I ran SWks 2000 on a 500mhz G3 Macintosh, but indeed it was too slow for anything but trial work learning where everything was in the menus and tools with simple parts. Dual 2 ghz G5's with 1 ghz front side bus ought to be significantly faster.
MS supposedly was interested in Virtual PC from Connectix because when they do their switch to a "new" OS, PC boxes are going to have to be able to run Win 98, 2000, XP on the new PC OS, just as Apple is doing, but with Virtual PC handling the emulation.
Apple has given new life to Unix (along with Linux), and now Microsoft is in a position of whether they will keep their "proprietary Windows OS", or go with more standardization in a flavor of Unix. My bet says Bill Gates will never adopt an open standard Unix base for Windows. Bill wants all the keys & $s. The question is whether the SW developers will keep waiting for Bill to deliver stability and ease of use. But Bill will never control the hardware.
Imagine if you had to buy a Ford Pickup and it was put together by your dealer with parts from god knows where, and you go on vacation & kaboom, a problem comes up (in the computer even). Everyone pointed fingers when the car wouldn't start, & no one took responsibility.
Would you actually buy a car put together that way? Not me. Would I buy a computer put together that way and put up with individual warranties and infighting between parts vendors? Not willingly I won't.
Apple has understood something for a long time for its end customer users. As near as possible they get computers to be perfectly integrated software & hardware machines, so the users can get on with work as efficiently as possible. Sounds like what we product designers do.
Bo Clawson