It's much worse than that, it means that I can't buy a copy of OSX and install it on my own non-Apple hardware without violating their EULA which is now legally enforceable.
You say this as though it is a BAD thing. It is not. Let Apple retain their proprietary OS, while pretending to be open and standards-compliant. It is, after all, not well suited for business: OS X doesn't integrate well with ANY business/enterprise networks, and in fact is less secure than Windows or Linux when any MIS/IT department attempts to do so.
Given Apple's insistence on lesser default security at the network level, to insure backward compatibility with its previous insecure network implementations, this represents a HUGE security risk for enterprise networks.
In addition, Apple has not made ANY appreciable efforts to correct this, leading to what one can only deem an "attack by the clueless upon corporate efforts to ensure the security of their networks, simply by the ever-increasing popularity of their computers in the coporate world, mostly by sales people, who are, by definition, the least technically competent people in a company, but often the most influential:" "I generate a LOT of revenue for this company, and so I SHOULD be able to have whatever computer I wish, and I want an Apple computer, 'cause it is cool, pretty and enhances my stature"
My personal experience, with regards to those that insist upon using Apple computers? They have NO appreciation of corporate network security, at all. For them, Apple has no security problems, ever. Integration with the corporate network, established for the company for which they work, to create a secure, stable corporate infrastructure under which ALL those that need access/use of such? ANY security risks are NOT their concern: They are completely oblivious, even when presented with security flaws.
They simply don't care, you see. All they want is to be able to use Apple computers, because they think that they are "the best", in their estimation, regardless.
So, we deal with them now, in my MIS department, as best as we can. They are, in general, the most clueless, least technically competent/aware users, and they have NO consideration at all for anyone besides themselves in the company. Most of them are technically incompetent for the jobs for which they have been hired, and cannot, and will not, abide the company's TOS/AUP: They're all "special flowers", you see, ostensibly hired for the skills/knowledge/expertise that they would bring to the company... but, they refuse to use the standard tools, which integrate perfectly not only into our corporate network, but also serve them in doing their jobs, because we in MIS have created them so. Because they ARE, in their estimation, exceptional, and so MIS should accommodate them, regardless.
Sadly, this has been my experience with EVERYONE that has insisted upon using an Apple computer in our company: THEIR needs/desires, come first, always, and when they cannot do their jobs with an Apple computer? MIS is to blame, of course. They have NO concept of anything beyond that, No appreciation of anything beyond that, and their needs/desires.
And of course, this IS what Apple encourages: Their mantra is "Think Different" [sic], after all. And, by "different", they mean "You're allowed to use your Apple computer to do whatever you want."
And you know what? I don't have a problem with that, when it comes to personal use: I use my personally-owned Windows and Linux computers, as I choose, too.
However, when it comes to my work computers? I use them to do my job, and I do so, in accordance with my company's AUP. ALL of our current Apple users think that such doesn't apply to them. We're dealing with Apple users that think that they are entitled to bootleg copies of Windows, because they cannot do their jobs otherwise.They not only bootleg Windows, they bootleg copies of VMWare fusion, for their convenience, apparently with the same rationalization: Since they cannot do their jobs, with their Apple computers, it's OK to bootleg the software that permits them to do so, regardless of the fact that it's illegal, and so makes our company liable.
And all of this, despite the fact that MIS can provide them with a perfectly functional Windows computer, whose software is legal.
So I say, again: Let Apple win. Fuck "choice", when it comes to OS X: Let them have it, and let them keep their cloistered world.
I only hope that everyone else will see what they're doing, and encapsulate them, isolate them. The rest of the computing world is converging, slowly, working towards integration and interaction, albeit slowly and reluctantly.
Apple doesn't want that, and never has: Their goal, Steve Jobs' vision, is one where Apple rules over everything.
My personal hope? I hope Steve Jobs' body rejects his transplanted liver, and that he dies a slow, painful death, for his arrogant insistence that the "Apple way" is the only way, for his ability to convince so many that this is true, leading to SO much work for so many in corporate IT/MIS as a result. He's an asshole. He's ALWAYS been an asshole, albeit a charismatic one. He's NEVER worked in the trenches, never had to deal with the results of his influence in the real world, never been accountable for anything, so far as I can see.
After all, the world deems him a "visionary", and that apparently absolves him of all responsibility.
Fuck that, and fuck him.
Regards,
dj
