Apple Switching to Intel Based Proccesors

[nando]

I'm excited. I've long waited for an x86 alternative that wasn't linux or windows.

I was considering getting an ibook or powerbook, but now I'm not so sure. I don't want my dang lappie outdated.

so you don't think it would have been outdated in 2 years if they stuck with PPC? how do you figure?

also, the percentage of E30 drivers as a whole is probably closer to .0001%. they made almost 3 million of them, but car sales are around 15 million a year in the USA alone and they stopped making E30s 15 years ago :P

[uflnuceng]

Hmmm... the potential of a BSD based architecture being able to play PC based games... Mac might get me back after almost 8 years. We'll have to see.

Edit - Wow! They were able to port over a PC-app in just under 2 hrs. A completely stable working version. Only 20 lines of code needed to be changed. I think this is going to seriously open up the door for Apple.

[mgold]

macs are used by something like 2% of the computing world.

My PowerBook G4 does pretty much everything I need it to do (yes, I have Adobe CS, but rarely use it). My wife uses her new iBook G4 for all of her personal computing (including Quicken). The plus side to the Mac...sexy hardware, easy to use OS, no spyware and essentially no viruses. The down side, I have to keep my wife's old eMachines PC to run ETK. The move to Intel CPU's makes sense as IBM/Motorola have been unable to provide the faster G5 processors they have been promising, nor are they able to make them run cool enough to run in a portable. The G5 architecture is superior to the Pentium, however if faster and cooler processors can't be produced then its time to move on.
I had heard for several years that we had OS X running on a WinTel box, but I hadn't seen it. I certainly hope Apple doesn't release OS X to run on any Windows PC and instead make it proprietary to our hardware. For starters, we make kick ass computers and secondly, as a tech support agent, I'd hate supporting it on hardware other than ours. Supporting Windows customer's using iPod's is hard enough as it is, supporting the OS on their crappy PC hardware will really suck.

[Jon325i]

as a tech support agent, I'd hate supporting it on hardware other than ours. Supporting Windows customer's using iPod's is hard enough as it is, supporting the OS on their crappy PC hardware will really suck.

Headaches aside, you have to admit it will make for some great job security ;)

Jon

[Digitalwave]

macs are used by something like 2% of the computing world. They look cool, but who cares what mac does unless all you do is graphic/video design work. If you're working in business, or even at most colleges, almost every platform is PC based. Our university doesn't offer a single class that uses the mac as its main platform (i don't believe even the graphic arts department uses them extensively/exclusively). Its really a mute point.

At both colleges I have attended, the graphics departments used Macs exclusively.

[mgold]

as a tech support agent, I'd hate supporting it on hardware other than ours. Supporting Windows customer's using iPod's is hard enough as it is, supporting the OS on their crappy PC hardware will really suck.

Headaches aside, you have to admit it will make for some great job security ;)

Jon

true, true.

[James Crivellone]

A month ago I bought a 12inch Powerbook G4 1.5, am I irritated about the intel switch? hell no, Apple will not just abandon the PPC Platform.

Hell a week AFTER WWDC I bought this



I'm tired of playing the waiting came, and the current G5's kick ass.

The intel switch I see as a good thing, but in no means does it make the current stuff "crap"

[permit]

I bought this

Good man.

[mgold]

Hell a week AFTER WWDC I bought this



I'm tired of playing the waiting came, and the current G5's kick ass.

Nice setup ;) I'm only running a PowerBook G4 12" 1.33GHz at home and a G5 1.8DP at work, but they get the job done.

[Kruzen]

Yes new macs will run P4 processors.

No.

[Nathan]

Yes new macs will run P4 processors.

No.

Uh, Yes and some already do...

[Kruzen]

Yes new macs will run P4 processors.

No.

Uh, Yes and some already do...

Alright, they may be "P4" processors (doubtful), but their infrastructure and design will not be the same as what you now know as the x86 processor design which runs windows. This switch to intel processors will not mean you can toss osx on the boxes you have sitting at home. It merely means that motorala is no longer manufacturing the G5, and that it will now use an intel based processor design, similar to the P4, but not the same.

Apple isn't just changing their codebase, their processor design is going to be modified as well.