Apple Computer Sending Out an OS?

Some consumers took advantage of the program to buy low-cost Mac clones. But the licensing program was widely viewed as a failure for Apple itself, as it coincided with a sharp decline in the company's revenue and market share.

In fact, one of Steve Jobs' first steps after reassuming control of the company was to cancel the licensing program, leaving a number of Mac clone manufacturers in the lurch.

Apple's previous attempt to license the Mac OS simply "didn't work," says Wu.

Despite all those reasons, however, Mac clones still may end up on store shelves some day because the move to Intel likely makes it easier for other computer manufacturers to make Macintosh machines.

Apple also could eventually feel financial and consumer pressure to license the Mac OS after the Intel switch because consumers will be better able to compare Windows-based PCs with Macintosh computers and determine the premium paid for the Mac OS and the computers' design. That transparency could well force Apple to bring computer prices more in line with those of its PC rivals, which, unlike Apple, typically sell their machines at thin profit margins.

Meanwhile, with the hardware largely the same as what other computer makers are offering, Apple could see increasing demand from consumers to license its operating system and to allow for lower-priced Macintoshes.

"It becomes a political debate," says Gartner's Baker. But, he adds, "It would be a serious roll of the dice for Apple."

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