IBM Corp is now discussing paying Apple Computer Inc well over $1,000m to cover the cost of adapting Mac OS to run on what is likely to be an evolution of the PowerPC Reference Platform, and to pay for a license to offer the Macintosh operating system on its own PowerPC machines, the Wall Street Journal believes. An executive close to Apple told the paper that IBM has agreed to provide Apple with cash to offset some of the costs of developing the Macintosh system to run on Reference Platform. The two sides have not yet signed an agreement, but the papers are in the hands of each company’s lawyers, executives told the paper.
