6-step plan looks like this:
- Follow Novell's example and build a 60-day evaluation version of an OS X virtual machine that will execute and perform well on Intel's latest chips.
- Stick the virtual machine (along with the free VMware Player) on every iPod with enough storage.
- License HP to build MacPCs ready for the big rush.
- Offer Windows XP users a discount voucher to purchase the full virtual Mac software.
- Sell more iPods.
- Sit back and count the money.
What do you think? Could this be a viable way for Apple to achieve significantly higher market share or is it just the pipe dream of a bored analyst?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
John Henry said 2:05PM on 10-26-2005
Step 0.5 should be make and ship a good, stable OS X that runs on Intel processors. Once Apple is up and running on Intel there will be many different ways to give Windows users a taste of OS X.
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Small Paul said 2:11PM on 10-26-2005
I would have thought the problems with this would be the same as the general problems with releasing OS X for non-Apple machines: trying to support the varied hardware on PCs would be an extra headache that Apple can't deal with.
And I'll second John Henry: there are apparently enough bugs in Tiger to keep bigger development teams than Apple's busy for quite some time.
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MikeV said 2:34PM on 10-26-2005
One of the great things about VMWare emulation is that it always emulates the same hardware, no matter what PC you're running it on. A standard VESA video card, generic network card, IDE interfaces, etc. I think it would be a great way to give people a taste of the Mac, while not compromising the OS to have to deal with thousands of additional hardware devices. Maybe they could include an e-coupon or something to get a deal on a Mac mini?
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Mark said 2:35PM on 10-26-2005
never in a million years would apple do this. it pretty much goes against all their business models.
baaaad idea.
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Ahmed said 2:39PM on 10-26-2005
Actually step 5.5 will be:
OSX gets hacked off the iPod and distributed freely by bittorrents...
6. People try and run it on their crappy hardware.
7. OS X starts to fail because it's built to run on good non-cheap HW.
8. People start getting pissed off and saying that OSX is crappy.
9. Apple gets back to the "corner" it was in before the iPod in the eyes of the public...
Sounds like a logical scenario, doesn't it?
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Robert said 2:48PM on 10-26-2005
"License HP to build MacPCs ready for the big rush."
Hahahahahaha. No. That would destroy Apple faster than you can say "I think I'll buy a Kia."
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spiralscratch said 2:48PM on 10-26-2005
I think this a great idea. It would definitely make it very easy for those on the fence to try out and become comfortable with Mac OS X.
The only issue I see is that many of these people will not know/understand that an emulated system is not a 100% true representation of a real box. For instance, they may think that any pokiness is actually a problem with Mac OS X, and not the emulation environment combined with their (most likely) older hardware. They may also want to try out existing peripherals that may not work properly in the emulated environment for whatever reason.
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fra said 3:18PM on 10-26-2005
TiVi is kinning your brain cells one by one...
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Blake said 3:36PM on 10-26-2005
While this would work, iPod hard drives are not made to be taxed in such ways. Problems would quickly arise.
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Extensor said 3:38PM on 10-26-2005
Um, no, no & no.
We already know what the strategy is, the new intel macs will be able to run Windows. When it comes time for a pc user to get a new computer, will they want one that runs crappy windows only or will they buy a computer with a great design, a great OS that still lets them run WIndows for their legacy apps.
Who knows, Apple sells MS Office, why not offer MS Windows too?
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Pedro said 3:46PM on 10-26-2005
This is just the pipe dream of a bored analyst... while I appreciate the idea I dont think it would fly. I would even bet that most ipod users would wipe it off to get the free space back on their ipod before even thinking about looking at it.
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Jacob Varghese said 3:48PM on 10-26-2005
lol. won't happen ever.
want people to buy more apple computers? keep doing what you're doing, build great mp3 players and software that runs on windows. whether it's quicktime or itunes or the ipod, it is working to get people to consider apple for their computer. how else would you explain the huge increases in mac sales???
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Tim Dorr said 4:01PM on 10-26-2005
I suppose the real question is: Is the time it takes to turn that 60-day trial into a permanent system going to be measured in minutes or seconds?
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Alexandre Roche said 4:05PM on 10-26-2005
Jobs would never allow it to happen.
They need to have control over the hardware and software as much as possible. The only exception to the rule is iTunes for Windows, but it's obvious why they had to release it.
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Pete said 4:08PM on 10-26-2005
This idea may be considered a little creative but it would never work. The lacky who would propose this idea to Stevezie would get immediately canned.
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Derek said 4:13PM on 10-26-2005
Pipe dream of a bored analyst. iPods are still not fast enough to handle a large OS over limited hardware speed. It would do nothing but make the OS look slow and therefore lower Apple's image.
Apple will eventually tie in the iPod with everything else that they make, which will create a wonderful harmony in product performance that will shine far beyond any other set of products.
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Wheels said 4:31PM on 10-26-2005
I think MikeV's final sentence about having a coupon, included with the iPod, for a Mac mini is most sensible idea I've read in this post. The mini is supposed the killer app (if you will) to get PC users to switch. Just to have an advertisement in the iPod's box, that, let's say, gives $50 off any mini, with a headline that says something to the effect of:
"The Ease of Use and Style of Your New iPod, A computer with the Stability for Whatever You Want to Do"
explaining that the mini can be used with the PC owner's current keyboard, mouse, and monitor, would give a better impression than having a VM copy of OSX on the iPod.
Having a VM copy on a iPod invites displeasure. First off, the installer is going to take up some amount of storage from the player itself, so iPod users would either just delete it right away without a second thought, or won't ever realize the file is there and, when their iPods get filled up prematurely, they will get pissed off at Apple for lying about storage capabilities.
Plus, I don't care if VMOSX is intel optimized, the only real way that a PC user is going to see OSX in all it's glory is if they get the full-fledged version of the OS, and it's going to turn their PC into a dual boot machine. If they get a VMOSX version, it's going to be a slug of its real self just because it has to be run within Windows (I am assuming this would be the case), and has to battle with Windows for resources. This assumes that the PC user even installs the VM in the first place. I doubt many would.
People like free money, and to put a bug in their ear (eye?) about getting $50 off a Mac Mini when they open their shiny, new iPod would be quite the motivation IMHO.
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Eric J said 4:41PM on 10-26-2005
there's one big thing that these guys (and anyone who starts talking about "OS X on any x86 machine") are overlooking: drivers
There are currently several dozen -- and historically several hundred -- chipsets for PC computers. Various VIA series, all sorts of releases of the nVidia nForce motherboards, etc. OS X won't run on any of those without chipset drivers, and Apple isn't writing them.
The current OS X on Intel hacks are running on virtual machines that emulate the (fairly commonplace) chipset that OS X is eventually going to be released on (or something very similar). In order to get an out-of-box, no-hacks-necessary experience like the brain trust above describes, Apple would need to write all these damned drivers. That's not a small job. And if they did it, they might as well release OS X for every computer on the planet.
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brian said 4:46PM on 10-26-2005
Never happen. As I said on macslash,
This is a DUMB idea for so many reasons, not the least of which is the fact that using an iPod as a boot device for an extended time will drastically shorten its life. Apple does not want to have iPods failing early--the bad PR would more than counteract any sales to new Tiger converts. And then, of course, there's that pesky little problem of making OS X run on every PC out there, what with the countless motherboards, NICs, sound cards, video cards, etc etc etc.
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chris said 3:36PM on 10-27-2005
wont. happen. evah.
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