Yes, but the MHz race hadn't really begun. As anyone familiar with multiple different CPU lines can tell you, MHz can't be compared except within a CPU line, even related CPUs or compatible products can't be directly compared in many cases.
The main things limiting performance on the Apple II line are: 1. 8 bit CPU and memory. 2. 8 bit I/O bus @ 1Mhz with minimal DMA capabilities 3. No hardware multiply/divide instructions. Without those things, a faster CPU will be severely limited. Don't misunderstand me, I love my Apple //s and I have a TransWarp in my //e, but unless you make some significant changes to the above, bumping the CPU speed is of limited value. One problem on the Apple //s was the lack of a hardware timer/reference, so anything time sensitive was controlled with a software timing loop, which would be messed up by a faster CPU. That's the reason all the accelerator chips slow down to 1Mhz during and for a short while after any I/O access. Macs prior to Mac OS X suffered from some of the same things, as anyone who has run Mac OS 9 on a very fast Mac can tell you. On modern Macs running Mac OS 9 (or earlier), scrolling can be way too fast to manage because it uses either a software timing loop or no delay loop. When the Apple II and Mac were designed, hardware was relatively expensive so Apple used software routines instead of dedicated hardware for a lot of things. As hardware prices dropped, machines such as IBM PC compatibles dropped in price and increased in performance with fewer compatibility issues because the dedicated I/O hardware and built-in timer gave them a lot of independence from the CPU speed. Could Apple have done a better job? Probably, but the architectural changes to really make a difference would have broken a lot of software and raised the cost of the machines. The software base and price advantage were two things Apple wasn't willing to give up (and probably wouldn't have survived if they had). > From: "Nord, Al" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Reply-To: Apple2list <apple2list@mail.maclaunch.com> > Date: Thu, 27 Oct 2005 09:39:27 -0500 > To: Apple2list <apple2list@mail.maclaunch.com> > Subject: Apple's poor marketing of CPU speeds > > From what I have seen with the Apple //e revision C logic board Apple > could have adopted a faster CPU speed but chose to keep the 1 mhz. This > was true except for the Apple //c+ that had a 3 Mhz speed and the Apple > /// which has a 2 Mhz 6502B processor The Apple //Gs was crippled > because Apple was trying to sell the Macintosh LC computers to the > schools. I suppose their marketing made sense to Apple. But the Apple // > series of computers made Apple billions. This bad marketing plan also > put the 68040 without the co processor chips which meant Sonnet and > other companies made millions suppling to the consumers who knew that > the co processor meant faster processing speeds and were willing to pay > for that speed. > Years ago at a school library in Superior Wi. I ran a book title > lookup speed test with a Apple //+ with 64k running the same library > program as another IBM with 4.77 mhz processor and 128k of ram. Every > book we looked up came up more then a minute faster on the Apple //+. > That was a good indication of the problems IBM had with their Dos 3.3. > This was funny as the Apple was also using Apple Dos 3.3. That Library > program was ported over to Prodos and it ran circles around the IBM > version. That Library program design group decided to drop support > completely for the Apple based program and go with IBM Dos 5. From what > I saw of the Dos 5 version the Prodos version was still faster looking > up books. But that's progress. That software company kept blaming our > Apple computers and harddrives as being defective so one day I dumped > their program and started looking into the program. I found a lot of sub > routines and calls that pointed to non existant locations. I called the > company and asked to talk to their technical support. I told their > Technical support what I had found and I was told that I had no right > to examine their programming techniques . Shortly after this talk the > company decided to drop support for the Apple side. This was the Apple > Dos 3.3 version. I looked at the Prodos version and it was programmed > better but we still had book lookup problems and deleting entries didn't > always delete that title for the index. I spent weeks looking into why > this was happening and never did figure why it was doing what it did. We > had a Edgar Allen Poe book that was deleted and kept reappearing in the > index. I did find that title and was able to delete the entry but other > books also kept showing up after they had been removed. It was a lot of > fun looking into their programming routines and I learned a lot back > then. > > -----Original Message----- > From: Apple2list [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of > Stephen Conrad > Sent: Wednesday, October 26, 2005 4:08 PM > To: Apple2list > Subject: Re: TransWarpGS Needs (was RE: CFFA adapter's 4th run) > > Now if only they'd make it work with the //c Or the Franklin Ace 500 > > Steve > > On 10/26/05, [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> Hi, y'all! >> >> Quoting Steve: >>> Hopefully those with the means and opportunity to make a new >>> TransWarpGS card take this as positive news... >> >> Hopefully, with today's technology, it'll be a small daughterboard >> and not a big card. >> >> Willi >> >> >> -- >> Apple2list is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... >> >> / Buy books, CDs, videos, and more from Amazon.com \ >> / <http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect-home/lowendmac> \ >> >> Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> >> >> Apple2list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/apple2.html> >> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; >> Send list messages to: <mailto:apple2list@mail.maclaunch.com> >> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >> Archive: >> <http://www.mail-archive.com/apple2list%40mail.maclaunch.com/> >> >> iPod Accessories for Less >> at 1-800-iPOD.COM >> Fast Delivery, Low Price, Good Deal >> www.1800ipod.com >> > > > -- > "The time has come for mankind to grow up and leave its cradle behind; > to go forth and claim our place in outer space." > - Capt. Henry Gloval > > -- > Apple2list is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... > > / Buy books, CDs, videos, and more from Amazon.com \ > / <http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect-home/lowendmac> \ > > Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> > > Apple2list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/apple2.html> > --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; > Send list messages to: <mailto:apple2list@mail.maclaunch.com> > To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/apple2list%40mail.maclaunch.com/> > > iPod Accessories for Less > at 1-800-iPOD.COM > Fast Delivery, Low Price, Good Deal > www.1800ipod.com > > -- > Apple2list is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... > > / Buy books, CDs, videos, and more from Amazon.com \ > / <http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect-home/lowendmac> \ > > Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> > > Apple2list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/apple2.html> > --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; > Send list messages to: <mailto:apple2list@mail.maclaunch.com> > To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/apple2list%40mail.maclaunch.com/> > > iPod Accessories for Less > at 1-800-iPOD.COM > Fast Delivery, Low Price, Good Deal > www.1800ipod.com -- Apple2list is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... / Buy books, CDs, videos, and more from Amazon.com \ / <http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect-home/lowendmac> \ Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> Apple2list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/apple2.html> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:apple2list@mail.maclaunch.com> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/apple2list%40mail.maclaunch.com/> iPod Accessories for Less at 1-800-iPOD.COM Fast Delivery, Low Price, Good Deal www.1800ipod.com
