Apple didn't deliberately block them from running OS 9; they just didn't write drivers for OS 9 that would allow it to work on the new hardware. True, it inconvenienced some number of users, but Apple has always been aggressive about deprecating obsolete technology and it generally works out well in the end. The iMac led the way in getting rid of floppy drives, for example.
^^^^^^^^^Apple didn't deliberately block them from running OS 9; they just didn't write drivers for OS 9 that would allow it to work on the new hardware.^^^^^^^^^^^^^
"New hardware"? I said G4, not G5. Most of the hardware within the towers was the same, according to the mac user in my family.(if it wasn't for his ranting, I wouldn't know about this issue)
Besides, this was done at the BIOS level, not the driver level.
^^^^^^^^^^^^True, it inconvenienced some number of users, but Apple has always been aggressive about deprecating obsolete technology and it generally works out well in the end.^^^^^^^^^^
Towards increasing their marketshare for example?