Will Apple "Sherlock" Parallels?
05/08/06 10:35 PM |
WWDC '06
Remember when Apple created Sherlock, obviously
modeled after Watson? And then they introduced
Dashboard and Widgets which was very similar to
Konfabulator. And SandVox and iWeb?
Hate to say it, but Microsoft tends to buy companies or license software to include it (they learned from years of paying royalties for MS-DOS) which usually lets the creators profit from their work. Apple seems to "coincidentally" create similar applications, leaving the original developers shocked and struggling. (They did buy SoundJam and the programmers to create iTunes, so sometimes they acquire technology and the creators profit.)
So the question is: What will happen to Parallels? This is a key piece in the OS wars. VMware ESX Server kills in the enterprise - it's like magic - you see it working but you can't believe it, but you're senses tell you it's real. VMware had a version that supposedly allowed (note the past tense) OS X to run in in a VMware session until Apple said the equivalent of "don't go there." So VMware for the Mac (to run Windows) is looming. Parallels is out now and being very smart, business-wise.
Boot Camp is great for some uses but Parallels is the Intel Mac killer app for the next eighteen to twenty-four months. It makes the Mac useful and desirable in a corporate atmosphere, which is a market Apple hasn't cracked yet.
Think I'm kidding? Most of the programmers at my office are all talking about buying Mac laptops. One already did. Over 50% of the technical and networking staff are making similar plans. Most, like me, are waiting to see if Merom chips are put into MacBook or MacBook Pro laptops.
Why? Parallels. Need to run older Windows builds? No problem. Linux. Yep. Great looking laptops from Apple? We're in.
But wait. VMware GSX transitioned to VMware Server and it's now free. The disk format is going public. Longhorn, the next version of Windows Server, whenever it ships (don't get me started), will have built-in virtualization. And Microsoft is allowing multiple servers to run without killing companies with unreasonable licensing - that's smart, especially given the hot competitors who have a head start and good reputation.
I don't think Apple will announce a Mac OS X virtualization product in 10.5 Leopard. I just don't think they've had enough time to create this and I don't think they could keep it quite for as long as the development and test lead cycle would be for that product. They could buy Parallels though. If not, I predict they'll announce a hot key to toggle between Mac and Windows while using Boot Camp.
Apple needs virtualization inside their OS. Buying Parallels would be feature-smart for their OS. They will need to be mindful that if they do that, they're walking into a lot of competition but the potential rewards are huge.
Another key: Core 2 Duo (Merom, Conroe, Woodcrest) chips support virtualization in ways that Core Duo (Yonah) doesn't. A VM in Yonah can only mimic a single processor machine. Core 2 chips let VMs run as multiple processors in the virtual environment. And there are other important optimizations included as well.
It's a great time to virtualize!
Hate to say it, but Microsoft tends to buy companies or license software to include it (they learned from years of paying royalties for MS-DOS) which usually lets the creators profit from their work. Apple seems to "coincidentally" create similar applications, leaving the original developers shocked and struggling. (They did buy SoundJam and the programmers to create iTunes, so sometimes they acquire technology and the creators profit.)
So the question is: What will happen to Parallels? This is a key piece in the OS wars. VMware ESX Server kills in the enterprise - it's like magic - you see it working but you can't believe it, but you're senses tell you it's real. VMware had a version that supposedly allowed (note the past tense) OS X to run in in a VMware session until Apple said the equivalent of "don't go there." So VMware for the Mac (to run Windows) is looming. Parallels is out now and being very smart, business-wise.
Boot Camp is great for some uses but Parallels is the Intel Mac killer app for the next eighteen to twenty-four months. It makes the Mac useful and desirable in a corporate atmosphere, which is a market Apple hasn't cracked yet.
Think I'm kidding? Most of the programmers at my office are all talking about buying Mac laptops. One already did. Over 50% of the technical and networking staff are making similar plans. Most, like me, are waiting to see if Merom chips are put into MacBook or MacBook Pro laptops.
Why? Parallels. Need to run older Windows builds? No problem. Linux. Yep. Great looking laptops from Apple? We're in.
But wait. VMware GSX transitioned to VMware Server and it's now free. The disk format is going public. Longhorn, the next version of Windows Server, whenever it ships (don't get me started), will have built-in virtualization. And Microsoft is allowing multiple servers to run without killing companies with unreasonable licensing - that's smart, especially given the hot competitors who have a head start and good reputation.
I don't think Apple will announce a Mac OS X virtualization product in 10.5 Leopard. I just don't think they've had enough time to create this and I don't think they could keep it quite for as long as the development and test lead cycle would be for that product. They could buy Parallels though. If not, I predict they'll announce a hot key to toggle between Mac and Windows while using Boot Camp.
Apple needs virtualization inside their OS. Buying Parallels would be feature-smart for their OS. They will need to be mindful that if they do that, they're walking into a lot of competition but the potential rewards are huge.
Another key: Core 2 Duo (Merom, Conroe, Woodcrest) chips support virtualization in ways that Core Duo (Yonah) doesn't. A VM in Yonah can only mimic a single processor machine. Core 2 chips let VMs run as multiple processors in the virtual environment. And there are other important optimizations included as well.
It's a great time to virtualize!
|