[DM-MUG] The Intel move...an interesting discussion which may be of interest

[Victoria L. Herring]

>C
>Hi Walt,
>
>My take is that the poster has it pretty much right on the money. 
>Apple is switching to Intel because of Intel's ability to meet 
>development and production goals; their emphasis on low-heat, mobile-
>enabled chips; and the PowerPC required too much overhead expense on 
>the part of Apple. Although the PowerPC has always been the better 
>design, Intel has consistently been able to squeeze the maximum out 
>of their designs. As we've all seen, IBM and Motorola have had 
>difficulties delivering on the promise of their designs.
>
>The migration to Intel is based, from a developer's perspective, on 
>the use of Universal Binaries. A Universal Binary is a compiled 
>application that will run on OS X/PowerPC or OS X/Intel. Developers 
>using Xcode to create Universal Binaries will be able to convert 
>their apps in most cases with a minimum of effort. This is important 
>not only in looking at how rapidly software will be ported to OS X 
>for Intel; it also means that because the same binary will work in 
>either hardware environment, the software you buy now will work on 
>your PowerPC computer, the Universal Binary software you buy in a 
>year will work on your PowerPC computer, and the Universal Binary 
>software you buy in two years will work on your PowerPC system.
>
>At some point Apple will drop the Universal Binary approach, and 
>developers will create apps optimized specifically for Intel chips. I 
>think it will take a while for that to happen, though. It's important 
>to remember that Apple has been creating Intel builds of OS X (an 
>operating system - the most complex piece of software on your 
>computer) for five years now. OS X was intentionally created to be as 
>platform neutral as possible. Given these two pieces of information, 
>and Apple's unrivaled track record at managing transitions of this 
>kind, I'm convinced that buying a PowerPC machine now will not be a 
>bad investment.
>
>I actually just picked up a new 15" PowerBook last week, because I'll 
>no longer have the luxury of hooking my 12" PowerBook (which is a 
>fantastic little machine) to a CRT monitor at the office 
>(unfortunately students don't get their own offices at the law 
>library). I needed a bigger screen, and for a nanosecond I pondered 
>getting a Dell laptop. Then I came to my senses.
>
>Here's a pretty neat bunch of quotes from developers about how easy 
>it is to port apps to Universal Binary format:
>http://developer.apple.com/transitionquotes.html
>
>As a side note, I think Apple's strategy and execution in the last 
>three years or so is better than it's ever been. The fact that 
>they've been preparing for this contingency for so long and are 
>willing to make such a big move in a proactive fashion makes me think 
>we'll be seeing many more exciting things from Apple in the next few 
>years.
>
>Erik Schmidt
>
>
>On Jul 9, 2005, at 11:17 AM, Walt Atwood wrote:
>
>>  I also subscribe to a local Mac user group's e-mail list.
>>
>>  One gentleman on the list, an amateur videographer, has the 
>>  following to say
>>  about pending G5 processors. Anyone care to comment on this?
>>
>>  --WA
>>
Message: 1        
    Date: Fri, 8 Jul 2005 15:00:25 -0400
    From: dgh <zaphod at madbbs.com>
Subject: dual core G5s

IBM has officially announced the dual core G5 chips in Japan today.
Officially labeled the PowerPC 970MP, the chips pack several power
conservation features that allow frequency and voltage demands to
adjust on the fly. It's also possible to completely cut power to one
of chip's cores when high performance computations are not needed.

According to IBM, the 970MP will be made available in speeds ranging
from 1.4 to 2.5GHz. It's believed that Apple has been working with
prototypes of the chips since 2004 and could use them in a
forthcoming update to its Power Mac G5 desktops, the company said.

What this all breaks down to is that Apple should have a new dual G5
dual core Power Mac Tower sometime in the very near future. Jobs had
said in his keynote speech last month that there are still "great" G5
machines in the works and I'm sure that the dual core, dual G5
machine should be available soon.

Of course, one of the main problems facing Apple is to get people to
buy one now, knowing that Apple is switching to Intel starting next
year. If you were planning on buying a new tower Power Mac G5 before
they announced the Intel switch then you should still get the G5
tower. Switching to Intel is a move that is not a speed/performance
based move. The G5 architecture is still a superior design, with the
super fast bus, RAM, and other connections, the G5 is one of the
fastest computers available (and a dual/dual G5 will increase that by
50-70%). Any "new" software that comes out for Intel Macs will also
work on G5 based Macs, so software shouldn't be a concern. Plus, if
you are getting one because you want to do video or multimedia or 3D
work, then the G5 is still a better answer than Intel because it is
not known whether Apple can get their high end apps (Final Cut Pro,
etc.) rewritten for Intel by the time the machines hit the market.

dave h.

-- 
Victoria L. Herring, Attorney, Civil Rights, Discrimination & 
Employment Law, <http://www.HerringLaw.com>;  Travel research and 
planning, <http://www.JourneyZing.com>;  Des Moines, Iowa, 
515-255-4475.