Well, there are some clues if you read enough of the fine print. I
too (as a poorly paid professor of electrical engineering in a
Canadian university and an Apple shareholder) would be rather annoyed
if Apple actually sold x86 Macs. But there is a more interesting
possibility.
Back when DEC folded the Alpha project (which was probably the best
processor design around at the time), all 300 of the engineering
staff from DEC went to work for Intel. They are currently working on
a new chip at Intel that will, if the press is correct, be shipping
sometime in 2007. It will not be an x86 family chip, and will have
tossed all of the legacy support mechanisms that the x86 family
carries. If it's something in the same class as the Alpha then it
could really be good for the Mac.
I dislike x86 architecture too (having written assembler for it I
know all too well how ugly it is), but the fact is that IBM wasn't
willing to invest in the future of PowerPC for Apple. I suspect that
someone at IBM just pissed Steve Jobs off one too many times, and
that's the end of it. I'm not selling my Apple stock. I'm still going
to buy a new 15" PowerBook this year, and I'm taking a wait and see
attitude concerning what's going to happen two years out.
Jobs didn't do this for profit, he did it for long-term viability. If
IBM had been able to provide the CPU development, he'd have stuck
with the PowerPC platform.
So we can all wear a black arm band for a week and then get on with
work. But I'm betting that the chip you see in the Mac in 2007 is not
an x86 processor, but a new one, and one developed by those 300 folks
they got from DEC.
- web
At 10:53 AM -0500 6/12/05, Brian wrote:
Dude, chill
Virus vulnerability is an OS problem, not a chip problem.
Second, no one has said, so far as I know, that the intel chips to
be used will be x86 chips, just that they will be intel. I forget
who pointed that out, but it was a very good point.
If you don't care about the newest fastest computer than stick with
your lowend mac. It will still be supported for years. As far as
the comment about "PeeCee users are too stupid for the Mac community
ANYWAY," that's totally uncalled for. No need to be insulting the
masses for no reason. Rash statements like that are one reason that
PC users have given me for not liking the mac. They don't like
"elitest mac users."
It's happening, and it needs to happen. You are right, it's a
business/politics thing and not so much a development
thing, but I don't think it's a greed thing either.
In any event, it's all academic anyway. It's happening, you can't
stop it. Best to just roll with it.
Brian
On Jun 12, 2005, at 8:33 AM, Zoltan Batiz wrote:
Ok, I've watched the keynote address, read all the articles. I
still think Jobs is full of it. I can't believe that he's decided
to switch to Intel. This has me really nervous. Intel processors,
despite the crappy OS that Microsnot tries to make for it, are very
unstable in the virus sense. I am concerned that "when" Intel
based Macs start rolling out in '06 they are gonna be sitting ducks
just waiting for the Intel-versed hacker to start shooting. I AM
NOT GOING TO LISTEN TO ANY OF YOU WHO ARE EXCITED BY THIS. THIS IS
THE MOST DISTURBING THING I'VE HEARD SINCE THE FALL OF AMIGA. I
feel like I'm being let down in the computer industry once again.
This move will eventually make all PowerPC Macs obsolete, just like
the 68000 Mac's. . .so much for worrying about the G3's life; heck
now the G5 is going to be phased out. I am so tired of everyone
trying to get somewhere in such a rush. WHO CARES IF POWERPC IS
SLOWER THAN CRAPTEL!! I don't! And millions of other Mac users
don't! Most PeeCee users are too stupid for the Mac community
ANYWAY. I need to stop now. . .I'm so pissed I can barely type.
This is what happens when I go up to Arrowhead for a few months on
vacation. . .and come back to this. I have one phrase for Jobs:
"Greedy Bastard".
Zoltan
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