Yes. That's no secret, and it's on purpose. Jobs has talked repeatedly about how Apple's core strength is that it controls "the whole widget." The software is designed to run on the hardware, and the hardware is designed to run the software, both at the same time.
Windows runs on anybody's hardware, which has made it the dominant player in the computing world; but it has also burdened Microsoft with supporting a virtually endless array of hardware and buggy drivers. Call support for a Windows problem, and the hardware vendor and Microsoft will point fingers at each other. Apple has one point of contact.
When in reality it could run on many Dell, HP, home made etc etc computers except that Apple cripples the OS so it cannot
But then Apple would have to take on support duties for things it cannot control. The whole point of the Mac, from jump, has been to get rid of that kind of tangle.
Ahh, well, you should probably do a bit of fact checking before making such sweeping statements. This is posted from my Dell 8400 running Leopard 10.5.2 (that's right - the absolute latest & great form Apple). It runs like a dream, NEVER crashes, and is as fast as lightning. Minor hacking in software to get it running, but it is AWESOME (and sitting proudly next to my Mac Pro)...
But then Apple would have to take on support duties for things it cannot control. The whole point of the Mac, from jump, has been to get rid of that kind of tangle.
That's a red herring.
As stated in another post---
Apple could issue tomorrow 10 slam dunk configurations it has tested verified and would support if you bought a special Leopard DVD. And Apple could support with minimal expense. But then it would lose a big chunk of revenue it gets from selling highly marked up Apple hardware to you .... ahem... suckers
Microsoft is in the OS business
Apple is in the OS business ....
Except that Apple has stumbled upon a scheme to force you to buy its hardware too
Apple could come out with this special edition Leopard that would cost me say $50 dollars more than if I owned an Apple computer
And Apple would support a list of 10 do it yourself laptop and desktop configurations
Computer manufacturers could make laptops and desktops that followed these configurations