There is - the MacOS X license only allows running the software on Apple branded computers, and there is copy protection (which everyone can get around) which makes this fall under the DMCA.

On the other hand, there is the fact that Apple has never taken notice of anyone building their own Hackintosh. The only time they did take notice was with Psystar, and those guys effectively _forced_ Apple to take action.

That _would_ be a good reason not to release MacOS X for PCs, but even if all PCs were absolutely 100% compatible to each other, Apple would still not release MacOS X for PCs for the reasons I said - because they make more money from selling Macs than they could make from selling operating systems.

"Being allowed to lie" means something different. Let's say you plan to smash in a car window. A person you don't know is watching you. The prudent person that you are, you ask them "are you a cop"? The answer is "No", you smash the car window, and the cop arrests you. That's the kind of lie a cop is allowed to make. Now let's say he turned his back on you, and you smashed the window without him seeing you, but he heard you, and there was nobody else who could have done it. Later in court the judge asks him "did you see this man smashing the car window" and he says "Yes". That's the kind of lie he isn't allowed to make.

It's not difficult for humans. It's difficult for slashdotters.

Hearsay is different. Hearsay happens when I say something outside the court, and obviously I'm allowed to talk a lot of nonsense outside the court, so when someone says in court what they heard me say, that may be evidence that I said it, but it isn't evidence that it is true. Here, the fact that the officer says "I smelled drugs" isn't evidence that there were drugs, but it is evidence that he indeed smelled drugs. And that is all he needs to search the car.

Whether she said the truth or not would only be relevant if (a) the police tried to convict the driver for running her off the road or (b) the police tried to convict her for making a false accusation of a crime. It is _not_ relevant to whether the police should have stopped the car or not. What would be relevant to _this_ case is whether her accusation was believable or not.

Let me think. Article headline: "You Can Now Run Beta Versions of OS X-For Free". OS X (or more properly MacOS X) is Apple's computer operating system. The whole article is about computers. So clearly your initial post must have been about how well Apple is doing or not doing in the computer market. Unless you are an imbecile with the attention span of a gnat who cannot read a simple headline.

We are discussing computers here. We are not discussing what percentage of Apple's profits and revenue come from computer. We are discussing how big the computer selling part of Apple is in the computer market. Somewhere else we could be discussing how big Apple is in the ever shrinking market for portable music players (hint: Amazon doesn't sell any new music players with more than 32 GB capacity that are not made by Apple). We could discuss what percentage of set top boxes are made by Apple in yet another place. But here we are discussing computers.

I've heard that explanation as well, and it is pure speculation and most likely wrong. The reason why Apple doesn't sell licenses for MacOS X is that MacOS X is basically used as advertisements for the sale of Apple hardware, and that's where the profit is. They don't even care about getting money from upgrades anymore (10.9 was a free upgrade). If you think about buying a Mac today, you know that you will get at least two or three OS updates for free, which costs Apple nothing but increases the value of the Mac compared to a PC.

iPhone users can trivially boot up any operating system they want; it's called iOS. Android phone users can trivially boot up any operating system they want; it's called Android. How many people want to boot up two operating systems?

Published on theregister.com. Estimated profits 45% Apple, 13% Dell, 7% Lenovo, the rest - very little. Consider this: In the USA, Apple sells about 90% of all laptops over $1,000. Not "45% of Apple's profit". "45% of all profits made from selling laptop and desktop hardware". By the way, the market share of iPhones in the phone market has been growing every year, but that would be too boring to report. It's just that feature phones are more and more replaced by cheap smart phones. You think Apple cares if millions in China buy the cheapest smartphone they can find?

Since we are talking about MacOS X here - the last estimate was that Apple makes 45% of all profits in the desktop + laptop hardware market, so I'd say they are slowly eating everyone else :-)

A meth lab is quite big, so I don't think there is any justification for ransacking your house to find it. Just open every door and have a look into every room. And a call saying you're running a meth lab in your garage should clearly give them a warrant for the garage only.

Apple doesn't want market share. If customer A buys a $600 iPhone, and customers B, C, D, E, F and G buy a $100 Android phone, Android has a six times higher market share. But both have the same revenue, and you may make a guess who makes a ton more profit.

Here's another example how Apple is often accused of two exactly diametrical faults. You accuse them of using cheap Gorilla Glass which isn't good enough according to you and say they should have switched to Sapphire glass ages ago, while the whole thread started with others saying how stupid it is of Apple to use Sapphire glass, when Gorilla glass is much better.

Guys, can you make up your minds, please?

So here is the meme that iPhones often have broken screens. There is the other meme that people throw away their iPhones for the slightest reason and buy a new one. Clearly, both memes are contradicting each other. If people keep iPhones with broken screens, then clearly these iPhones haven't been thrown away.

What actually seems to happen is that iPhone screens sometimes break, just like other screens, but you'll always find someone who is happy taking an iPhone with a broken screen. Which indicates to me that the rest of the phone must be bloody good.