Apple/Intel: MacOS X for Intel Leaked on the Net!

MacDailyNews is reporting that the development version of MacOS 10.4.1 on Intel has been leaked on the internet. Allegedly, it runs on pretty much any standard Intel-based system with standard hardware. The columnist wonders whether this is a theft or strategic leak from marketing to being to woo Windows geeks eager for an alternative.

"According to reports, Apple’s bundled iLife applications, major selling points for the Mac operating system, are already Intel-native and run at full speed... Given Apple’s experiences with software piracy, particularly the rampant software piracy that spread developer builds of Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger all over the Internet this past spring, Apple’s management from the top down knows full well that this developer preview will be in the hands of every kid with a cable modem within days of its release. Most of them will be able to install it on their own computers and run it and the full suite of iLife ’05 applications at full speed, and run most existing Mac software in translation. As a result, Apple will give thousands, possibly millions, of people a taste of Mac OS X running full speed on their own PCs. Apple’s giving their potential future customers a free taste, that’s what they’re doing. It’s a try-before-you-buy deal," Harrell writes.