@"created the idea" - Oh do be quiet...
http://goo.gl/1E7d Read that and learn something from the people that were there.
Steve Jobs announced today what he suggested was a marriage of iOS with Mac OSX. Called Mac OS X Lion, the next version of the Mac's operating system will bring iOS features to the Mac, including bringing the App Store — and, possibly, its limitations — to the Mac. Jobs told his "Back to the Mac" audience at the company's …
The convergence of Mac OSX and IOS (which I predicted long ago) may be a step towards moving the MacBook line towards using ARM processors instead of x86.
Apple has changed processor architectures for their Macintosh line before: They started in 1984 with Motorola 68K, moved to PPC in 1994 and to x86 in 2006. So another change is not unthinkable. The move from PPC to x86 was motivated (according to Jobs) by lower cost and power use of x86 compared to PPC. Since ARM is both cheaper and uses less power than x86, this would argue in favour of such a move. Currently, ARM is not quite as powerful as x86, but the gap is getting smaller with multicore multiMHz ARM processors coming out. And the ability of Apple to build their own SoCs around ARM cores is another benefit that such a move would give.
So my prediction is that within 5 years we will see ARM-based MacBooks.
Windows Marketplace and Games For Windows Live Marketplace have both been around for ages, quietly failing to find an audience. Oddly enough, I've never heard a rumour about it becoming impossible to install Windows apps any other way.
Personally, I think this is just an attempt to counteract the jump Steam just took on them in the desktop gaming arena.
Sure I use my Mac Pro for the usual web, email, photo, iTunes nonsense that everyone else does but my hobby is music creation using Logic and 3rd-party plug-ins, quite a few of these are over 100GB's to install and are supplied on dozens of DVD's or even come on their own hard drive. Just can't see how all these things could be contained and wrapped up in a simple 'there's an App for that' distinction all via a single vendor.
So what 'apps' could be on the App Store, can't be just talking widgets and ports of iPhone games?
A move to ARM processors to give greater battery life and thinner macbooks. (and possibly being able to install Mac OS on £80 CE 'netbooks'?)
iOS for Mac (MaciOS 11?) with OSX sandboxed on a virtual PC emulating an x86 processor, similar to the 9 -> OSX transition.
Totally walled MacApp store, the heavyweights such as Office and Photoshop will be downloadable but also DVD orderable "additions" to the app store which have to be authenticated against the app store when installing.
Full screen windowless apps, the effective "alt-tab" to allow multitasking will be a swipe on the mighty mouse / mighty trackpad / mighty tablet, similar to browsing pictures or album covers on the iPhone.
KDE 5 starts stripping windows of the borders 5 years afterwards. Linux app repositories continue their dependency hell. (and me a pre-trendy ex-mac Linux fan!)
8 years later, Microsoft Windows 9 aka NT6.11 debuts "windowless windows" and the "Windows Live store" similar to the xBox store, which is effectively ignored (see Zune, Windows Phone <7, Windows for Tablets)
One thing apple have also announced yesterday is that the new release may not come with Java.
http://developer.apple.com/library/mac/#releasenotes/Java/JavaSnowLeopardUpdate3LeopardUpdate8RN/NewandNoteworthy/NewandNoteworthy.html
While this may mean nothing to most end users, for us developers of server-side Java apps, what Jobs is saying is "we are not the desktop you should be using". Ubuntu it is, then.
Convergence around duo core Atoms or their own in house built dual core arm chips isn't out of the question. They're already doing it with the iPhone and iPad. Seems inevitable that they will do it with the Macbooks, but the Mac Pros will definitely need the horsepower of desktop class chips for some time, due to Intel's iCore CPU's. But if Intel can figure out a way to make their Atoms more powerful while using less power, who knows?
It's also a natural progression to converge iOS with OSX since they are already related. That would also make porting apps between them all, very easy.