I posted two articles when Tiger launched:
Tiger != Longhorn, Lion == Longhorn
Mac OS X on x86/x64 rumor
Looks like I got the code-name wrong, OS X 10.5 is Leopard not Lion like I speculated. What I got right is the timeframe, Steve Jobs said in his WWCC keynote Leopard will launch at the end of 2006/early 2007. This puts it on track to compete directly with Longhorn. No details yet on what's in Leopard, that will most likely come at Macworld SF or WWDC 2006. I love that Apple is going to launch another version of Mac OS X at the same time as Longhorn. I can't wait to see how the battle shakes out.
Also at WWDC Steve unleashed the bomb that the switch to Intel is true. I called this rumor shady when Paul Thurrott revealed it to the world, and I was wrong. You really have to give Paul a round of applause for breaking this story.
I for one can't wait for MacTels (Apple trademarked that term, I think Macintel is much easier to say). I will be demanding as a condition of my employement that I get an Apple Mac Intel laptop. This assumes it can dual-boot OS X and Windows. I think if Apple makes this hard, then the switch won't have that big an impact. But if Windows or Linux can run, then it's the natural laptop for technologists. In other words, if the price is even close to say a Dell, why would I buy a Dell and be locked into Windows or Linux when I can get an Apple and have all three if I want.
As I said when I commented on the rumor, Apple will not become a software company and sell Mac OS X to anybody, as much as Dell may find that attractive now.
This also doesn't mean PPC based Macs are DOA this year, far from it. If I hadn't just refreshed both laptop and desktop machines recently, I would be in line for a new iBook or PowerBook.
Universal Binaries (nee Fat Binaries, which is obvious a negative) will be around for a long time to support both MacTel and MacPPC machines.
2006 is going to be a very interesting time in the computer industry.
