It looks like it is now official, folks.
Posted on 06/06/2005 10:54:57 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
fyi
It looks like it is now official, folks.
It's official, their CEO just announced it, running the presentation off of an Intel PC.
http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000137045772/
Does this mean IBM will be freed to sell its Power PC chips to clone manufacturers who will again be able to offer budget legacy Apple compatibles?
I think there are some real mysteries in this move....things happening that are not yet apparent!
Not sure!
IBM can sell the PPC chips to whoever they want, but it's doubtful Apple will allow the future licensing of their software to be compatible with them.
????
The pentium M, Intel's processor for portables is the far and away leader in low power/performance, and one of the primary reasons Apple is switching.
I guess Mac heads will have to stop touting the superiority of the PowerPC platform over x86...
Wonder if Apple is going to dump the dual CPU computers now?
Jobs apparently just apologized to the Intel CEO on stage about it. He said no problem.
It puts Apple in direct competition with Microsoft for the first time.
Either they will take a bite out of Microsoft (no pun intended), or they will quickly wither away.
Why would they? Intel manufactures dual-core CPUs. In addition, if Apple goes for the Pentium M or some variant, it won't be hard to make a dual-core version of that particular CPU. Intel's dual-core implementation is just the gluing of two CPUs together, anyway. It's not a true solution ala AMD's.
Apple's first and foremost competition right now is Linux, which also has a *nix core and who recently passed them in number of shipping systems relegating Apple to third place for the first time. Apple was getting squeezed by IBM, who is pushing Linux everywhere instead while starving Apple for chips, which left them with little other choice.
Intel offers not just increased performance, but reduced power consumption. Transition will be complete by WWDC ‘07.
But Intel? They're getting whomped by AMD in performance and heat. AMD has proven they can ship volume, having seen their marketshare go way up in the last several years. Honestly, can anyone say with a straight face that Intel has the best x86 architecture? I have a feeling Intel made a really sweet deal with Apple, maybe even including a loss-leader.
Satellite shot with crosshairs shows building where a team has been working on the “Just in Case…” scenario. Every release of Mac OS X has been compiled for Intel for the past 5 years. Here comes the demo!
This has been suspected for a long time, especially since Darwin (the core of OS X) has been available for x86 for years. I'm just amazed how easy they've made it for developers to port and make fat binaries. Ported Mathematica in two days? Damn!
But in the end, I wonder if this means I'll be able to simply replace Windows XP with OS X on my PC? Sweeeet!
Gray said that Mathematica is encumbered by "ancient code that hasn't been changed since the Reagan administration," but despite that, it only took about two hours to get Mathematica's Mac OS X code running on an Intel-bsaed Mac. "We're talking about twenty lines of source code out of millions, from a dead cold start. This is nothing like Carbonizing. It's prety good when the biggest problem from your port is to figure out what to do with the rest of your weekend."
Thank God. This is what I was most worried about. If it's this easy to convert, then Motorola/IBM/Freescale can go screw. If you can't get the job done, we'll go with someone who can.
Don't you think this at least means the end of Microsoft Office for Mac OS?
I wouldn't bet on it. Ask Be how well that plan tends to work ;)
That's now the job of MS Xbox and Playstation fans.
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