Glaring omissions ...

[iVoltage]

OK, we all know Macs will be using Intel chips soon but what we don't know is:

1. Will we be able to run Windows with no performance hit on the new Macs as well?
2. Will the new Macintel offerings sport a proprietary chipset or will we see dual boot OS X/Windows machines?
3. If software can be compiled for PowerPC and Intel at the push of a button, what's to stop Apple using PowerPCs at a future date if the IBM roadmap changes? Will the Xserve's transition to PowerPC take longer than the rest of the product line, for instance? Are we seeing the birth of a platform-independent OS?

I downloaded Darwin from the Apple site a while back and had no problem installing it on a spare x86 box which I have been using as an Apple File server ever since. Guess you could call it Darwindows. What next?

[fryke]

1.) Phil Schiller has said they wouldn't prevent people from running Windows on intel Macs. However, they probably won't exactly _help_ you installing Windows either. The real question for me is: How soon will we see a good virtual machine software running Windows at high speed under Mac OS X. I hope "Day 1" is the day.

2.) The second part of your question is probably answered in 1.) ... About the chipset, there's only guessing (and a lot of that's been done on macosx.com already), since there's no official info. We'll see as soon as people take apart this devkit machines.

3.) Nothing's stopping Apple from returning to PowerPC. Well: IBM might be, for example. Or FreeScale. Or performance as well as price. But technically... They'll keep a PPC version anyway for the large installed base.

[MisterMe]

OK, we all know Macs will be using Intel chips soon but what we don't know is:

1. Will we be able to run Windows with no performance hit on the new Macs as well?

There would be no emulation involved. Therefore, you should expect no processor-dependent performance hit. However, there may be bottlenecks elsewhere. The bottom line is that you should expect performance to be in the same range as other Wintel computers.

2. Will the new Macintel offerings sport a proprietary chipset or will we see dual boot OS X/Windows machines?

It is common for higher-end Intel-based computers to have proprietary components. However, they still run Windows. Apple's Intel-based development systems appear to be run-of-the-mill Intel-based computers in G5 cases. I find it difficult to believe that you can develop software on standard boxes, but run it only on proprietary boxes.

3. If software can be compiled for PowerPC and Intel at the push of a button, what's to stop Apple using PowerPCs at a future date if the IBM roadmap changes? Will the Xserve's transition to PowerPC take longer than the rest of the product line, for instance? Are we seeing the birth of a platform-independent OS?

Three questions, three best guesses: Nothing; Nobody knows, but transitioning the Xserve is probably a lower priority; MacOS X has been platform-independent since it was called "OpenSTEP."

I downloaded Darwin from the Apple site a while back and had no problem installing it on a spare x86 box which I have been using as an Apple File server ever since. Guess you could call it Darwindows. What next?

Microsoft should have ported Windows to a Unix-based kernel years ago, but it has not done so. Your OS is Windows only if Microsoft ports Windows to Darwin.

[iVoltage]

Wow. Thanks, guys. So Windows will run on Intel Macs. Can it be taken, conversely, that OS X will run on all recent x86 Intel processors?

Incidentally, I have an Xserve on order - in fact, it will probably be with me tomorrow. Should I cancel the order and colo my Mac mini untill the dust settles? It's only for remote backups and testing out websites. Non-critical stuff, basically.

I'm a select member of ADC. Time to order my MacIntel box, I think.

[fryke]

Processors, yes, but not any x86 box. Mac OS X for Intel will require special hardware to be present.

Your Xserve will make a great server for many years to come. No need to cancel the order. (The first Xserve based on X86-64 will probably come out in 2007.)

[JetwingX]

What I want to know is, will i be able to upgrade processors as easily as PC users can? or will we be stuck with what we get?

[fryke]

We of course don't know yet what processors Apple will use. But if they're using standard processors created by intel (and it sure looks like it), you can just pop the old one out and a new one in - as long as they're of the same family and the chipset supports it.

[Captain Code]

I think the interesting thing will be what happens when someone clones the HD or sticks the HD into another Intel based PC. Will it boot? Who knows yet...

The OS on those development machines could be running on generic motherboards and whatnot but it's hard to tell from the pics that were posted. It looks like a standard PC motherboard but you never know, it could be Apple designed with special chips onboard.