Apple Secretly Maintaining X86 Port Of OS X

Originally posted by Invicster
x86 = Windows processor like the Pentium series from Intel.
Click to expand...

You explained it nice but please don't give bad examples. ;) Not "windows" necesserilly (did I spell it right?). Linux is welcome too. Also not the "intel" evil but AMD.

So lets change it like this;

x86 = Linux processor like the Athlon series from AMD. :D
 
Guys, please stop the rumor about OS X on x86.
I'll give you a couple of reasons why Apple will never support x86:

-Apple has to rewrite OS X and all the iApps completely
-The money invested in relations with IBM/Motorola would have been nothing
-Apple wouldn't had launched the MegahertzMythe-Campagne, don't you guys think?

AppleWatcher
 
Oh darn, I knew I should've read the contents of this post before I went on!:rolleyes:

Mine looks nicer now anyway:D :p :p :p :p

...sorry Erix:)
 
1. It is no problem for Apple to port Mac OS X and their apps to X86, technically (!).

2. Steve Jobs said that they would review options *after* having made the transition to Mac OS X.

3. This new rumour is a very old one. It says that Apple maintains a build of Mac OS X that runs on the X86 platform(s). This was true for the Rhapsody project (that led to Mac OS X Server 1.0). If the rumour is true, Apple never stopped development of the X86 build, which would only seem normal, as Darwin has always been X86 compatible. Of course, the main focus has been (and is) on the PowerPC platform, but this could change.
 
I would be kinda stupid if they did port to x86. Reason being, they'd have to write all 64 bit code because Itanium sucks at 32 bit and intel isn't due to ship a hybrid 32/64 bit chip for a while yet. AMDs ClawHammer would be nice since the code base it supports will be 32 and 64 bit. But if they are going to go with AMD it's best they go with SledgeHammer. Either way AMD is the best choice to keep apps running at top speed while they make the transition to 64 bit.
 
Hmm... I see AMD's Hammer strategy as a "let's flee the race we can't win" strategy. Combined with Apple's own "let's flee the race we can't win" strategy of choosing processors that run at lower clock rates, this would surely make a good strategy, right? Nope.

I think Apple should neither go Itanium2 (which isn't targetted at consumer workstations at all) nor should it go with the Sledgehammer. Apple should choose IBM.

The talk is that Mac OS X is (and it was, I have the Rhapsody DR 2 for PC Compatibles CD right here) running alive and well on X86 (32bit), meaning Intel Pentium (and AMD K6) and higher processors (K6-2, K7, PIII, P4 etc.).

Apple should, if they plan to switch, choose the processor with the best future. And I am not sure whether AMD can keep up. I'd go with IBM right now, but we all know that Apple knows what's best for Apple. (Although we tend to differ.)
 
Originally posted by fryke
Hmm... I see AMD's Hammer strategy as a "let's flee the race we can't win" strategy.
Click to expand...

I don't see why that's a "let's flee the race". Intel would like to have a transitional product from 32 to 64 bit, but Itanium nor Itanium 2 isnt' it. Hammer will do that. But it's a really big move to x86, which is not in Apple's best interest, nor Apple developers.
 
Originally posted by AppleWatcher
-Apple has to rewrite OS X and all the iApps completely
Click to expand...

Simply wrong.


-The money invested in relations with IBM/Motorola would have been nothing
Click to expand...

Perhaps. But at some point a company has to cut its losses if those investments are not paying off.


-Apple wouldn't had launched the MegahertzMythe-Campagne, don't you guys think?
Click to expand...

But if the strategy doesn't work then one must reconsider the strategy. Right?


Having said all of that...I do not believe that Apple will EVER port to the Intel platform (at least in the sense of making it an OS openly available for all hardware platforms, a la Windows).
 
Code: 
If
$possiblesalesofmacosxonX86
> $possiblelossesinapplehardwaresales
Then
Apple will go X86.

I think Apple could very well sell 'Mac OS X for PC Compatibles' for, say, 129$ right now. If the system would install well on plain PC machines, if Carbon apps would run on that OS without even needing to be recompiled (yeah, I'm dreaming), I guess, Apple could take QUITE some of MS's cake away. Right now. This instant.

Suddenly, there would be an alternative. And not one of the "we're easy to install, too"-linux variety. But something even easier to install, use and maintain than Windows. And hey, there's MS Office for that operating system - although I think MS would suddenly stop selling that...

But that's not what would happen, right? There would be the need to recompile software (as was the case with Rhapsody YellowBox applications), and only *if* Apple provided a compiler for Carbon/X86 APIs would there ever be Carbon/X86 apps.

Still, I think - even with the piracy problem - Apple would sell many, many of those boxes.

They even would with only Cocoa compatibility. And Connectix would sell a (OS-less) Virtual PC that would enable to run your installed Windows installation in-a-window.

Ah, one can dream... Apple suddenly a software company (as people wouldn't wanna buy slower, more expensive hardware) that would swipe MS off this planet?
 
Originally posted by fryke
Code: 
If
$possiblesalesofmacosxonX86
> $possiblelossesinapplehardwaresales
Then
Apple will go X86.

I think Apple could very well sell 'Mac OS X for PC Compatibles' for, say, 129$ right now.
Click to expand...

Apple would have to take a serious hit on their bottom line considering hardware, not software is their main source of revenue. I doubt they'd be willing to do that, at least not until the day they know for sure the PowerPC is at the end of the line for desktop systems.
 
I agree with you there. We may as well start digging their grave if that happens at this point. Cheap boxes will kill their market on hardware before we can say bankrupt. LOL
 
I see this whole problem as more of a "what will bankrupt them first" scenario.

Over the years I have watched apple. Sometimes it seems like they are just about to bite the big one, yet somehow, they always pull through. Its like the company that won't die.
 
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