In fact, Apple is doing more and more to isolate users who like to tinker under the hood!
That part, I don't agree with.
Every Mac now includes on its installer DVDs a complete suite of developer tools. Apple has always given away its developer tools for free, but it used to be you needed to go download them from its Web site or, in the days pre-Web, order the disks from Apple (or pick them up from a user's group). Now, they're right there on your installer disc.
And they're remarkably easy, to use, as developer tools go. Xcode is a first-rate IDE, with the level of polish and sophistication that other developer tools made by companies like Microsoft charge hundreds or even thousands of dollars for.
And your Mac also ships not only with the Terminal but also with a complete suite of command-line tools, and on top of that the ability, if you install Apple's Xwindows environment, to run Linux software, including Linux system and development tools.
So in that way, the modern Mac is much EASIER, not harder, to tinter with "beneath the hood."
