This may be the last chance. No really.
This is not about advocacy of Linux on Apple's phenomenal M1 and its hardware.
But the M1 is so much better than other laptops at battery life, that it represents a fundamental leap in usability and quality.
M1 is an ARM instruction set running on an advanced TSMC fab process that currently other processors don't have access to but will. The process probably helps, but the real magic is almost certainly with the ARM instruction set.
AMD, Qualcomm, and maybe Intel will produce a response chip. But what OS would this chip run?
Here are the options:
1) Windows ARM: this was already attempted as was a total marketplace failure. Windows software is tightly coupled with x86 via gaming, backwards compatibility, and altready-purchased licensed software. Windows long built a moat to keep people in Windows, but that same moat keeps people from adopting ARM-based windows.
2) Android: It can run on ARM, but android does not have the desktop applications and usability for desktop and laptop. It does have a Linux core however....
3) ChromeOS: a marketplace failure that never got traction. It does have a Linux core however...
4) Linux!
Linux has the cross-compiled apps already ready to go. It has kernels that are proven ARM compatible with all the cloud ARM VMs. It has the databases, browsers, and applications ready to go.
I have always wondered why Intel was so subservient to Microsoft, they should have had a linux-based OS that showcased their hardware to the maximum extent while Microsoft would always push hardware support to Service Packs or future releases. Now every processor vendor that wants to respond to Apple's M1 may need to do this. These cpu vendors have not just the size and financial resources, but the centralized influence and hardware relationships to push adoption of new platforms and OSs.
