Why not lenovo sell thinkpads with OS X?

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argonaut · #1 Post by **argonaut** » Thu Mar 20, 2008 6:28 am

Being an idiot I could be wrong, but wouldn't Lenovo sell a shed load of laptops if it worked on getting OS X to work seemlessly on Thinkpads?

Wouldn't that be the perfect marriage of hardware and software?

Is Lenovo a smart?

I get a sickly feeling every time I take a look at Vista. XP is tolerable, but V is nauseating. I just don't think MB/ MBP laptops are well made. Why is life often like this?

MOD EDIT: Thread split and given a subject name related to the post.

#2 Post by **ryengineer** » Thu Mar 20, 2008 7:13 am

argonaut wrote:snip....Is Lenovo a smart?.....snip

It's not about lenovo not been smart, it's about Apple's persistency to not to make OS X an open system.

argonaut · #3 Post by **argonaut** » Thu Mar 20, 2008 7:30 am

ryengineer wrote:
argonaut wrote:snip....Is Lenovo a smart?.....snip
It's not about lenovo not been smart, it's about Apple's persistency to not to make OS X an open system.

I knew I was an idiot.

This is interesting though. Microsoft seems to be criticised for the way it bundles OS and applications, and yet Apple is doing something akin to this with OS X and hardware.

Would anyone disagree about my feeling that Apple MB/ MBP laptops seem to be not too sturdy and durable?

It looks like TP with XPp is the sensible option. Apple hardware is too much of a bling thing.

#4 Post by **ryengineer** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 11:38 am

I have split your post from the on-going discussion of users on another topic and given it a subject name close to your question.

To answer your question, I think Macs are durable but their hardware is very unreliable; from my experience they suffer from many problems notably heating issues. Unlike Macs, thinkpads are very well engineered notebooks w.r.t. great design and a hardware that is made to last many years.

I work on a thinkpad with Windows Vista now but my personal preference is Windows XP for consistency reasons. My advice is, use Windows XP if you can’t work with Vista.

And yes, I agree with you, the combination of thinkpads with fully functional Mac OS X could be a near-perfect bond.

argonaut · #5 Post by **argonaut** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 12:56 pm

Apologies for the 'drift'.

A Thinkpad seems to be my obvious hardware choice and until Apple opens up XP seems to be the only option I have. Linux? I have nzero experience of it and I'mnot energised enough right now to even think about taking it on.

Perhaps Apple and Lenovo could establish a partnership whereby L makes A's laptops, a little like IBM used to do. Near-perfect indeed. One can but dream. Sigh.

snessiram · #6 Post by **snessiram** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 2:18 pm

I'm no expert on this but as far as I know, Apple is mainly a hardware company, not software. Thus it probably wouldn't be se good for them to go software mainly...

They also probably want to keep a certain image. A mac has to be beautiful, elegant, design,... a thinkpad probably isn't for the general public (we, or I at least, might see that very different

).

#7 Post by **ryengineer** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 8:18 am

If Apple is mainly a hardware company then I think their OS X is doing a far better job in software field.

ZAGNUT · #8 Post by **ZAGNUT** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 8:42 am

i think apple makes up something like a measly 5% of personal computers out there but when you remember that they're not just selling an OS but also grossly overpriced hardware to go with it you can bet they're making a lot more $$$ per customer than MS.

but i can't help to think what would happen if they they made OSX PC compatible and turned it loose on the market for a reasonable price. their mac sales would probably plummet but would they make up for the loss with customers stolen from MS? or maybe apple and MS already have some kind of agreement to prevent this from ever happening?

dave (happy with win2k)

pailhead · #9 Post by **pailhead** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 1:23 pm

ZAGNUT wrote:but i can't help to think what would happen if they they made OSX PC compatible and turned it loose on the market for a reasonable price.

Restricting software use is the only way Apple can sell the overpriced hardware. It is in their best interest to keep the EULA as it is.

iThinkiAmBen · #10 Post by **iThinkiAmBen** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 8:45 am

pailhead wrote:
ZAGNUT wrote:but i can't help to think what would happen if they they made OSX PC compatible and turned it loose on the market for a reasonable price.
Restricting software use is the only way Apple can sell the overpriced hardware. It is in their best interest to keep the EULA as it is.

Not only that, but if Apple licensed OS X to PC manufacturers, all hell would break loose. apple does this because they can control both the hardware and the software, so no third parties can screw everything up.

Besides, OS X x86 is good enough for those who can't afford Macs. My solution is to buy every computer I've owned used.

asiafish · #11 Post by **asiafish** » Mon Apr 07, 2008 9:52 pm

Apple's laptops HAD heat issues back when CoreDuo first came out in 2006, but like the rest of the industry (including Lenovo), Core2Duo Macsrun nice and cool. My 2.2GHz MacBook (Santa Rosa) never tops 73C and is usually at about 45C, which while hot, is nowhere near the 92C I saw on an original CoreDuo MacBook.

The MacBook is also very sturdy and solidly built. Its very different from a ThinkPad, of which I've owned many, but is definitely a first tier product in terms of quality.

It also isn't overpriced. Compare a Mac to a comparable ThinkPad (MBP compares to high-end T-series, MB compares well to 14" T or R (T for size, R for options). Yes, the ThinkPads are cheaper, but only by about $100. Call that $100 the price of OS X and iLife, and of course don't forget that while you can struggle to hack OS X to run on a ThinkPad, you can easily install Windows on a Mac with full driver support from Apple, though I see little reason to.

crashnburn · #12 Post by **crashnburn** » Fri May 23, 2008 11:19 am

I see little reason to.

High Resolution Screens & Various Size Options that are more suitable than Macbook options.

Plus roll cage durability

- WUXGA 15.4"
- UXGA 15"
- SXGA 14"
- SXGA 12"

graywolf · #13 Post by **graywolf** » Tue May 27, 2008 5:32 pm

ryengineer wrote:If Apple is mainly a hardware company then I think their OS X is doing a far better job in software field.

Well, I believe, OSX is really just FreeBSD with a custom xwindows interface and all the non-Apple drivers removed. A point to consider: Driver interference is one of the most likely causes of OS problems; you then realize that Apple has a consideral advantage there.

asiafish · #14 Post by **asiafish** » Tue May 27, 2008 5:44 pm

OS X does not use X window, it has its own graphics engines (Quartz, Quartz Extreme and CoreImage).

#15 Post by **carbon_unit** » Tue May 27, 2008 6:07 pm

graywolf wrote: A point to consider: Driver interference is one of the most likely causes of OS problems; you then realize that Apple has a consideral advantage there.

That is why Apple is so successful with *nix software, they have control over the hardware so everything works like it is supposed to. If the PC world wasn't made up of an infinite number of hardware combinations life would be much easier for Linux (and Windows).

Maccess · #16 Post by **Maccess** » Sun Jun 01, 2008 9:09 pm

Not only that, but if Apple licensed OS X to PC manufacturers, all hell would break loose. apple does this because they can control both the hardware and the software, so no third parties can screw everything up.

Besides, OS X x86 is good enough for those who can't afford Macs. My solution is to buy every computer I've owned used.

[/quote]

There is much speculation about why Apple hasn't lifted a finger to stop Psystar which sells OS X compatible PCs (legal) bundled with OS X (not quite legal). Are they test marketing a possible change in OS licensing?
===========
That's a good tip, I also buy most of my computers used, particularly as I have the skill to fix minor problems that would cause others to chuck their computers at a discount (like things that can be fixed by running Rescue and Recovery).

crashnburn · #17 Post by **crashnburn** » Tue Jun 03, 2008 3:10 pm

Psystar - Interesting. How do they make their versions of the OSX and all Drivers functional ?

ARD · #18 Post by **ARD** » Sun Jun 08, 2008 9:05 pm

Back in the mid nineties, circa 1995 or thereabouts, Apple licensed their Mac design to third parties.
Daystar, Umax and Power Computing were the biggest Mac clone makers back then.
Between the three of of them, they almost forced Apple into bankruptcy.
Apple Macs were selling at premium prices while the Mac clones were undercutting Apple blind.
They were more powerful and expandable as well.
I should know. I had a Power Computing Power Tower Pro Mac clone, instead of a more expensive Mac.
It was an amazing machine for the time.
Then, a miracle happened...

Steve Jobs got rehired by Apple and first thing he did was kill the clones. The clone makers all died out.
He also said Apple will make sure that OSX will never be able to officially run on a PC when they went Intel.
OSX exclusivity on Macs is a very good business decision.
Companies are there to make a profit for their owners; namely the stockholders. The wants and sometimes needs of the end users are secondary.
All one has to do is look at the mind boggingly huge amount of pirated copies of Windows of any flavor.
On one hand it is lost income for MS, on the other, it is free advertising and ubiquity for Windows.
MS can handle that rather easily.
For Apple, it would mean a death sentence.
MS is a software company.
Apple is a hardware company.
But one never knows with Steve Jobs.

crashnburn · #19 Post by **crashnburn** » Sun Jul 27, 2008 1:58 pm

argonaut wrote:
ryengineer wrote: It's not about lenovo not been smart, it's about Apple's persistency to not to make OS X an open system.
I knew I was an idiot.

This is interesting though. Microsoft seems to be criticised for the way it bundles OS and applications, and yet Apple is doing something akin to this with OS X and hardware.

Would anyone disagree about my feeling that Apple MB/ MBP laptops seem to be not too sturdy and durable?

It looks like TP with XPp is the sensible option. Apple hardware is too much of a bling thing.

When Alternative & Punk music went mainstream it wasnt ALTERNATIVE anymore. Apple has avoided the Microsoft "omnipresent" but hated tag. To a large extent that hate comes from the fact that everyone uses a Windows system (with occasional bugs) and the guy who makes it was the RICHEST in the world.

And the MacOS is not something everyone has, plus its tagged as artsy, not as buggy (thats what people say.. people believe) and the guy who's running it has a better Brand Image.

crazyeddie1 · #20 Post by **crazyeddie1** » Tue Jul 29, 2008 8:21 am

And the richest guy in the world was once hired by apple to program floating point for mac who went on to deliver windows to IBM and to his own company ms.

new_user · #21 Post by **new_user** » Sat Aug 09, 2008 3:16 pm

Powerpc apple laptops were bad. But the macbook pro my dad has is plenty sturdy.

Anyhow why doesn't apple just release a cheap computer then. Maybe then I wouldn't have to stick to pc all the time.

Mini is 600. Alot for only 512mb of ram. And to upgrade to 2gb it was 300. I had no choice. Core duo not even 2 duo last year. + 150 for apple care.

For 1050 dollars I can get a much better pc. But cuz I needed mac I had no choice.

Well at least if they have no cheap laptop the desktops are getting cheaper.

They're inventing a new mac fusion for 300. That's more like it.

Why not lenovo sell thinkpads with OS X?

Why not lenovo sell thinkpads with OS X?

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