My friend Cary Lu, author of the first Macintosh book and a contributing editor to Macworld, likes to tell how he was roundly booed for suggesting at Macworld Expo San Francisco in 1986 that Apple should license the Macintosh operating system

Clones Stood Up by Apple for "Date" -- Last week Apple restricted the terms of its Mac OS Up-to-Date program, offering discounted OS 8 upgrade paths only to people who purchase Apple Macintosh computers

Based on rumors, we believe that the clone licensing fracas will come to a head this week, possibly by the time you read this article. For news junkies and those who believe that clone licensing is a key issue, during the next week we will be posting updates on our Web site should solid, verifiable information become available. Last week's article about licensing issues between Apple and the clone manufacturers brought in more messages than any article in recent history

Once again, Apple Computer has looked competition squarely in the face and, to borrow an American football metaphor, punted on third and long. The Power of Apple's Eye -- Apple last Monday announced its acquisition of leading Mac OS clone manufacturer Power Computing's "core assets," including the customer database, key personnel, and Power Computing's Mac OS license

Despite the disbelief I expressed in some of my previous articles about the clone licensing situation, Apple has done what I then thought unlikely - eliminated at least two major players in the clone game