Macintosh Computers switching to Intel chips

[Thoth]

As of today, it's official; Apple's moving to Intel. And apparently, from the get go, there were versions of OS X running on Pentiums.

[Dimensions]

Wait, is this good? Or bad?

 

SOMEONE ESPLAIN PLEESE!!

 

I'm planning on switchin over to a Powerbook this summer, so sup?

[Jobber of the Week]

When they last did this, it didn't take long before people running the old CPUs were told when starting up programs that they had to buy a new one because developers didn't want to support the old platform.

 

This sucks for anyone who's bought a Mac in the last 6-12 months, and will suck for anyone who buys anything other than a high-end G5 if any model for the forseeable future. Market prediction is that sales ought to slump and then fall through the floor, because nobody wants to buy into a technology that already has it's replacement roadmapped and set to appear on shelves partially by next year.

 

This is good for Mac owners of the future. This is kind of alarming for Mac owners of the present. This is a serious kick in the shorts for NEW Mac owners of the present.

[Mole]

Will this make the Macs faster? Better?

 

I plan on getting a Mac sometime next fall. But if they aren't better than PCs when it comes to video editing, then there is no point in switching. I know plenty about PCs and if I don't have to re-learn everything, then I won't bother.

 

I don't know anything about Macs, so that is why I ask.

[Jobber of the Week]

Will this make the Macs faster? Better?

 

I plan on getting a Mac sometime next fall. But if they aren't better than PCs when it comes to video editing, then there is no point in switching. I know plenty about PCs and if I don't have to re-learn everything, then I won't bother.

 

I don't know anything about Macs, so that is why I ask.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It'll give a huge boost in horsepower to the PowerBook line of laptops, and less for the desktop machines like iMac or Power Mac (assuming they keep that name for their high-end machine.)

 

In fact, I expect that the Intel Macs will initially be slower than the big 2.5Ghz G5s, at least as they are. Intel is going to go BIG on dual-core processing next year, which is a smart move, but I don't know how many chips they'll be able to pump out, and whether the supply will be enough for both Apple and Intel's usual audience.

 

The biggest stumbling block is software. All the newest, biggest programs will need to be worked on re-made for the new CPU because while it can emulate an old Mac, it emulates a REAL old Mac (like 1999-2000) because that's as fast as they can make it run. They're getting this out of the way now by getting the new programming tools into everyone's hands.

 

The problem is programs for the Mac owners who own the outgoing CPU. When this happened before, third-party companies quickly decided to abandon the old 6800 chips once most of Apple's audience had moved to a PowerPC machine. As an owner of a 6800 Mac, when I left it in 1996 or 97 it could still run all the new software Apple was making for it (like System Updates and QuickTime), but I quit using it because I couldn't run any non-Apple software because the other companies quickly abandoned the old users.