Apple pre-installs OS X: a follow-up

A MacFixIt Forums thread (Mac OS X Preinstalled May 21) offers reader reaction and debate to Apple's decision to start preinstalling OS X on all shipping Macs (see yesterday's coverage). Some replies point out, as we did yesterday, that this move may help spur development of Mac OS X software. It may also help spur sales of Macs from people who were postponing their purchase until Apple started including OS X. Others take a more negative view of Apple's decision.

Will Apple discontinue Macs with 64MB of RAM? One posting in the thread asks this important question: How can Apple pre-install OS X in the iMacs and iBooks that still ship with 64MB of RAM? Apple states that OS X pretty much requires at least 128MB of RAM (a fact that users readily confirm!).

MacFixIt reader Ronald Guest summarizes the positive viewpoint: "I think Apple made the right decision. This means X will be free for buyers of these machines. It will boost the installed base numbers which will encourage developers to fill in the gaps in X and develop new apps for X. And, I must say a number of my friends installed X already (against my advice!) and though they've run into a few problems they seem quite happy they've done it."

Mach files MacFixIt reader Marc Bizer offered this query: The essential mach and mach.sym Mac OS X files are visible on the desktop when running Mac OS 9.1. They might easily be moved (or even trashed) by a novice Mac user with a new Mac before they realize they are needed for OS X. Will Apple make some change here to reduce the chance that this might happen?

Update: Rob Buckley replies: "While it would be nice if Apple changed OS X so that the Mach files are invisible on HFS drive, Marc has nothing to worry about: OS X automatically recreates the Mach files if they're trashed. It also writes over them regularly so even if you change their visibility, they'll reappear the next time you boot into OS 9.1 after switching to OS X again. There are even AppleScripts on the Net to be put into the OS 9.1 Startup Items folder that trash the Mach files to make the root directory level neater."