The days of an open environs at Mac OS X could soon be coming to an end if a recent rumor is anything to go by. According to App developer RixStep, Cupertino may start signing up with developers starting early autumn of this year and like with the iPhone and iPad, users will have to reach out to the iTunes/App store to purchase any software for their computer. Rixstep says,
“10.7 will have kernel support for (‘insistence on’) binaries signed with Apple’s root certificate. No software will be able to run on Mac OS X 10.7 without being approved and signed by Apple, Inc.”
Take the news with as much skepticism as you choose to. Few other developers from the Mac Developer Program have however refuted the claim and insist that there has been no announcement regarding this from Apple so far.
Nevertheless, this is a lot likely to happen. Apple has seen terrific success so far in the closed environment race on the iPhone and iPad and the company has taken up most of the decision making process for its users. With a lot of money to be made on the computer software download segment, it is quite likely that Apple will choose to get this ecosystem closed as well.
[via 9to5Mac]