The Mac will become a partially integrated platform in 3 months, and that’s a huge difference. Steve Jobs wanted the iPhone to be an integrated platform since day one. The Mac, on the other hand, has always been a platform that allows users to install application the way they want.

Apple didn’t open its door until mid-2008, but clearly they had envisioned a device tied to the App Store experience in the first place. Now, we can debate on Steve Jobs’ answers for hours if you want, but here’s the thing: the ultimate difference between iOS and the Mac is that iOS was born with the App Store in mind. His answer? “Not at this time.” Whether or not that means it’ll happen at some time is depends on how much of an optimist you are, but hey – at least it wasn’t a flat no. We actually got a chance to talk to Steve Jobs at the event yesterday and asked him if the iPhone would eventually allow apps to be sideloaded from other sources in addition to being installed from the App Store, as is the situation with the Mac App Store. of yesterday’s breakdown of the Review Guidelines, Engadget reports they got the chance to talk to Steve Jobs and asked about this very same feature. But here comes the interesting part: buried in a P.S. Apple of course never changed its mind and even at the 4th iteration of the operating system, users can’t install apps from other sources.

Many users and bloggers and haters alike have been asking for this feature to be allowed on iOS. All you have to do to enable the feature on Android is set a preference in the settings, and the OS becomes capable of loading app packages from sources external to the Marketplace. Android users, in fact, have been able to install apps from unknown sources (sideload, indeed) for a long time now. Think about it: Apple could as well introduce “sideloading” for applications in iOS 5.

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