Apple tablet: Mac OS, or iPhone OS?

Posted on September 30, 2009 by Ian Betteridge

Will the Apple tablet run Mac OS X, or iPhone OS X? I think this source of Mary Jo Foley’s sums up why it will be iPhone, even though he’s talking about Microsoft’s Courier tablet:

“You can’t install Windows 7 apps on Courier, the source said, and that’s intentional.The original Microsoft Tablets ‘failed because the applications were not tailored to a tablet form factor – that is, Word still had toolbars and menus and scollbars. So, a tablet needs to be like an iPhone – a UX that is specific for the form factor,’ the source said.”

Apple will not want you to run “normal” Mac OS X applications on the tablet, because the user experience will be sub-par – and that’s just not the Apple way. Expect it to use a super-set of iPhone OS instead.

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  • http://htt Udo

    I don’t have anything against an OS that’s optimized for touch UI. However, there is no way in hell that I’ll pony up the 500+ EUR this thing will cost for a device I don’t have any control over, a device that won’t let me install what I want, a tightly controlled appliance. No way, especially after the App Store disasters recently.

  • http://www.xmlauthor.com Rob

    This would be bad strategy, if true, just opening the door for other touchscreen tablet vendors willing to run real operating systems. Hard to believe that Apple would do this. They must know this is not the same as the cell phone market.

  • Ian Betteridge

    Well there is a difference, Rob: To all intents and purposes, iPhone OS X is now a “real” operating system. It’s probably got more applications available than the Mac version these days.