Originally posted by UtaTr3y
Everyone hates Microsoft, apple would own the Desktop in under 5 years if they would just start using X86 hardware!
This is a misconception. The most effective way of gaining marketshare in the Intel space is through OEMs (like Dell, Sony, Gateway, etc.), and most OEMs would not touch OS X with a ten foot pole. First of all, all the OEMs are already paying for Windows with each and every PC they sell (this is written into their contract with Microsoft - they have to pay a MS licensing fee for every PC they sell, even if the customer wants to install Linux, etc. on it), and none of them would be signing up to pay for another OS. Secondly, none of the OEMs would want to anger Microsoft. The Intel world is already competitive to the max, who would want to loose any licensing advantages?! Look at Linux, despite being free, and having been around since the mid 90's, it still have a minute presence in the desktop space. Many other operating systems have been released by different companies for Intel hardware, and none of them succeed because no OEMs would bundle them, most notables include:
OS/2 - awesome OS in the early 90's for PCs, great grassroot support (think Linux of today), and definitely my favorite OS in the days of Windows 3.1. No OEMs (other than IBM) carried it, pretty much RIP.
BeOS - very good OS also. Garnered some interest, no OEM support, RIP.
Mac OS 7.x ("Star Trek") - Apple worked with Novell and ported Mac OS 7.x to Intel hardware. Asked OEMs to support it (including Dell), they all said they would support it if Apple gave them the OS for free (they were already paying MS for every PC sold). It would've bankrupted Apple, RIP.
NeXTSTEP/OpenStep - Mac OS X's previous incarnation, available for not only Intel, but Sun/SPARC, HP UNIX Workstations, and IBM UNIX Workstations. Amazing OS, totally ahead of its time. Despite some successes in the Enterprise space (WebObjects, EnterpriseObjects) and educational space, no OEM support, on its way to disappearance, bought by Apple and became OS X.
So the question is, why would Apple succeed now if they pursued an OS only strategy? IBM couldn't do it with it spending millions on OS/2, and at the time Windows didn't even have a death hold on the industry as it does now. Nor could NeXT, nor Be. Linux has minimal success on the desktop - and that's mainly because it's free and grass root support.
I would love Apple to succeed with OS X, and I would love to see OS X on Intel (I was a NeXTSTEP junkie), but it's not likely to happen unless Apple can garner some OEM support. If Apple can get Dell to carry OS X, then yes, it would work, but until then, no way.