Microsoft, Apple, and the new Xbox

[Asher]

The Office deal ran out ages ago. Microsoft still makes Office for Mac. Reason:

Reason: the cost is minimal compared to the legal costs of further anti-trust wranglings.

[Sava]

microsoft sucks

xbox sucks

apple sucks

ipod sucks

xbox 360 sucks

[Imran Siddiqui]

sony sucks

playstation sucks

playstation 2 sucks

playstation 3 sucks

[Sava]

agreed

[Barnabas]

which one is the nintendo one?

[Urban Ranger]

Re: Re: Re: Microsoft, Apple, and the new Xbox

Originally posted by Asher
Wall Street Journal may or may not have reported the findings, but the more likely scenario is you saw the Slashdot story saying a "Wall Street analyst says," and immediately assumed it has to do with a well-regarded publication, rather than some no-name guy on behalf of a no-name company...

Instead of a well-known person, such as Laura DiDio, on behalf of a well-known company, such as Microsoft?

The Yankee Group is not even on Wall Street. Fancy that.

Originally posted by Asher
You also have to admire the guy's methodology:

It appears you did not RTFA. No, that's not what he did. Or rather, that's not the only thing he did.

[Asher]

So educate me. What did he do to get these figures?

[Kuciwalker]

Hypothetically, silence ensues.

[Sava]

[Q Classic]

Sava
Imran
Ted Striker

[Sava]

t3h y3ll0w p3ril


(can I say that or can only l337 aZn say that like the N word with black people)?

[Asher]

Apple continues its trend of showing emphasis on the consumer and having things "just work".

http://news.com.com/Apple+tries+to+patent+tamper-resistant+software/2100-1045_3-5942107.html?tag=nefd.top

Apple tries to patent 'tamper-resistant software'
By Ina Fried
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
Published: November 9, 2005, 11:16 AM PST

Apple Computer, which is in the process of switching to computers based on the omnipresent Intel processor, has filed a patent application describing a method for securely running Mac OS X on specific hardware.

The Mac maker has applied for a patent to cover a "system and method for creating tamper-resistant code." Apple describes ways of ensuring that code can be limited to specific hardware, even in a world in which operating systems can be run simultaneously, in so-called virtual machines. The patent application was made in April of 2004, but only made public last Thursday.

In its application, Apple describes a means of securing code using either a specific hardware address or read-only memory (ROM) serial number. Apple also talks about securing the code while interchanging information among multiple operating systems. Mac OS X, Windows and Linux are called out specifically in the filing.

"This invention relates generally to the field of computer data processing and more particularly to techniques for creating tamper-resistant software," Apple says in its patent filing. Specifically, Apple refers to the technique of "code obfuscation," in which software makers employ techniques that make it harder for those using debuggers or emulators to figure out how a particular block of code is working.

Apple's patent application comes as the company prepares to offer its Mac OS X operating system for Intel-based chips, with the first machines slated to go on sale next year.

Historically, the company has had to worry less about the Mac running on non-Apple hardware because it has used different chips and other components from those that power Windows PCs. With its move to Intel chips, though, the innards of the Mac will become more similar to those of its Windows-based counterparts.

The company said it is not planning on supporting Windows or other operating systems on the Intel-based Macs it sells but has also said it doesn't plan on taking steps to prevent Mac owners from running other operating systems.

"We won't do anything to preclude that," Apple Senior Vice President Phil Schiller told CNET News.com in June.

However, Schiller also said Apple has no plans to allow its operating system to run on non-Apple hardware. "We will not allow running Mac OS X on anything other than an Apple Mac," he said. An Apple representative declined to comment Wednesday on the patent filing. Clearly, though, Apple is gearing up the intellectual property push around the Intel move.

The company has reportedly been beefing up the technology that constrains the Intel versions of Mac OS X to run only on authorized machines, to this point a set of test Macs given to developers. The company has also applied for a trademark on Rosetta, its technology for running existing Mac programs on the Intel chips.

[Asher]

FWIW, I'm not sure the Rosetta trademark will stand either.

For years an application called "Rosetta" has been used in the protein folding distributed computing circles (most notably in World Community Grid).

[Fake Boris]

Obviously, Apple doesn't want to let its OS get out of control. There are very good commercial reasons to restrict the use of OS X - one of them being its small and "agile" user base, which combined to standardized hardware, allows a quicker pace of technological evolution.

Still, I'd be the first to run OS X on my PC, as soon as I find the drivers.

[Verto]

Originally posted by Asher
Apple continues its trend of showing emphasis on the consumer and having things "just work".

http://news.com.com/Apple+tries+to+patent+tamper-resistant+software/2100-1045_3-5942107.html?tag=nefd.top

Surely you aren't criticizing Apple for trying to control its own operating system and computers, and preventing unauthorized copies of it?