APPLE REFUSES TO LICENSE OPERATING SYSTEM
By Adnews Staff
Apple Computer Inc. of Cupertino, California has said no way to a Swiss company that wants a license to use a special version of the Macintosh operating system on computers made by International Business Machines. Although both Apple and IBM use the Power PC microprocessor, which they jointly developed with Motorola, internal differences prevent IBM machines from running the Macintosh operating system. In the summer Quix Computerware began showing a system that worked on an IBM machine. Apple at first rejected it but reconsidered after the Quix product performed well in a test by the U.S. trade publication MacWorld. Apple would give no explanation for its second rejection this week. However, the whole thing may be a dead issue within a year. The New York Times reports that Apple and IBM will be introducing a common hardware reference platform (CHRP) which will use common components rather than the custom chips now found in a Mac. This new technology will be the base for machines that can run the Mac operating system, OS/2, Windows NT and AIX.