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Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) and Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) are both moving ahead on their merger of Mac OS X and the Intel processor platform, announcing availability of a new beta version of the Apple operating system and developer tools for the major transition.
Industry observers indicated that early signs show integration of Mac applications to Intel chips is going well, although the coming hardware that will run Apple's latest desktop and notebook software is escalating the need for developers to transition applications in time.
"The good news is, the [new, Intel-based] hardware is running the software, which says developers had better get moving, because the platforms are coming," Gartner (NYSE: IT) research vice president Martin Reynolds told MacNewsWorld. "Things are looking fairly positive. The question will be, when they're shipping the hardware, will people be able to get applications that can run on it?"
Transition Tiger and Tools
Although the company has made headlines recently with its iPod nano and iTunes service for the Rokr E1 mobile phone, Apple's biggest challenge right now is transitioning developers and users to the Intel platform, a major move publicized last June.
This week, Apple unveiled a pre-release version of Mac OS X on Intel for its developers, reportedly updating the operating system refresh to coincide with its Mac OS X 10.4.2 version.
For its part, Intel recently announce it was porting its software development tools for Mac developers with its own beta software expected by the end of the year.
Control Tightened
The beta Mac OS X for Intel version for developers includes stronger piracy prevention, intended largely to discourage unlicensed copies of the software from getting ported to non-Apple, Intel hardware.
Gartner's Reynolds indicated he did not think piracy will represent much of a problem, particularly once Apple and its developers polish the new Mac OS X that will run on Intel hardware, but only on machines from Apple.
"I don't think we'll see particularly good, hacked versions of Mac OS X," he said. "What happens is you end up losing features, things don't work, and it's unstable, and ultimately, the question is, why do it?"
Reynolds added that the industry is looking forward to the interesting products that come out of the new MacNology union of Apple and Intel, but he again stressed the need for developers to deliver applications for the merged platform.
Change and Challenge
Illuminata analyst Gordon Haff told MacNewsWorld that Apple will be in a tricky transition as it supports software on both the old and new platforms.
"They don't want to be in a position where there's hardware for the old applications, and no applications for the new hardware," he said. "When the new hardware is available, if the applications aren't accessible, it's not only a case of people not wanting to transition, it's a case of them not being able to."
Haff said that at that point Apple would face a significant risk of users "jumping ship" to Windows or Linux, a danger the analyst said is already present with any transition.
On Shoulders of Apple, ISVs
While Intel is supporting the transition with its developer tools and other resources, Haff said the burden of bringing developers along rests squarely on the shoulders of Apple.
"If developers don't make the transition to Apple and Intel, they'll probably be making the transition to Windows and Intel," he said. "Intel doesn't have a lot to lose."
Apple, on the other hand, must get independent software vendors (ISVs) to equally support applications for both the old and new Apple platforms, the analyst noted.
"The problem is, to be at that nirvana, Apple would have to have the ISVs increase their investment on Apple hardware, at least in the transition," Haff said. "That is very difficult for Apple."
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