Here's a bit on the origins of the user interface if you're interested: http://www.mackido.com/Interface/ui_horn1.html Apple has always had many of its parts manufactured by others, but it's the integration of components with each other and with the operating system that sets apple systems apart. The G3 and G4 series porcessors were handled by motorola, the G5 by IBM (The G5 was apple's big move to put high end macs back up to speed with the current high-end intela nd AMD boxes. When released, the apple was the fastest personal computer you could buy.) Now the next will be handled by intel. The only difference is the processor, and the price. Apple still makes the motherboards as they always have, so the integration of the processor with the rest of the computer will still be uniquely apple. The reason apple can't only be a software company goes beyond economics and rationality. Their OS is much better than windows (few would disagree) and they'd make oddles of money if they opened it up. BUT, Steve Jobs is a quirky, irrational fellow like most people and he has a vision of what a computer should be. It should be a harmony of software and hardware that is designed with an ordinary human user in mind: a user which makes mistakes, is clumsy, and wants tools that work well. The mashed together hardware so many PC manufacturers use goes against this dream, and OSX running on ye old bargain basement PC would probably no less buggy than windows, and it would not be in tune with the experience apple delivers. Apple follows the weak link policy: if one component is weak the system is weak, for both the hardware and software. THis is why you don't have lite-on drives in G5 powermacs, xga panels in macbooks, and generic DAC's in the ipod. Who knows though, never say never. Only fools say never.