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E5 Xeon’s officially launched
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I forget where I read it, but the idea of licensing the OS for high-end workstations was supposedly been kicking around a while at Apple, and strongly favored by Tim Cook, but Steve didn’t like the idea.
The advantages? Keep the high-end pros happy and using Mac OS, while shifting the production responsibility to HP.
Even if they do announce a new version in 2012, I’d bet a month’s salary that it will be the last version ever, and we’ll go through this same ordeal in 2014.
Will iMacs & Thunderbolt be a sufficient replacement? For most editing, that would probably be acceptable. But as a Smoke on Mac user – I think I’ll be screwed. 🙁
David Jahns
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Joint Editorial
Portland, OR -
I still think it’s all change at Apple and the larger changes will take a while to permeate through, Tim Cook is very different than Steve Jobs and by all accounts he values the enterprise space. HP OSX workstations would have been unthinkable a year ago, now it might be different.
Steve Connor
“FCPX Agitator”
Adrenalin Television -
I agree David. Running Smoke on an Imac would seriously handcuff the app.
My z800 is already feeling slow ( I know it isnt…), probably because I am used to how fast it renders. I’m going to start my begging now, so I can get a z820 for my system as soon as they are available. (and Autodesk approves them!)moody glasgow
smoke/flame
http://www.thereelthinginc.com -
I had to smile reading the people on this thread speculating about the possibility of officially licensed Mac OS on an HP Workstation.
For years, Tim Wilson and I have talked about the idea of HP providing workstations that run the Mac OS. (Not every PC manufacturer, just HP.)
Why HP?
It is why we actively focused on getting them involved at the COW. We believe that when the smoke clears, the most rabid Mac professionals on the planet — the ones running über-powerful systems that need slots, cards, etc. — will find themselves dancing with Apple and HP. Either as dual platform shops, or if it goes as we suspect, Apple will license a sole PC vendor to work with. We think that will be HP.
Over the years as Tim Wilson and I have hammered on where the growing “i-focusing” at Apple would take things, Tim said to me one day that “There is now just one true workstation left: HP’s Z series, that’s it.”
It had been years since Apple built a new one. They had killed XServe. They had swept away things like XSan, Shake, FCP, Color and other pro initiatives.
It was not hard to envision an Apple in which they would not want to lose their highest end customers, while simultaneously finding themselves becoming ever increasingly unwilling to directly supply them.
Why? For the very same reasons that had killed all the products mentioned two paragraphs back.
Even if Apple builds a new workstation, the harsh reality is that it will grow increasingly difficult for Apple to focus on a market so ancillary to what the company’s focus is.
HP’s workstation division is dedicated to serving that market around the world and does it well, always pushing the limits of where things are today.
We believe that it would be a win-win to both camps. Apple users averse to running Windows directly would stay with their OS of choice, while Apple works with a single source whose commitment to building servers is unparalleled — and whose corporate ethos of quality is akin to Apple’s own.
A bonus is that for a change, Mac users would get rid of the goofy OpenGL they’ve endured for years. The double-and-more cost of high-end video cards would end for Mac users.
When I saw my first HP Z-800 at a press event, I told their VP/GM and the VP Marketing that “it out-Macs my Mac.” It was clear that HP had looked at all the best stuff about Apple and had raised the bar when it comes to expectations in a workstation.
Unfortunately, for many users, running Windows is not something they want to do. But even the most dedicated Apple user needing real workstation power would have trouble saying no to a Z-Series HP Workstation running Mac OS.
Now if only the team in Cupertino, California would get on the phone with the people in Fort Collins, Colorado.
Apple is having to look at the proliferation of sites dedicated to the Hacintosh. So, a real joint venture looks to me to be well-timed and one that would be fortuitous to all involved.
Those are some of the thoughts that have been rolling around along with the marbles in my head.
Do with them what you will, they are just thoughts.
Best regards,
Ronald Lindeboom
CEO, Creative COW LLC
Publisher, Creative COW Magazine
A 2011 FOLIO: 40 honoree as one of the 40 most influential publishers in America
http://www.creativecow.netCreativity is a process wherein the student and the teacher are located in the same individual.
“Incompetence has never prevented me from plunging in with enthusiasm.” – Woody Allen
“Be who you are and say what you feel because those that matter, don’t mind — and those that mind, don’t matter.” – Dr. Seuss
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[Ronald Lindeboom] “Unfortunately, for many users, running Windows is not something they want to do. But even the most dedicated Apple user needing real workstation power would have trouble saying no to a Z-Series HP Workstation running Mac OS.”
Absolutely. It’s not about the MacPro form factor for us, it’s about OSX.
Unfortunately, building a Hacintosh isn’t suitable either. How’s the Hacintosh support line and do they offer manufacturer warranties?
Jeremy
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I thought it brave of Ron to talk of a Hackintosh. Perhaps he was alluding to rumours that Mac might support HP with OSX officially but I seriously doubt it.
For me it is about software. I only went Mac for Final Cut. With my switch to da Vinci imminent and waiting to see what is on offer from CS6 and AVID in the coming months, I am steering away from Mac hardware to get much better performance for less money. WIN 7 is not a bad OS. If Adobe and AVID were all ported to Linux, then you won’t see me on a Mac.
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[Michael Gissing] “Perhaps he was alluding to rumours that Mac might support HP with OSX officially but I seriously doubt it.”
I would LOVE to see the Mac OS licensed to HP. I love the HP’s power and expandability but it would be even nicer if it was running dual OSes just as Macs can.
What I meant by saying Hacintosh is that people are already learning to create PCs running the Mac OS. That is the whole “Hacintosh” movement that seems to gather steam more over time.
I have little doubt that HP and Apple could be great corporate partners and could find a way to please the highest-end Mac users — after all, we have been trained by years of Apple buying to not look for the cheapest way out. ;o)
Best regards,
Ronald Lindeboom
CEO, Creative COW LLC
Publisher, Creative COW Magazine
A 2011 FOLIO: 40 honoree as one of the 40 most influential publishers in America
http://www.creativecow.netCreativity is a process wherein the student and the teacher are located in the same individual.
“Incompetence has never prevented me from plunging in with enthusiasm.” – Woody Allen
“Be who you are and say what you feel because those that matter, don’t mind — and those that mind, don’t matter.” – Dr. Seuss
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I recall back in the day, when Apple used to make their own printers, too.
Eventually, they decided to just play nice with other hardware, and focus on their core business – the Apple experience – at the time, that meant the CPU Towers, Laptops, and software.
Nowadays, the “Apple experience” is mainly iOS, but tightly integrated with OS X, laptops, etc…
It’s not much of a stretch to think of CPU Towers as just another 3rd party device for OS X to play nicely with while letting them focus on their main strengths.
David Jahns
—
Joint Editorial
Portland, OR -
[Ronald Lindeboom] “I have little doubt that HP and Apple could be great corporate partners and could find a way to please the highest-end Mac users”
Especially since they made such a big deal today about being a “post computer” company.
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