“It’s been nearly a year since Apple rolled out its groundbreaking new personal computer, the G5. A 64-bit platform, the G5 uses one or two of IBM’s PowerPC 970 chips, and adds more than just faster chips to the mix. In this article, we’ll take a look at what 64-bit computing means for Mac video editors and content creators, how it works, and see what software is taking advantage of this new capability,” Charlie White writes for Digital Media Online.
“What does the term ’64 bit’ mean, anyway? Think of the data flowing through your computer’s components as cars on a highway. The 32-bit highway is half the width of 64-bit, so a 64-bit highway can accommodate twice as many cars going the same speed. But that only tells part of the story. What really makes the difference in computing is the number of possible combinations of that data, and there are far more than double possible with this new wider pathway. When you’re talking about 32 bits, that translates into 4GB of data that can be handled at once, or more than 4.29 billion combinations. Move up to 64-bit processing, and then the number of combinations is so high it’s hardly comprehensible — 16 exabytes, or 16 quintillion (that’s a 16 with 18 zeros) possible combinations of data. That’s the theoretical limit of RAM that’s possible with 64-bit computing. Sounds crazy, but then 4GB sounded like an astronomical number when 32-bit computing was coming into its own at the beginning of the 1990s,” White writes.
Full article here.
1st post!!!
Is there a way to instruct a computer to destroy it’s user if he or she types “1st post!!!” ?
Will the “first post!” crowd ever grow up? Why don’t you grab your cell phone and call someone, bother THEM instead? And why don’t you do it while driving your car? Your chance of hitting a tree and removing your genes permanently from humanity’s gene pool will increase tenfold this way. We will be ALL better off when it happens.
… and we will have only useful coments here at MDN…
4th post! I Refuse to grow up completely!!!!!!
5th post!!!
ha ha ha this is too funny.
This article underscores why I’m waiting to purchase a G5: right now the G5 is a faster chip waiting on some other tech to catch up and let it reach its potential.
Everybody: You can pick up your trophy for Day’s Biggest Asswipe from yesterday’s winner at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., Washington, D.C.
jfbiii: Naive, misguided, child.
jfbiii, your comment to Everybody was the funniest thing I’ve read recently. I nearly shot milk out my nose, and I’m not even drinking milk!!!
yay mac user 47! condescention rules!
you learn that from Bush’s treatment of… the world?
Janki nice post
escaport
only if the user uses windows 🙁
11th post and best post
My deepest apologies for selfishly redirecting this extremely intellectual discussion thread and returning it to the topic of the article…
What Apple and IBM are doing is far beyond the imaginations of the Microsoft/Intel/AMD crowd. Microsoft is currently talking about producing another 64-bit version of Windows (one that is not so stripped down) and then having a built-in 32-bit emulator to run all of the “old” applications. This is very old thinking and technology, but they have no choice. They are not even able to run the 32-bit version simultaneously, like Apple did with OS 9, because XP is such a huge memory and CPU pig.
Apple and IBM’s current hybrid utilization of 64-bit architecture and 32-bit applications are so far ahead of Microsoft & Friends that the G5 that is sitting on store shelves today isn’t even within the hopes and fantasies of the Microsoft developers.
Borrowing from Mazda… ZOOM ZOOM ZOOM!
Perhaps Apple doesn’t need advertising; all they need is patience and natural evolution. In the mean time, Apple quietly builds a stronger foundation and better user interfaces. I don’t care if the world still runs on Microsoft and Apple doesn’t produce a single commercial for 5 years as long as I have a Mac on my desk.
Watching Rome fall will be a tragedy for most, but entertaining for the rest of us. I can wait.
oh and that idiot bush is in tv again
what a clown
45th post.
Nice article. My hunch is that the new Tiger version of OS X will mark a big advance toward a FULLY 64-bit compatible operating system. Combine that with the expected big jump in G5 clockspeed to be announced in June, and we’re all going to have to hold on to our seats when running a new G5.
Gotta hope!
46th post.
47th post.
One Girl From Finland:
Hi, girly boy! You’re the clown.
48th post… and counting (LOL!!!)
you guys can’t count.
moo.
Well said Ary. It makes me wonder though, is Microsoft/Intel’s delay into true 64 bit computing also going to end up delaying us with certain apps? For instance, will Adobe make a 64 bit version of Photoshop even though Windows users couldn’t use it? My guess is no, but then I don’t really know for sure that it would matter. Anyone?
Aryugaetu…
That is not the same version I am hearing from the people in the “real IT world”.
Microsoft’s 64 bit OS is so much faster than the dog (cat) known as OS 10.3.x (full of security holes btw!). Apple is not showing any leadership is the arena of high speed work stations.
Take a look at the current offerings from Alien Wear (with a !…”Standard 1.44MB Floppy Drive”) running the “current”! 64 bit XP.
http://www.alienware.com/Configurator_Pages/roswell_4500.aspx?SysCode=PC-ROSWELL-4500&SubCode=SKU-EXTREME
Longhorn is going to be released soon and that is a system deigned for the future.
�
mac citizen
be a american and speak spanish
Longhorn BBQ at my place!
Windows is cathing up guys! Shiver and fear: late 2006 LongHorn will be released (and by then they will have copied everything from OSX, which by then will be 2 decades ahead) and M$ is gonna build a supercomputer OS!!!!
YES!!!
Guess Windows Server cannot hold so much power so they have to build a new OS. OSX was simply bought online from the AppleStore and became a supercomputer in 3 month’s time.
Well here you go:
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103_2-5219282.html