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Cringely: OS X on Intel

Posted by timothy on from the apple's-golden-opportunity dept.

sti writes: "Cringely's column this week argues that Apple should port OS X to the Intel platform. He makes an interesting case for it. I would definitely favour this. I've always had this warm spot in my heart for Apple but rarely had the money to pay for their overpriced hardware."

3 of 694 comments (clear)

  1. FP by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    This is the end result of all *open sauce* programmers.

  2. Re:Nuts! Nuts! Nuts! by jkusnier · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Apple Rulez!!!

  3. Apple ADB Keyboards Broken By Design by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Apple Input Devices are Unacceptable to Unix Users

    Apple makes horrible input devices:

    • One Button Mice
    • Hockey Puck Mouse
    • ADB Keyboards

    My main point is about keyboards, but first just a quick note on mice.

    Mice

    Admittedly, one button mice are not much of a problem on desktop machines. You can (for some small extra expense) buy a 3-button USB mouse. Apple's refusal to package a 3-button mouse only raises the effective price of their desktop machines.

    However, on a laptop, a one-button mouse is a hardship. Carrying an extra mouse with you is a real pain. In general, carrying anything extra with a laptop is unacceptable. (You can redefine a couple of keyboard keys to be mouse keys, but then you lose those keyboard keys.)

    Keyboards

    My main point is about keyboards. Apple designs horrible keyboards. ADB keyboards (which are still used on all of Apple's laptops) are unusable to unix users. Even more so than with a mouse, carrying an extra USB keyboard along with your laptop just to make the laptop usable is absolutely unacceptable .

    Proper Keyboard Design

    • When a key is pressed, the keyboard sends a keyPress event.
    • When a key is released, the keyboard sends a keyRelease event.
    • Each key is assigned a different keycode.
    Nothing more, nothing less.

    ADB Keyboard Mis-design

    • When the key to the left of the 'A' (CapsLock) is pressed, the ADB keyboard sends both a keyPress event and a keyRelease event.
    • When the CapsLock key is then released, the ADB keyboard sends NO events.
    • When the CapsLock key is next pressed, the ADB keyboard sends NO events.
    • When the CapsLock key is then released, the ADB keyboard sends both a keyPress event and a keyRelease event.
    This is WRONG ! Apple's ADB keyboards are broken by design.

    Unix Users Cannot Use Apple's ADB Keyboards

    What this means is that unix users who need the key to the left of the 'A' to be a Ctrl key cannot use Apple ADB keyboards. You can easily reprogram the CapsLock key to be a Ctrl key and get rid of the badness of the CapsLock key, but you can't get the required goodness of the Ctrl key to the left of the 'A'.

    Early Apple USB Keyboards Can't Tell Right from Left.

    Apple USB keyboards do not have the CapsLock<->Ctrl problem, but some have another minor problem.

    Early Apple USB keyboards (without the number pad) did not distinguish between the left and right sides of the keyboard; the Shift key on the right side of the keyboard reported LeftShift events just like the Shift key on the left side of the keyboard. In other words, the duplicated keys (like Shift, CapsLock, Ctrl, and Command) on the right side of the keyboard had the same keycodes as the keys on the left side of the keyboard.

    Apple Loses Sales to Unix Users

    All Apple laptops have the horrible broken-by-design ADB keyboards which are unusable to unix users. I want to buy an Apple laptop, but I cannot and will not until Apple builds input devices usable by unix users.