In a move that tells something
about Apple Inc.’s new business strategy, the company seems to have decided to
allow the users to run its operating system in virtual machines. This move
involves also a change in Apple Inc.’s end-user licensing agreement (EULA) for
the Mac OS X Server 10.5 Leopard. Practically, the change has been first
noticed by a system engineer from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who has
seen that Apple Inc. now allows the Mac OS X Server to run in a virtual machine
as long as each virtual machine is stocked with a different license and as well
the physical system in made also by Apple Inc. However, Apple Inc.’s client
version of the operating system is still bared from being virtualized.
"You may also install and
use other copies of Mac OS X Server Software on the same Apple-labeled
computer, provided that you acquire an individual and valid license from Apple
for each of these other copies of Mac OS X Server Software.” – Apple Inc.’s new
EULA says, adding also that "You agree not to install, use or run the
Apple Software on any non-Apple-labeled computer, or to enable others to do
so." These rules are joined, however, by another announcement coming from
Apple, which informs the would-be buyers that the Mac OS X installation DVD
that is included along with each new MacBook laptop is “designed for use on
this computer only”. Although this move could mean an anti-piracy tool, it
could be in fact somehow related to the company’s future plans related to
virtualization.
Ben Rudolph, Parallels Inc.’s
director of communications, has said that "This is the first time they've
changed their EULA to allow virtualization.”
"We've known for a long time
that it was technically feasible to implement OS X in a VM." – Ben Rudolph
has also said.
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