Your G5 won't ever run the MacTel stuff. The real question is, will new software be produced that still runs on PowerPC chips like the G5? The answer is yes, for a while.
If the software you rely on gets re-compiled as a fat binary then it should run on both the PowerPC and the Intel versions of OS X. Most of the big vendors, like Adobe, are bound to produce fat binaries of their new apps at first. But eventually, they'll drop PowerPC support in favor of pure Intel support. It's just like the 68k-to-PowerPC transition was. I have an old version of MS Word at home that can run on both 68k and PowerPC, but obviously the current generations of Word can only run on PowerPC-based Macs. They supported both platforms for a while and then eventually switched fully to the new platform. Apple will also produce OS X for both platforms, at least for a while during the transition. Eventually they too will drop PowerPC support from future versions of the OS, just like they dropped 68k support from the old System software (was it System 8 when they finally ditched all 68k?). If I recall, depreciation for computer hardware is 3 years. Apple can't expect people who buy a G5 to replace it any sooner than 3 years later. So I'd expect they maintain some level of PowerPC support for 3 years after they stop producing the last PowerPC Mac. One other minor gotcha, for anybody who still relies on Classic software--the Intel version of OS X will not support Classic. Ir will be able to run OS X software compiled for the PowerPC, but not Classic software. --- Rex. -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:owner-macgroup at erdos.math.louisville.edu] On Behalf Of Ben Hershberg Sent: Thursday, June 09, 2005 9:08 AM To: macgroup at erdos.math.louisville.edu Subject: Re: MacGroup: Intel Inside I know several people have addressed this already, but it's still not clear to me: is it definite a G5 I might buy this month will run the new mactel software when it's produced. How well will it run the new software? Another dumb question on an unrelated issue. Where can I find a CMOS battery? I've been to three or four likely places and they don't have them. --Ben Zion Hershberg On Jun 8, 2005, at 8:29 AM, Lee Larson wrote: | The next meeting of the Louisville Computer Society will be July 26. | The LCS Web page is <http://www.kymac.org>. | List posting address: <mailto:macgroup at erdos.math.louisville.edu> | List Web page: <http://erdos.math.louisville.edu/macgroup> | The next meeting of the Louisville Computer Society will | be July 26. The LCS Web page is <http://www.kymac.org>. | List posting address: <mailto:macgroup at erdos.math.louisville.edu> | List Web page: <http://erdos.math.louisville.edu/macgroup>
