Hell froze over... AGAIN.
07/06/2005 06:36 | Categories: Apple | 7 Comments
Well it looks like hell froze over once again for Apple and today Steve Jobs annouced Apple's switch to Intel processors. Let's see how it goes, though we won't see anything based on Intel coming from Apple probably until around this time next year.
Apparently IBM wasn't producing G5s fast enough and with enough clock-speed for Apple and Stevie got tired. At that point, where was he going to look at? There are no more major players in the CPU arena other than IBM, Intel and AMD so ruling IBM out, Jobs chose Intel (what about AMD?)
However, there are a few things to notice:
- Jobs said that future macs will run on Intel processors, but he did not say that these processors were going to be x86.
- They've already said that OS X on Intel will not run anywhere else but on Apple's computers.
- Linux on the desktop will be dead starting when the first OS X Intel machine is launched. Who will bother customizing and configuring Linux when there already is a cute-looking, well-working, integrated Unix-like OS for Intel out there, which can run Office 12, Dreamweaver, Photoshop, Final Cut Pro and GarageBand?
- Finally Apple laptops will be able to catch up speed-wise with their x86 counterparts. If Apple manages to get some of those dual-core Pentium-M into a Powerbook casing, the laptop market will be theirs to eat.
As a relatively new Mac user, I do not really care what's under the hood in my Powerbook. For all I care, it could run on banana skins. As long as Apple manages to keep things as smooth as they are, working well with each other, Unixish and integrated, I will be a happy camper.
On the other hand, I am a bit upset because this will reduce a lot the resale value of my Powerbook. Who will want a 2nd hand powerbook in a few years time, considering that the PPC architecture will be dead? I wasn't going to sell it anyway next year (I am hoping it will last at least 3-4 more years!), but it'd have been nice to sell it for a nice price...
Comments
7 Comments
I feel the same, today is too hard to sell our macs for a good price then, the only that we can do, is to shrink the power of our g4, and when we get our intel-based mac, we could put our old g4 in a small museum with the hope that someday we could show these machines to our childs, and say that this had been the beginning of a great small-step for apple.
Linux Destop dead? come on ... please take a look to the forthcoming technologies (D-BUS, XGL, Cairo, Beagle, ...) on Linux Desktop ...
What is dead is Mac sales in this 2 year transition period.
Oh, I forgot to comment the first point, yesterday's demos were done in a Pentium IV 3,6Ghz so it's pretty clear processors will be x86, also developer kit is a PIV 3,6Ghz. I'm pretty sure that new Macs won't be using PIV but newest Pentium D, they'll be x86 for sure.
Anyway PPC IP belongs to Freescale (Motorola), IBM and Apple, I don't think the other ones would let a competitor play with their technology ...
I agree with you, linux desktop isn't dead, I'm a happy mac user, but sometimes I miss some features that kde have. Talking about expose, I think is a great feature to show to your friends, but I don't use it anymore.
The problem is that D-Bus, XGL, Cairo and Beagle are *still* coming while Quartz, Aqua, Quicktime and Spotlight are *already* here. I already have them running in my laptop and they work great.
If Apple manages to pull this off, lower prices a bit, make the PowerMacs easily upgradeable (will it be possible to swap CPUs and put a more powerful Intel one in place?) and come up with a dual-core Pentium-M running the best OS out there at the moment, this could be the bomb.
Linux is open, it has a great community (I know, I was part of it not long ago) and it is progressing really fast, but it seems like they're always one step behind. When was the last time you managed to boot your Linux machine via a Firewire disk? When was the last time you synchronized your phone with your email and calendaring application? When was the last time you ran Photoshop native in Linux? When was the last time your distro came with support for mp3 and quicktime movies out of the box...?
I use ExposÈ all the time and in fact, I couldn't live without it... I have mapped it to the little button on top of the scroll wheel in my Logitech mouse and I use it so much, that the little icon on the button has disappeared :)
But I agree that Dashboard is something only to show off... at least I haven't been able to find any useful widget so far.
What I meant is that Intel-Apple boxes will not exactly be like your 400Ä Carrefour PC :) The processors will most likely be x86 but I'd like to see that Apple puts in the box... After all, Schiller (SVP of Apple) said that it won't be possible to run OS X x86 in any other box than a Mac so there has to be a "trick" somewhere!