Now that Microsoft has officially dubbed both Apple and Linux as "viable competitors" in the operating system market, we've got Bill's stamp of approval to cast both "alternative" systems in the same sort of light. That's a strange scenario at first glance, since both operating systems are so technically different at heart-- Linux with its UNIXy command-line-and-config-files view of the world, and the Mac with its unrepentantly GUI-centric way of doing things. But we've often noticed that Mac folks and Linux folks get along better than one might imagine, and the reason is probably very simple: both systems are underdogs in the shadow of Poppa Windows.

Now, if you accept the fact that the Mac has been fighting the Wintel platform for market share for the past sixteen years, it's probably time to stop and take stock of Apple's progress. Almost twenty years' worth of blood, sweat, and tears have been poured into the Mac's development. (Eeyeeew.) Apple's developers spent countless hours studying how humans interact with machines, observing the tenets of good user interface, and applying an attention to detail that borders on fanatical. The Mac OS in its current state is the pinnacle of fit and finish; it's the most elegant desktop operating system available. A simply ridiculous amount of planning and thought went into its craftsmanship. There's almost twenty years of shine on it, and it shows-- and for Apple's pains, the platform holds something like 5% or less of the entire computer installed base.

Meanwhile, according to a CNET article discussing the autobiography of Linus "I Invented Linux So Chicks Dig Me" Torvalds, Linux was "just one of those things that sort of happens." In other words, it was kind of an accident; it didn't "derive from a far-reaching strategic plan," and caught on "without requiring any real organization." And yet, we estimate that Linux currently holds about as much market share as the Mac.

Hmmmm. Right now we have to wonder whether or not the powers that be in Cupertino are banging their heads against their desks. With all the planning and effort poured into bringing the Mac's operating system all the way up to Mac OS 9.04 (not to mention the insane level of resources committed to Copland and then Rhapsody/Mac OS X), it must smart a little to see somebody say "Whoops! I created an operating system!" and then watch as said operating system catches right up to the Mac's market share. Hopefully this won't give Steve any crazy ideas, though; we don't want to see him cancel Mac OS X and try to create a new operating system by pulling random lines of code out of a hat. (Besides, that's probably Microsoft's development method.)