The Apple PC

A Hawaiian company specializing in streaming video claims to have developed a $50 software emulator that allows a Windows PC to run Apple Computer's Mac OS X.

Maui X-Stream on Tuesday announced CherryOS, a virtual PC that mimics the hardware of a G4 Mac.

The company said it is already working on a stand-alone version that cuts out Windows XP. A stand-alone version of CherryOS would allow OS X to run on a cheap commodity PC without the added expense of Microsoft's operating system -- provided the emulator works and Apple's lawyers ever allow it to see the light of day.

Many Apple lovers out there love to bitch about Microsoft, but many of us COMPUTER lovers out here have longed for the day when a PC could run the Mac OS just as the Mac has been able to run a PC OS for years. Here's hoping Apple pulls its head out of its ass and allows this to go through.

Of course, as an Apple lawyer I would go after the small Hawai'ian company but with a licensing ploy. Let CherryOS live. Get users to shell out the $179 ($50 Cherry + $129 OS X) for a trial, wait until the G7/OS XI combo hits the shelves, and watch as large PC users make the switch. Or not. Even if only 25 million users (Apple's equivalent of its all-time high share) were to not switch but buy the OS, that's $3.3 billion. Regardless, it's win-win for both companies in the near present. What better way to get the Apple-shy PC users to take a bite?

Apple really has no option but to cash-in now. Its cult will have no more ground on which to stand in their Microsoft rant. Besides, the proverbial cat is out of the bag (or toilet given the recent e-mail making the rounds), its OS will run on a PC and somebody will always be willing to keep a CherryOS derivative available in the underground. So, here's really hoping that Apple with its near 30 years of selfish business practices spent the time wisely preparing for this day.

[ASIDE: This has nothing to do with the above post but I smell bubblegum. Lots of it. What is with Seattle's air quality?! One day its nose-turning flotsam, the next it is sugary jetsam.]