Mac to use Intel Chips!

There is a developer kit that includes a 3.6 GHx Pentium 4 Mac. They will have to be returned by the end of 2006. They will be priced at US$999, and please note that these are for developers only.
 
As a recent convert BACK to Mac, I have to say I have mixed feelings, if Apple or the fanatics think *I* or MANY others who have recently spent our hard earned money on new computers are going to just switch like good little puppies then I think they are misguided.

I have been speaking to other Mac users here in the real world and they are all furious.

It could be a good thing, a VMware type app should be provided FREE OF CHARGE! and integrated into the Mac OS.

It could also be a REALLY bad thing, the start of a decline as well as a kick in the teeth for many. OSX WILL be running on standard PC's within 2 years, mark my words, any protection against it will be circumvented. Microsoft WILL step up and probably cease products such as Office on a COMPETING OS platform.
 
What are you talking about fjdouse? The Mac you just bought is going to keep on working just like you expected it to when you purchased it. The only noticeable change for you should be that your favorite computer company may get increased marketshare. Well, that's debatable, but either way that goes, how does this hurt your transition? They're not going to break into your house and take your computer or anything. I can't believe they'll stop releasing OS X for PPC before your computer is quite outdated either.
 
Can anyone provide post-keynote links? Before I jump out my 13th floor window, G5 clutched to my chest, I want to make sure they're really planning a pentium-based Mac.

EDIT: let's be very, very specific here: PENTIUM. Intel non-pentium I might be able to live with. If they're really gonna use Pentiums, there's no hope.
 
fjdouse said:
As a recent convert BACK to Mac, I have to say I have mixed feelings, if Apple or the fanatics think *I* or MANY others who have recently spent our hard earned money on new computers are going to just switch like good little puppies then I think they are misguided.

I have been speaking to other Mac users here in the real world and they are all furious.

It could be a good thing, a VMware type app should be provided FREE OF CHARGE! and integrated into the Mac OS.

It could also be a REALLY bad thing, the start of a decline as well as a kick in the teeth for many. OSX WILL be running on standard PC's within 2 years, mark my words, any protection against it will be circumvented. Microsoft WILL step up and probably cease products such as Office on a COMPETING OS platform.
Click to expand...

Exactly what I was thinking.

I feel cheated. For years, Apple pushed this idea that PPC > Pentium. Graphs have shown performance being 50% - 90% faster. Granted, I knew it wasn't true. But, one of the things I always noted to friends about why I use a Mac is because of the PPC.

In 2008, if Intel doesn't live up to expectations, will we switch over/back to PPC???

Steve Jobs: "Motorola has done some wonderful things..."
 
Well, despite the fact that I didn't think it would happen, nor the fact that I am trying to figure out my "ha ha, Mac is switching to Intel by my windows friends"... I think that Apple is doing the switch RIGHT.

It seems they really have their act together. Developers can order a Intel Mac today and begin the development. Some code will run on both PowerPC and Intel. Yes, it is a pain... but every PAIN thus far has been a step in the right direction for Apple. Doesn't mean every pain IS the right direction, but sometimes, without pain, you can't have growth.

The GOOD NEWS outside of all this... is in theory, you should be able to run "Virtual PC" almost as fast as the processor speed of your Intel Mac. Which means.... potentially, more converts to the Mac platform.

Oh well... the value of my existing Mac's just went down... and will Apple really be releasing any new Mac's over the next year? Who is going to buy a NEW system for the sake of upgrading before Intel systems are out? Granted NEED will outweigh that, but still.
 
..and in the background, the faint sounds of people eating their own words..

as Apple's "Think Different" becomes "Let's Think the Same"
 
ScottW said:
Oh well... the value of my existing Mac's just went down... and will Apple really be releasing any new Mac's over the next year? Who is going to buy a NEW system for the sake of upgrading before Intel systems are out? Granted NEED will outweigh that, but still.
Click to expand...

Yep... I had planned on ordering whatever new PowerMacs were going to come out this week. Now, I won't bother with any new hardware until the transition is over. Well, maybe the dev kit :)
 
Facts:
Steve did show that OS-X run on Intel hardware.
Steve didn't say that Apple will continue to sell Mac.
Steve didn't say that OS-X will be compatible with standard PC hardware.
 
I didn't want it to be true, but always feared it might be.

Am I angry? In denial?

No. Just heartbroken.

Here are the bad things that WILL HAPPEN.

1) Any code written to take advantage of G4 or G5 optimizations will have to be rewritten, and after recompilation, suddenly perform like a snail with Parkinson's. The Pentium's vector processor is an utter dog compared to the G4s or G5s.
2) Next time I upgrade my Mac, I will have to buy new versions of ALL my Mac software - and I own a LOT. It's ridiculous to imagine that things like Final Cut Express, Motion, Soundtrack and iDVD will perform acceptably in any sort of hardware emulation, so the necessity of an upgrade is an utter certainty. Hence, I will not be able to upgrade for an extremely long time, because I will need to save not just money for new hardware, but for a hideous 'big bang' software upgrade. And don't talk to me about 'expected obsolesence' - I JUST GOT MOTION LAST WEEK and I ABSOLUTELY expected to keep using it on my next Mac.
3) Even if I am determined to hang onto my wonderful G5 as long as possible, new software development for it is certain to stop dead, almost at once. Why would ANY company make new games, expansion cards, or other software for Macs now?
4) Carbon developers - and there seem to be a lot of them, though I am not one - need to practice this phrase: "want fries with that" ?
 
Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Now what am I to do, I wanted to buy a PowerBook for school very soon but now with all this news...and what about older apps that people don't want to recompile, what will become of those apps? Some kind emulation layer? Also what about hardware control, will I be able to buy a $300.00 Dell and put OS X on it? I hope not!!! Hopefully Apple has also considered security because with more market share means viruses and evil spyware and all that other crap.
 
hmm...lets see...apples wants to make the iTunes program for movies (the name "iMovie" is already taken..iFlix?), intel's new dual core processors have built-in DRM that will go along way towards wooing movie studios...make snes to anyone else? MacMini will become a home entertainment center.
 
But Steve stated that they want to support both lines in the future. So I don't think the support for the PPC will fade in the next two years.

I wonder if that means we are going to be part of the "Update-I-have-to-buy-new-processor-and-baoard" frenzy
 
Nope, since Apple will create their own boards - and probably won't let us just buy cheapo intel chips to upgrade our computers, since they want us to keep buying new Apple hardware.
 
Brian -- they are providing "Rosetta" to allow PPC apps to run on Intel-based Macs transparently. No recompile needed. Also, if you just bought Motion and Apple is touting how easy it is to port a program, don't you think they'll release a free update with a universal binary?

By 'official' links do you mean something from apple.com? Here's MacCentral's coverage, which is very good:
http://www.macworld.com/news/2005/06/06/liveupdate/index.php
and
http://www.macworld.com/news/2005/06/06/powerpcintel/index.php
 
Thanks for the links. As for 'rosetta' - that's what I meant by emulation; as I understand it Motion pushes a loaded G4 nearly to it's limit, and even gives a G5 a serious workout. If this is true, I just can't see emulators doing the job. In fact, I wonder if a Pentium-based version with comparable performance is even possible.

I sincerely hope that they'll have low-cost software upgrades, but I'm not betting the farm on it.
 
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