On a slightly more serious note...

It'll be interesting to see how this Mactel move pans out. As well as a secure hold on the publishing sector that they retain by default (in much the same way PhotoShop has remained top dog), Mac computers have flourished in their niche because they have been perceived as being better than PCs (more efficient, more stable). Plus, of course, their chic factor.

Macs certainly have been more efficient - that's why ariannah's 1.5Ghz device renders quicker than Len's 2.6Ghz Celeron and my 2.53Ghz P4. Wintel had to win the speed war by ugly, brute force - which they nearly always did, of course.

Macs certainly have been more stable overall. You'd hope so when the same company makes (or specifies) the hardware and the operating system (and a lot of the software that runs on it). Windows has to work on computers made by anybody, including Len and me. PC hardware has to work with other PC hardware made by anyone else. Although Lew is correct when he says Macs are made of bits of other people's hardware, it is also true that Apple carefully designs and controls what goes into machines carrying their name.

The move into Intel processors and Intel technology based motherboards will remove the efficiency advantage. Now PCs and Macs will run at the same speed for the same overhead, especially once Windows Vista is established and PC users can finally be rid of the bios. Further to that, the more competitive PC market will mean that PCs will now always be faster and cheaper than Macs.

If Apple move into direct competition with Microsoft and make their OS available to other computer builders, then their stability advantage might disappear. Microsoft has decades of experience in the area of compatibility; whereas Apple has deliberately sheltered itself from the requirement.

Even if stability isn't a problem, the question of inertia certainly will be. People continued to pay a lot for Microsoft Office when offered capable alternatives for free. Most of the business world knows how to use Windows and will have to be persuaded that the learning curve cost of MacOS is worth it. Linux is free and good, but is nowhere...

And with MacOS "out there", the bundling practises of Apple will suddenly be exposed to the same anti-competition scrutiny as Microsoft's.

I think, all else being equal, Apple-Mac will be forced to remain in its 'novelty' niche, and I suspect it may suffer now for being less novel. But 'all else being equal' means that Microsoft won't trip and fall badly for some reason. Bigger beasts have come tumbling down before.