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Oh, so if I run Windows/Linux on the Intel based Mac I can run these Universal apps? Sounds very un-Apple-like if true.

If not true, then my original comment seems to still stand.

No, "Universal" apps in this context means these apps can run in Mac OS, either on an Intel Mac or on an Apple Silicon (ARM) Mac. Nothing at all to do with iOS, iPadOS, Windows or Linux.

Isn't that misleading marketing? I know that companies can call their new efforts whatever they want, but if someone sells a "Universal keyboard" that only works with Windows, isn't that just straight up misleading marketing?

The only thing that comes close to being "universal apps" would be applications that run in a browser.

An M1-based Mac will run:

* Universal apps (also known as "fat binaries") that run natively on Intel and M1 Macs

* ARM-native Mac apps

* Intel-based Mac apps via Rosetta 2

* iOS/iPadOS apps (developer’s choice)

* Unix/BSD command line apps (Vim, tmux, bash, zsh, etc.)

* Linux via’s built-in hypervisor

* Java

* Electron apps (VS Code, Slack, etc.)

* Windows via virtualization

* Web apps (Service Workers, WASM, push notifications, etc.) on Safari, Chrome, etc.

Safari is already a universal app; I'm sure Chrome, Firefox, etc. will follow shortly.

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