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July 9, 2006

Leopard Virtualization: Maybe Not?

A blurb in Friday's MacWorld News ("Analysts: Windows on Macs will not open corporate doors") has a quote from Charles Wolf of Needham & Company about Leopard - and specifically, whether or not Leopard will run Windows virtually:

I am so pleased to see [Apple promoting Parallels]," said Wolf. "I had a talk with Phil Schiller at the opening of the 5th Avenue Apple Store, and I asked him the question, 'will Apple include a virtualization solution in [the next version of Mac OS X] Leopard.' He said 'absolutely not, the R&D would be prohibitive and we're not going to do it. Our solution is dual boot.' When I saw Parallels come out, I thought Apple would dis it, but this page suggests that Apple will actively support it." [Boldfaced emphasis mine]

Well, phooey.

For those of us who have been convinced that Apple is about to offer virtualization in Leopard, this is pretty bad news. Of course, I could try explaining this statement a few different ways:

• Needham misunderstood Schiller. This seems pretty unlikely. "Absolutely not" is one of those phrases that, unlike, "It depends on what your definition if 'is' is" that doesn't allow for a lot of subtle parsing.
• Needham has been brought in to the fold, and is now part of an elaborate misinformation campaign until WWDC. Again, unlikely. Yes, we know The Steve's RDF is phenomenally strong, but if it came out that Needham was actively helping spread misinformation on behalf of Apple, his career as an analyst would be pretty much over.
• Steve and Phil are bickering. More Enquirer-esque, this theory would claim that Steve and Phil aren't getting along right now, and as such Phil's not being invited to the right kinds of meetings any more (and consequently, doesn't know about the Secret R&D Windows Project). Steve might even be feeding Phil bogus information to make him look bad to folks like Needham. (Tip for you, Phil - if Steve is referring to you as "Gil" in front of other people, polish your resume.)
• Schiller lied. I actually kind of like this theory, if only because it might suggest a new, brazen, risk-taking, let-it-all-hang-out Phil Schiller. I mean, he is, after all, Phil Schiller. Who the hell else are you going to call when you want to know the scoop on the Mac? Steve? Be serious. If Phil wants to lie to you, you'll smile and ask for seconds. (Somebody should check and see if Phil got a Harley and/or tattoo in the last six months.)
• They're really not going to do it. Yeah, it hurts a bit. I was so sure virtualization was on deck for Leopard. Ah, well.

WWDC is August 7. Let the speculation continue! (And in the meantime, Parallels desktop is just $50.)

Posted by Gavin Shearer at July 9, 2006 10:54 AM. Posted to Apple.

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