# OS X 10.5 Intel only?



## Thank The Cheese (Apr 22, 2006)

This is just a thought that's been on my mind today. Apple has said that dual-booting (or maybe virtualisation) of Windows is going to be a built-in feature to OS X 10.5. This is fine, but what about PPC Macs? 

Do you think Apple will only release 10.5 for Intel users, or will they release a stripped-down PPC version?


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## bobw (Apr 22, 2006)

It'll be available for both, but for the PPC, BootCamp won't be included. You won't be able to run Windows on a PPC with 10.5, just as you can't now.


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## Mikuro (Apr 22, 2006)

If by "stipped down" you mean "without BootCamp", then I suppose so. I think Apple committed to supporting the PPC for a few more years, so I think it's safe to say that Leopard will be available for both.


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## Damrod (Apr 22, 2006)

Yeah, when the Intel Macs were announced and released, Apple asured that they will support the PPC based Macs for a couple of more years. 

Think about it, who would then buy the still stocked G5 Power Macs etc?


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## Quietly (Apr 22, 2006)

I imagine OSX will always support PPC Macs. OSXI on the other hand...


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## MisterMe (Apr 22, 2006)

Damrod said:
			
		

> Yeah, when the Intel Macs were announced and released, Apple asured that they will support the PPC based Macs for a couple of more years.
> 
> Think about it, who would then buy the still stocked G5 Power Macs etc?


Apple said that it would support PPC-based Macs for five years--not a couple of years--after the transition was complete. In many jurisdictions, this is not a matter of choice on the part of Apple. In these jurisdictions, manufacturers are required by law to support their computers for five years.


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## Mikuro (Apr 22, 2006)

MisterMe said:
			
		

> Apple said that it would support PPC-based Macs for five years--not a couple of years--after the transition was complete. In many jurisdictions, this is not a matter of choice on the part of Apple. In these jurisdictions, manufacturers are required by law to support their computers for five years.


I wonder what exactly constitutes "support", though. Tiger only officially supports FireWire-equipped Macs, and not all Macs had FireWire in 2000, five years before Tiger was released.

So the question is, how far will Apple go to "support" PPC machines? Will they release 10.4.7 for PPCs, or will it suffice to continue to provide tech support for PPC-based Macs running whatever the latest available OS is? Time will tell, I suppose.

But if 10.5 Leopard is Intel-only, there will be riots.  As for 10.6 (Ocelot?), 10.7 (Lion?) or 10.8 (Smilodon?)...well, time will tell. After that, the five years will probably be up anyway. Just in time for them to ditch the cat theme.


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## MisterMe (Apr 22, 2006)

*Mikuro*, you have a point. By the end of 2000, however, all new Macs on sale supported FireWire. For the iBooks on sale prior to September 2000, Apple still provides updates for MacOS X 10.3. By this standard, Apple provides support for non-FireWire Macs beyond the legally-mandated five years. Except for the MacBook Pro, all professional Macs are based on the PPC. The professional-level computers are Apple's bread and butter. We have no idea when Apple is going to transition the Xserve and professional towers to Intel. Suffice it to say that it won't be tomorrow. PPC-based Macs will still be in many stores when MacOS X 10.5 goes on sale. The notion that Leopard won't support them is tantamount to being frightened by your own ghost story.


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## RacerX (Apr 23, 2006)

Thank The Cheese said:
			
		

> Do you think Apple will only release 10.5 for Intel users, or will they release a stripped-down PPC version?


Seeing as I don't have any use for Boot Camp but still may have a use for Classic... from my perspective it looks like 10.5 for Intel would be the _stripped-down_ version, not the PowerPC version.


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## whitesaint (Apr 23, 2006)

Good point RacerX, never thought about it like that before.  So whether its PowerPC or Intel, you will have to tradeoff, Classic vs Windows.


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## Lt Major Burns (Apr 23, 2006)

as misterme said, probably the main people upgrading to 10.5 are the pro users.  who all have PPC macs. 

also, leopard is scheduled for a christmas release, and that would be _just_ as the last of the intel macs had been released! let alone phasing out the PPC macs...


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## IndianMacLover (Apr 23, 2006)

Thank The Cheese said:
			
		

> This is just a thought that's been on my mind today. Apple has said that dual-booting (or maybe virtualisation) of Windows is going to be a built-in feature to OS X 10.5. This is fine, but what about PPC Macs?
> 
> Do you think Apple will only release 10.5 for Intel users, or will they release a stripped-down PPC version?



 Last time I read in some pess realese by Mac! The 10.5.x is going to have suport for PPC systems also. Thats good... cause i dont intend to go dual core any time soon!


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## Ripcord (Apr 23, 2006)

"Mac" is not a company.


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## nixgeek (Apr 23, 2006)

Apple is the company.  Macintosh is the model type of computer.

Think of it as IBM being the company and ThinkPad being the computer model type.  Same as it is with Apple and Macintosh.  Remember that Apple also sold the Apple series of computers in the 80s, the Lisa and Mac XL (the predecessors of the Macintosh), and a bunch of other things that aren't labled "Mac".


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## Veljo (Apr 24, 2006)

It's WAY too early for Apple to drop their PowerPC support; I expect them to support it till at least 2010.

Either way, my guess is that when Leopard is installed on a PowerPC Mac Boot Camp will simply be a grayed out option.


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## texanpenguin (Apr 24, 2006)

There is the amazing potential that Apple will release a Virtual PC esque application for PowerPC but I would find that a whole bunch of wasted effort.


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## fryke (Apr 24, 2006)

That even the _question_ arises whether Leopard will also run on PPC Macs...  ... It is currently expected that Mac OS X 10.5 comes out near the end of 2006 or at the very beginning of 2007. Apple is _today_ still selling PowerPC Macs. Pro machines, too! Look at the oldest PowerMac still able to run Tiger today and you'll get a general idea when a PowerMac G5 will still support the latest version of OS X. I'd say that everyone with a 2003-2006 G4 or G5 system is on a rather safe side.

There's another side to it, though. Today, although an older iBook G3 _can_ run Tiger, it's often not really the best solution. Panther's the better system for those "oldish" Macs - unless one truly needs 10.4 because an application doesn't run on anything older. (However, I don't find too many of these that _do_ run well on G3 systems, anyway...) So when 10.5 comes out it _might_ still run on an iBook G3/700 or newer, but it might just not make so much _sense_. And there's also going to be new stuff that only runs on "current" graphics cards. Just like older Macs can't run Quartz Extreme or those nice ripple effects in Dashboard, your current PPC Mac will probably simply drop some or other effect that only newer Macs will have. That's not really a dealbreaker, though, in my opinion. It'll make you want a new Mac, though.


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