Steve Jobs has been nipping at the Apple Cider

The unthinkable has just happened. Apple Macs can now run on Windows. Shocking isn’t it? Here are just some of the reactions out there:

“I now fully expect the Earth to start revolving around a different axis,” joked Alex Soojung-Kim Pang, a research director for the non-profit Institute for the Future, reported Mercury News.

New York Times wrote “After long imploring computer users to “think different” and defining the Macintosh as a lone bulwark against the Windows onslaught, Apple Computer has decided to open the gate, at least a bit.”

The bloggers reactions were even more interesting. A blogger wrote “So, hell finally froze over.” Another blogger wrote “Apple announces Macs to run Windows. Sky fails to fall out of the sky; reports indicate all pigs are still earthbound.”

But what does it all really mean? What on earth is Steve Jobs thinking? Will I go running out to buy an Apple now?

Not likely. The hardware is still too expensive. What would be the point of spending double the moola for an Apple just to run Windows?

Maybe the esthetic looks will get me. Huh? I thought the selling point of Apples was their superior software. Macs are just easier to use. Right?

Obviously this will primarily appeal to the odd user who has need for dual boot Windows and Apple operating systems. But for the vast majority of us? I don’t think so.

So what was the reasoning behind this decision? Perhaps long time rivals Steve Jobs and Bill Gates have kissed and made up. Or maybe the open-source trend is having a trickle-down effect on protectionism in the industry. Kinda like the tearing down of the Berlin wall. Or maybe Jobs feels he has too many battle fronts going on, including the Beatles. Or maybe he’s been snorting too much fermented cider, or cheap schwag, or…

Hmm, I think the real answer is Jobs is feeling confident with the success of iTunes and iPods. The Macintosh is no longer his flagship product and protectionism no longer in his best interest. So what the hey, why not go for the cash grab.

Apple has a new marketing plan in play, but in the end who will be the biggest winner? Microsoft of course. Think of all those new copies of Windows that will be sold.

I began my desktop computing experience with an Apple 11 plus clone that I built. I moved over DOS only because of the vast available software. I resisted moving up to Windows until version 98 came along thinking that they had enough time to get it right. Boy was I ever wrong. But when XP came along, Windows finally came into its own. So I will probably stick with it.

But if Apple can get those hardware prices in line I just might be inclined to reconsider. Are you listening Steve? (Nudge-nudge, wink, wink ;-).

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