o sViews has interviewed Jim White, the lead developer for a project called Darwine. Darwineis goal is to be able to run Windows software on OS X without having to emulate the entire Windows operating system. The interview offers a look at where the project was heading and what it might mean to Mac users. From the interview:
osViews: "Could you summarize what the Darwine project is and what you hope to accomplish with it?"
Jim White: "Darwine was an inspiration that occurred when I saw the development of BOCHS come along. I thought, iwouldnit it be brilliant if you could take wine and instead of emulating an entire operating system, which struck me as being a terrible waste, be able to run Windows applications directly under the Mac operating system without having to virtualize the whole separate operating system environment.i"
[...]
osViews: How would you respond to people that would suggest that [being able to run Windows software on a Mac might discourage native Mac development] as to why this development effort shouldnit be pursued?
Jim White: Well, I see OS X as kind-of becoming a Swiss Army knife of integration. I think thats a big reason for the uptake in OS X. Youive got people coming in using Apple who in fact use to be Mac bigots. Anti Mac bigots. Because OS X is able to really be whatever kind of personality you really need, while being best in class. Itis really astonishing to see XWindows on Mac [because] its the best XWindows there is. Itis got the best 3D acceleration, its being used by the top graphics people doing movie production and that kind of thing.
There is much more in the full interview, and we recommend it as an interesting read.