Apple And Intel Merger Theorized

Legendary pundit Robert X. Cringely thinks there's more to Apple's switch to Intel chips besides giving developers a headstart on porting applications. Why Intel and not AMD, Steve Jobs never did say Intel would be an exclusive provider. A merger would definitely change that, though. Apple says it made the announcement to give its developers a head start at porting applications. But the porting announcement could have been made directly to developers and locked up with a smattering of non-disclosure agreements. There wasn't a compelling need to make the decision public. Apple could simply have taken the usual "no comment" route regarding the rumors surrounding the issue. Mr. Cringely thinks there has to be a reason why Apple would jeopardize its hardware sales for two years. Intel getting all of its OEM partners to include Apple would make more sense than a lengthy delay that could cost Apple a few billion dollars. But what about people who use Windows applications? Virtualization is the key here. If Transitive Technologies can do it to support PowerPC applications on the future Mac Intel platform, why couldn't they do it for Windows apps? Or they could go with And Intel has tweaked its chips to support the Xen technology already. David Utter is a staff writer for murdok covering technology and business. Email him