Bootcamp and 10.5

[cyprus mac man]

Hey everyone,

I didn't really understand this, so I was wondering if anyone can clear this up for me...

One the main Lepard Sneak Peek page (click here), it says "Now Built In
Mac OS X Leopard offers some new standard features you may have seen before.

Boot Camp

More and more people are buying and loving Macs. To make this choice simply irresistible, Boot Camp lets you install and run the Windows XP operating system on your Mac.

Front Row

Enjoy your music, photos, and videos from across the room or across the house with the Apple Remote and the Front Row media experience.

Photo Booth

Say cheese. Photo Booth is the easy way to take fun self portraits. Just choose an effect, pick a backdrop, and mug for the camera. From there, you can share via friendly integration with iChat and iPhoto."

Now:

1. Does that mean that the Lepard disc is going to be a 2-in-1 with 10.5 AND Bootcamp?

2. Also, arn't most or all of these (Front Row, Bootcamp, Photo Booth) only for the Intel Macs?

3. If so, what will happen with my PowerBook PPC?

Thanks!

 

[Mikuro]

1. Does that mean that the Lepard disc is going to be a 2-in-1 with 10.5 AND Bootcamp?

Boot Camp doesn't use a significant amount of disk space, so yeah, it'll bundled just like iTunes or Disk Utility, I suppose. It might be integrated with other tools, like Disk Utility and the Startup Disk preference pane.

2. Also, arn't most or all of these (Front Row, Bootcamp, Photo Booth) only for the Intel Macs?

No, the only thing that's Intel-only is BootCamp. Only Intel Macs can use BootCamp, just like only PPC Macs can use Classic.

Front Row came bundled with all Macs that came with a remote, including the last G5 iMac. If you're so inclined, you can even install it on other PPC Macs (although possibly not legally). The only problem is that Apple does not currently make it available to everyone; you can't download it and it's only been bundled with remote-enabled Macs. I think Photo Booth has come bundled with iSight cameras for a long time, too.

Apple didn't offer details about Front Row, but I assume they intend to make Front Row easily accessible by keyboard & mouse, like Dashboard, so that it will work on any system. They did say Photo Booth will work with other cameras besides the iSight.

 

[cyprus mac man]

well, all i really wanted was Bootcamp, but since thats Intel only, then it wont work for my PPC.

I wonder if Apple will try to burn out all the excisting PPC Macs before Spring 2007 so 10.5 will only work with Intels...

 

[nixgeek]

Doubtful. Lots of people have made significant investments on the G5 PPC systems so Apple would need to support them for some time. Consider that the G3 iMacs and iBooks, as well as the B&W Power Mac G3 are still supported to a certain extent by Apple. We might see the G3 cut out this time around with Leopard but that's just my opinion. The Intels have only been out for little less than a year. Also, Apple has committed to supporting the PPC platform for at least 5 years. By that time, I would say it would be well worth the time to get an Intel Mac if you haven't done so.

 

[mdnky]

We might see the G3 cut out this time around with Leopard but that's just my opinion.

Earlier today there was a reference that looked something like "from G3 through Xeon" in regards to something about Leopard on the Apple site. Can't remember the details 100% right now, nor can I find it again. We'll have to wait and see I guess on that.

 

[cybergoober]

The only problem is that Apple does not currently make it available to everyone; you can't download it...

Actually, you can download it.
http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/apple/frontrow122.html
But the installer has to be modified to not check for compatible hardware (IR receiver, I guess).
I have it installed on my PowerBook G4, and use Salling Clicker to control it using my Palm Treo 650 via bluetooth.

Apple didn't offer details about Front Row, but I assume they intend to make Front Row easily accessible by keyboard & mouse, like Dashboard, so that it will work on any system...

You can already use Front Row with the keyboard. The default hot key combo is Command-Escape. You then use the arrow keys to navigate and the Space bar to select. Escape goes back a level, and any letter key exits Front Row.

 

[sheepguy42]

Earlier today there was a reference that looked something like "from G3 through Xeon" in regards to something about Leopard on the Apple site. Can't remember the details 100% right now, nor can I find it again. We'll have to wait and see I guess on that.

I just did a search for "g3 xeon" (w/out quotes) on Apple's site, and the result only listed http://www.apple.com/macosx/leopard/64bit.html
However, the blurb that I guess came from the search database:

... From G3 to Xeon, from MacBook to Xserve, there is just one Leopard. All features referenced in the Mac OS X Leopard Sneak Peek are subject to change. ...

is very much gone from that page now, which does not make things look promising for the G3.
I remember there being more before it, about 32 bit apps and 64 bit apps working seamlessly side-by-side. I was under the impression this was difficult to pull off on x86 hardware. Is that true? I remember, in pushing the G5, it was said that the PPC chips were designed to go 64 bit eventually from day 1, as opposed to the x86 line. Maybe someone with more hardware knowledge than I possess could answer?

 

[Mikuro]

I was under the impression this was difficult to pull off on x86 hardware. Is that true? I remember, in pushing the G5, it was said that the PPC chips were designed to go 64 bit eventually from day 1, as opposed to the x86 line. Maybe someone with more hardware knowledge than I possess could answer?

I'm not sure if it was difficult, but I'm pretty sure Intel has done it, anyway. Remember that when the G5 first came out, Intel had no 64-bit x86 chip. Their only 64-bit venture, Itanium, was NOT x86-based. Intel did attach some kind of compatibility layer to Itanium to make it run x86 programs (which were 32-bit), but it was incredibly slow. There was more than just a difference in bit width there, though, since it was an entirely different chip architecture. The current Core chips are x86-based, so I believe they've avoided the pitfalls of the Itanium.

 

[sheepguy42]

There was more than just a difference in bit width there, though, since it was an entirely different chip architecture. The current Core chips are x86-based, so I believe they've avoided the pitfalls of the Itanium.

That makes sense, as the Itanium was never meant for desktop use. I still will want to see how performance compares.