I would argue that Apple is a hardware company. That is where they make their money. The software exists to make the hardware more useful and appealing.
I can agree with that but the software doesn't just magically appear.
Nonetheless, you are not wrong, and thanks for reading.
I wouldn't say fill the gap, but if MS happens to fall down I can see Apple buying them out.
They are both software companies, but that still would be like Apple buying oranges.
Personally, I hate that MS is allowed to get it's OS bundled with computers. I shouldn't have to buy a Mac or over pay for a poor quality bit of hardware to avoid having to give them money.
Why does this bother you so much? Consumers have options. If you buy a computer with Windows bundled from an OEM, the savings you get on the components, as opposed to building a PC yourself and either running GNU/Linux, or purchasing another OS would make up for the cost of the OS bundled with the system. The OEM most likely absorbs most of the cost of the OS anyway.
You can buy a pre-built system with no OS if you don't want Redmond to have your money, or you can build one yourself. The latter would end up costing you more than buying a pre-built system with OS bundled.
As far as MS being "allowed to have their OS's bundled, on what authority would anyone have the ability to prevent this? Who has the authority to tell Dell for instance, to not partner with MS? Why should anyone have this authority? Do you hate that you can only buy a Coke a McDonalds?
Wanted to repost logged in. I am not a coward
Where there's a will, there's a relative.