Except you can install Linux, Windows, and even Plan 9 or a *BSD on a Mac laptop. So basically, it's not locked at all.
The author of the post submitted this to HN himself and it's rather embarrassingly wrong. I flagged this submission because it seems like link/flamebait.
Macs are excellent machines for running non OS X operating systems on, they're even listed in several "best windows laptop" surveys (one at http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2369981,00.asp for example).
They are also excellent Plan 9 machines, but I'm a little short on Google links for "best plan 9 laptops" at the moment.
What on earth does the author mean by "just like Mac and OS 10"? Apple laptops will run other OSes, including Windows and Linux, just fine.
(Linux support for the latest set of Macbook Airs is still imperfect - but the hardware is brand-new, and it'll undoubtedly get better with time. The hardware is not the problem here; it's practically a reference design!)
Yes, I think his information about Mac hardware is very outdated. Sure years ago only MacOS would run on Apple hardware but after the move to Intel chips it has been wide open.
And even that doesn't make sense as a complaint. Mac OS is somewhat hardware-locked (although, as you've mentioned, it's easily defeated), but the hardware is not restricted to running only Mac OS. So it's not at all analogous to the situation the author's encountering with his laptop refusing to run not-Windows.
I'm wondering what the author means with "new laptops locked to support only windows". Sounds more like a bug in a specific laptop / series (huge difference).
This is totally different than what OSX does. The OS is restricted to specific hardware; what the author is describing is hardware tied to specific software.
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[ 3.2 ms ] story [ 26.7 ms ] threadThe author of the post submitted this to HN himself and it's rather embarrassingly wrong. I flagged this submission because it seems like link/flamebait.
They are also excellent Plan 9 machines, but I'm a little short on Google links for "best plan 9 laptops" at the moment.
(Linux support for the latest set of Macbook Airs is still imperfect - but the hardware is brand-new, and it'll undoubtedly get better with time. The hardware is not the problem here; it's practically a reference design!)