LOL, gotta love the comments "It's only successful because people are stupid!" "Open source is gonna rule, I swear, someday, really, just you wait, you'll see..."

Apple and MS and Google - All claim they are Open Source

but your right PEOPLE ARE STUPID , into thinking that there is a really open source --- okay okay so a bunch of hackers got to gather and decided to make an Open Source solution , without getting any licensing from anyone <-- errrr okay I guess thats okay .

Too late. Apple is way ahead of everyone else.

Android is technically open source. i suspect that Android will beat the iPhone OS in less than 2 years. but Apple has a good product and they continue to stay pretty close to cutting edge so they'll continue to sell like hotcakes.

Microsoft and Apple are not open source and don't claim to be open source. Apple uses some open source stuff (e.g., Safari is built from the webkit that is open source and Apple contributes back to the project). in that sense, Apple can probably claim open source, but the Mac OS and iPhone OS are very much proprietary. the iTunes Music Store is very much proprietary (e.g., you can't access it from a Blackberry). Apple is a for profit company so it doesn't make sense for them to be open source more than necessary. Apple still provides a better product than open source in most cases (e.g., only a geek might choose open source Ubuntu over the Mac OS for a laptop). however, Google's Android is open source and it's starting to look very, very good. Froyo is the 2.2 version of Android and it is better than the iPhone OS in many regards and worse in some others. competition is good for all of us whether it comes from open source or not. most consumers don't think in open source and proprietary terms . . . they just want whichever product emerges as best.

Microsoft and Apple are not open source and don't claim to be open source.

Ohh believe me they do - next time I run across a statement or article I'll make sure to post it .

I think you're misunderstanding what people mean when they talk about OS X being based on the open source Darwin kernel. OS X is not open source. If you'd like proof of that, make a modified version of it and start distributing it to the world. Apple themselves will let you know whether it's open source or not.

And your Google-fu doesn't have to be too strong to know that Microsoft HATES open source.

btw, i noted that Android would overtake the iPhone OS in 2 years. they already have done that as of this month . . . i meant that i think they will overtake Blackberry.

They took over the iPhone OS because they are counting EVERY phone that runs Android. The iPhone OS only runs on the iPhone. So it's not a very good comparison IMO.

John, it is an okay comparison because developers create for an OS; not a device. Google doesn't even have a device in the phone market, for that matter. as Android grows more rapidly than the iPhone OS then there are going to be more developers seeing bigger $$$ going with Android. but like i said, the iPhone OS is not going anywhere . . . and the iTunes Store is very nice for the vast majority of developers so that helps Apple bunches. add in iApps and the iPad and the iPhone OS will be lucrative for developers for well into the future.