Will Google buy OSX from Apple?

Goolge buying OSX is an interesting theory. A few days ago I would have said that this would not happen. Now that Apple have rebranded to be Apple inc. it seems like this could be a possibility. I'm sure something is up at Apple with the rebranding, I guess we will just have to wait and see exactly what.

Well the notion is a good one. John C. Dvorak wrote a column last year in PC Magazine saying that within 5 years (after the switch to Intel) Apple would no longer use OSX and make Apple Machines with Windows or any other OS. Its what Palm did to keep themselves going. they sold off the dying Palm OS and made the Treo700 able to use the Palm OS or a Windows Handheld OS

I'm looking at this from an entirely emotional point of view. I use a Mac. It gives me (at least used to give me) a level of uniqueness. If every other PC user with a P4 1,7GHZ had OSX under their hood it would lessen my position vastly. I want OSX to stay exclusive to Macs. Well, at least exclusive to whatever Mac left after the last changes.

Interesting ideas you have offered here.

A couple of possible corrections to assumptions you offered:

iPods - while very popular still are not the majority revenue stream for Apple - the computers are still the front-runner by a good margin based on a review of the Apple 2006 annual report, computers leading iPods by something around 2.1M net. Obviously computers are going to continue to be a main source of revenue for the foreseeable future. So while iPods have in fact contributed substantially to the revenues - it is a factor of increased revenue over the already strong and increasing revenue of the computer sales.

iPhone, AppleTV and iPod are not tightly tied to the OS, in fact iPod/iTunes is cross-platform.

Thanks for posting!

Here's what Apple will sell:

• Millions more Macs
• Millions more iPods
• Millions of iPhones (though we'll see just how long that will take)
• Millions of AppleTVs (again, may take a while)

But they're not going to sell OS X to anyone, other than customers who by Macs. And why would Apple stop selling computers? They've been doing it for 30 years, and they've been doing it very well in the last few years -- why stop a good thing? The iPod and the iPhone will not carry them as far as those two and their computer business.

Even with the iPod, iPhone, and AppleTV, the Mac is still the hub for all of those, Apple is just building out from the center. No one was making a phone that played as well with a Mac as an Apple phone would, so they made one. I don't know how well the iPhone will play with Windows yet, but if the early years of the iPod are any indication, Apple is building this first and foremost for its users.

Apple makes stunning products and creates a wonderful user experience.

Google is ONLY concerned with selling advertising and collecting marketing data to sell. Thats it.

I am completely uninterested in ANY collaboration between Apple and Google. Keep your "Goo" away from my Apple!

Apple doesn't need to sell anything to any other company. Apple is a very strong company with about $10b in cash in the bank. OS X is one of their crown jewels.

BTW: Dvorak has an awful track record. He is regarded as a "joke".

I think that's a bit harsh. It's like this; Dvorak isn't an idiot, but he does make outlandish predictions from time to time. He's on record (I think you can find a video on YouTube) as saying that he says thinks specifically to rile up Mac users. Basically I just consider anything he says regarding Apple as more tabloid than serious journalism. It's not exactly a life-or-death industry, and he likes to play with people. It's just entertainment.

Andrea and slade's got it. Apple doesnt need to sell anything. And its against their hub plan. I just can't buy that apple's going to get gobbled. (ok, the MS thing was a different issue)

Apple's plan was laid out years ago and it was the digital hub.
"Apple is just building out from the center"

a livingroom box, a mobile box, a music box... work if/because the "control room" is elsewhere. You can't give away the control room without breaking the paradigm. The dream of the mac is that stuff just works, I dont fight IRQs, I don't install drivers, etc. because things are planned to work together. They're plenty of other things i like about a mac, but on a mac I just plain spend more time using a computer than making one work.

Now, Google's has plenty of prominent opportunities to work within Apple's closed system. Buying OSX just isn't on the table. In order to buy the now just plain "inc", Google would need to find a seller.

Apple would not sell OSX.

Like Steve said at the keynote.

"Those that care about making great software should make great hardware"

or something like that.

I still don't understand why anyone thinks Google would want their own OS. It makes no sense from a technological perspective, and it makes no sense from a business perspective. I just can't think of a single compelling reason that Google would need or want to get into the OS business.

An ad-based OS is a good plan, it just aint gonna be osX.

If I weren't on a computer all day, I would need browsing, email, photo gallery and a word processor. If I'm adventurous, maybe a spreadsheet.

Control the defaults and build a lightweight thin-client os connected to your virtual hard drive. You can get by on a 1ghz, lock down your local access for security, eliminate data loss, become location-independent, and cut your cost and maintenance.

I'd recommend it to most people. If the os is the vehicle to the ads (think limited stop monorail vs free roaming 4x4), it doesn't need to offensively commandeer your machine.

I believe in power to the people, in your right to dismantle your security settings or delete the sys32 directory. You should be able to add liquid-cooled mods or just paint flames on the side.

However, many people want to garden in their free time. They don't want to know if they have norton or mcaffe. Let em do the half-dozen things they might want and then get on with their lives.

We've reached a point in hardware and software that upgrading is manufactured in. There are few compelling reasons to get a new system. Most of those reasons are so things will continue to work, not because consumers are getting more services.

Apple basically gives away their OS (no license key) and wants to help you keep your system updated. I buy a new mac, then put the new os on my old macs. I stay in their ecosystem and continue to buy hardware and software. When I wipe a machine, I grab the nearest os disc and w/o worrying about my "genuine advantage" disabling my machine or digging out license keys.

In comparison, its pretty nice. BUT - i still have to reinstall all my proggies and info. If I could divorce the machine from operation.... I would have a genuinely compelling reason to move to google os, see their relevant non-intrusive ads (vs watching a 15sec commercial before I can check mail), and ultimately stay in their ecosystem.

I'm not going to move, because my harddrive is their server and my mail sits on their machine. But the biggest reason not to move is because its the thought of going back to office upgrade serial numbers and anti-virus schemes is too terrible to think about.