Apple to Unveil IBM-Friendly Macintosh : Computers: The new system will reduce the company’s isolation in the Windows-dominated market, analysts say.

Apple Computer Inc. will reduce its isolation in the personal computer industry by introducing a Macintosh computer that runs both Macintosh and IBM-compatible software, industry analysts said Thursday.

The new Mac, to be unveiled Monday, will essentially be two computers in one, the analysts said. The standard Mac microprocessor and operating system will handle Mac programs, while an Intel Corp. 486 microprocessor will allow users to run Microsoft Corp.’s IBM-compatible DOS and Windows software systems.

A “Houdini” crossover chip will allow the machine to change modes without having to be turned off. The machine will cost $300 to $1,000 more than a typical Macintosh, analysts estimated.

An Apple spokesman said the company does not comment on products under development. It briefed analysts on its product plans Thursday afternoon, however.

The new Macintosh will be a focus of a speech by Apple Chief Executive Michael Spindler at the fall Comdex, the computer industry’s largest trade show, in Las Vegas.

“If you have both platforms that you have to deal with a great deal, it’s a very, very good alternative,” said Tim Bajarin, president of Creative Strategies Research International, a market research firm in San Jose.

He noted, however, that technically it has been possible to run Microsoft software on Macs for several years through special software designed by other companies.

“It is not a new technology,” Bajarin said.

Since 1984, the Macintosh has stood out as the easiest-to-use PC because of its graphics-oriented point-and-click control system. The company for years was able to charge higher prices because the system was so easy of use.

However, after Microsoft in 1990 began selling a version of Windows that was nearly as easy, fewer customers were willing to pay Apple’s premium prices. Big corporate buyers bought IBM-compatible machines, and software writers began designing more programs for them than for Macintosh.

Apple is “just trying to figure out how to break the Windows stranglehold in corporate America,” said Bruce Lupatkin, an analyst with Hambrecht & Quist, a San Francisco investment bank.