And that's supposed to be a bad thing? A restrictive trade practice? They're the different company in the industry. Everyone knows that. That's what makes Apple what they are.
And, in any case, your argument about Linux and BSD does not apply because these are open source operating systems. Microsoft and Apple are the only two companies who make close source, proprietary operating systems in the industry, i.e. do business, and one of them sells software while the other does hardware. The question of what Linux and BSD do does not apply because they are irrelevant in this comparison. It's one profit making company vs. the rest of the profit making companies in the industry.
Plus, why does everyone keep ignoring the mobile phones and gaming consoles question? Those are computers too, computers that feature coupling of the hardware and software. Incidentally, you'll also note that all these computers are very good at what they do. Apart from the Symbian and Windows Mobile phones, which again stress on separating the hardware from the software, none of those other mobile phones, gaming consoles and media players get infected by viruses or crash or cause other software related troubles.
Clearly, that's the better model. It works better and even Microsoft follows it for its Zune and Xbox lines. Why can't you buy the Zune operating system and install it on an Archos thingy? Or the Xbox OS and install it on a PS3? Don't give me crap about the hardware being different because (a) AFAIK, it isn't all that different; and (b) That does not matter. Software can be made to run on any sort of hardware.
Mac OS X ran on PowerPC processors, moved to Intel and now also runs on Samsung's ARM chip on tiny mobile devices. Windows runs on pretty much everything with a processor in it.
If Microsoft wanted, they could very well have sold the Xbox OS separately and allowed you to install it on a PS3. Do you know what would happen then? They would sell a few more of the Xbox OS and a lot less of actual Xboxes. People would buy PS3s by the truckload, install Xbox OS on it and enjoy both Xbox games as well as PS3s. Sony wouldn't support the Xbox OS and crashes and BSoDs would become common and Microsoft would lose reputation as well as money.
Decoupling software from hardware gave us Windows. If you like it, why do you want Mac OS X anyway! And if you don't, why do you want another Windows with a different name? Because it is assured that once Apple starts selling Mac OS X independently and becomes a software company*, it will become exactly like Windows in about six months. Software and hardware, independent of each other, just does not work as well as them together and Apple is, was and will always be about giving the customer the best experience without any compromises for the sake of saving money. If you don't like that, seek your alternatives. Don't teach them how they should sell their own product to their own happy and satisfied customers.
*And to those who keep saying that Apple is a software company, I would advise you to be a little more attentive when listening to Steve Jobs. The same Steve Jobs who said that Mac was just OS X in a pretty box also quoted Alan Kay as having said that "People who are really serious about software should make their own hardware". He also said that Apple was a platform company during the launch of the iPhone SDK. The thing is that Apple does the whole monty. They make the software, the hardware and develop the combination into a major platform. And they do it all by themselves. They're neither a software company nor a hardware company and they're a software company and a hardware company. They make money from hardware as well as software and all their products are integrated with and interdependent on each other. They don't make stuff in individual bits and pieces. Everything they sell is designed to serve as another part of the whole, which itself constitutes the Apple experience.
And frankly, quality comes at a price and the Apple experience is not for the extremely budget conscious. That's just the way it is and there's really no point *****ing about it. I cannot afford a BMW even though I would really like to own one, but I don't go around shouting that it's over-priced and that the company sucks and they killed my chickens, etc.. I don't know why Apple should be treated any differently.
