Apple’s new Power Mac G5 achieves all these personal computer firsts, reports Greg Thom for The Herald Sun:
- World’s fastest desktop computer.
- First desktop to include a 64-bit processor.
- Industry’s first 1GHz front-side bus.
- Highest bandwidth system controller.
- Fastest PCI interface on a desktop (133MHz).

“‘The 64-bit revolution has begun and the personal computer will never be the same again,’ Apple CEO Steve Jobs says. So Intel, the world’s largest computer chip manufacturer, is quaking in its boots, right? Not so, according to computer trends analyst Andy Woo, of research company Gartner Australasia. Though most people will drool over a machine such as the G5, the extra power is simply not needed by the average user. There’s more than enough grunt in an Intel P4 machine to do most tasks,” Thom reports.

“‘It is really interesting, from an Apple perspective, that they have beaten others in getting 64-bit computing in a desktop,’ Woo says. ‘The question is, what do users, both in business area and at home, need with that sort of power?’ Woo says what the Apple announcement does do is reinforce its image as a ground-breaking outfit at the leading edge of innovation. ‘It plays to their strengths, like marketing, design and user-interface. They have always had a leading-edge image,’ Woo says. ‘But is Intel rattled by this announcement? Absolutely not,’” Thom writes.

Thom reports, “Woo feels the G5 will reinforce Apple’s strength in its core customer areas such as graphic design and video editing. ‘But few users need that power and speed. This will not worry Intel at all in the desktop space.’”

Full article here.