“Word earlier this month that Apple will use Intel processors in its next-generation Macintosh computers was a bombshell, but one expected to drop eventually,” Dwight Silverman writes for The Houston Chronicle. “Rumors that Apple had a version of its Mac OS X running on Pentium-class chips have swirled for years. I heard them from fairly reliable sources, but they were nothing I could prove.”
Silverman writes, “Now that the once-unthinkable is about to become a reality, the ramifications are starting to sink in. Apple fans seem split on whether it’s a good thing, with some harking back to the company’s mid-1990s shift to PowerPC processors from IBM and Motorola, which put a serious dent in the Mac’s market share.”
Full article here.
IT’S ONLY A FLIPIN’ CHIP CHANGE!!!
KNICKER TWISTING HAS GONE CRAZY!!!!!!
The transition to the PowerPC platform is not what caused Apple’s market share decline in the 1990’s. The arrival of Windows 95 and M$’s monopolistic practices, combined with Apple’s poor marketing did. His Steveness even said as much when he was quoted as saying that Apple “blew a 15 year lead in operating systems”.
The Personal Computer hit critical mass in the mid 1990’s and M$ and it’s partners were ready while Apple was not. Combine that with the the general desire of commercial enterprise to seek a universal and low cost solution to any problem and Windows was the choice of the market.
The Apple of today is far different from the Apple of the mid-1990’s as is the state of Microsoft and the computer market in general. The Apple of that day was adrift, without vision and unable to develop a workable OS for the future. Today’s Apple Computer is a finely tuned machine with a clear vision and is cranking out the best software they have ever delivered from FileMaker, Logic, Final Cut Suite, X-San & X-Grid, Safari, iLife to the X-Code developer tools and Mac OS X client and server.
Micro$oftopoly seems to be adrift, laking a clear vision and largely unable to deliver a workable successor for the future. At every corner of their business they are being contested by agile and worthy opponents. Linux servers, Mac OS on the desktop, Sony PS 3 in the gaming market, QuickTime in media, etc. The only real advantage they have is the result of past efforts and every day their installed base gets older and older.
The time is right for a paradigm shift and the components are in place. By the time the full version of Longhorn ships with promised service packs Apple will have completed the shift to Intel and shipped the next version of Mac OS X and Novell and other commercial developers will be selling highly refined and updated versions of LINUX Server software. The view in January 2007 will be a very different one from today’s.
The final nail in the coffin will be the continued development of x86 WINE on LINUX and Mac OS X. If commercial enterprise can convert server and desktop platforms without switching application software, it will be game, set, match.
Macworld has a great explanation in this month’s issue as to why the switch won’t be anywhere near as problematic as it was switching to PowerPCs back in 1994, or switching from OS 9 to OS X.
APPLE FANS UNITE!!
WE DONT WANT FASTER COMPUTERS!!
GIVE THESE IDIOT JOURALISTS SOMETHING TO WRITE ABOUT!!
The reason (IMO) that some Mac Heads may be a little concerned over the switch, could be over the potential ramifications of using the DRM-Laden “Pentium-D” chips, and what it may mean to the Mac Users ..
Intel is keeping very tight-lipped about this technology, just as they did during the “fingerprinting” issue of the Pentium 4 .. way back when …
But, it will die down, eventually … People wont even think about it … just as PeeCeers consider the fingerprinting of their computers as a non issue ..
It would be nice to hear from His Steveness about these particular concerns .. or at least from a learned poster here at MDN ..
Question … Could this DRM thing actually be allowing Big Brother into our machines … or is it “much ado about nuthin’ “?
What people aren’t thinking about here is that what’s going to make the difference won’t be the use of specific hardware pieces as much as the QUALITY and DESIGN of the hardware pieces chosen and assembled to continue delivering great computers. The use of an Intel processor will not require that the rest of the hardware be the same Fry’s Electronics junk that so many people associate with run-of-the-mill ghetto boxes.
I, for one, don’t really give a rat’s arse about the shift to Intel provided the products still rock.
The Houston Chronicle article doesn’t make sense. Mac users will have to upgrade or buy new software several years down the line whether there had been a hardware shift or not.
“Apple could have countered that inevitability by also selling the Mac OS in a version that any Windows user could install on an existing PC . . . “
What? This would not require users to buy new software for THAT PC?
This Dwight Silverman doesn’t seem to think clearly.
The opinion is from someone from Texas, why are we even paying attention?
BS Alert!
“On the Mac Mini, on the other hand, Tiger seemed faster than 10.2. Go figure.”
It’s Mac mini – not Mac Mini
10.2 on a mini? No, 10.3 is lowest OS available on a Mac mini!
And, add the points that ‘justified’ and ‘kcwookie’ make.
Nice generalization. Real intelligent kcwookie. As if there aren’t any Mac users in Texas. Oh, I forgot, outside of New York and California, Texas has the most Apple stores in the US. Guess thats not important either.
Justified wrote: “This Dwight Silverman doesn’t seem to think clearly.”
Quite so – and he’s not alone. The sheer amount of misunderstanding that this Intel issue has engendered is amazing, not least the assumption in some quarters that Apple is suddenly going to make its operating system available for any and every PC on the planet. Steve isn’t going to give the crown jewels away.
“It’s Mac mini – not Mac Mini.”
It should be Mini Mac, it’s much easier to say.
To: “NoPCZone” —
Excellent view. The one constant in the universe appears to be change. Apple was, in the 1990s, adrift, without direction or purpose. They coasted along.
Microsoft, on the otherhand, was busy chewing up market share with a savvy combination of illegal tactics; torture, coercion, threat, intimidation, et al. Microsoft won most of the battles of the past 10 to 15 years.
Now, the Empire is struggling to maintain a grip on its domain. There’s no direction, no purpose (other than self preservation, and even that seems to be weak yet with an arrogant voice).
Microsoft is not doomed. Neither was Apple doomed in the 90s. Things change. Right now, they’re changing for the betterment of customers and Apple.
That’s fine by me.
Tera Patricks
Mac360
MDN Magic Word is “next”
Here’s a review of a pretty small Mac you guys might find interesting. It is a great reminder of why Macs rule. Pay close attention to the reaction of people trying Macs that are used to using peecee clones.
Interesting how “the more things change, the more they stay the same”.
http://www.aci.com.pl/mwichary/computerhistory/articles/macintoshbytereview
I’m just waiting for all those older AGP based PMG4s to hit eBay at fantasticly low prices. They are still excellent, powerful machines with oodles of headroom for upgrading and many, many years of life still in them.
same old theme replayed again and again by mdn.
do you guys search like any newspaper in the world for this rehash of the same old crap.
soon mdn is going to be quoting the local junior high newspapers and senior center newsletters when they discuss this apple switch to intel.
this is more interesting
new motorola iphone photos:
http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000887049175/
“The opinion is from someone from Texas, why are we even paying attention?”
Hey … watch where you’re spitting!
DRM = why 2006 will be just like 1984!
Tera claims: “Microsoft, on the otherhand, was busy chewing up market share with a savvy combination of illegal tactics; torture, coercion, threat, intimidation, et al. Microsoft won most of the battles of the past 10 to 15 years.”
Verging on the libellous… Anyway, nobody did anything untoward to me to have me decide to buy Win95 and install it on a self-assembled dog of a machine that ran all the software I needed. It was about 4 times as cheap as the closest product from Apple and twice as powerful.
Apple left the market to M$, who did everything they could to grab and keep a monopoly of the market, but they CONVINCED their customers, they did not rob them as literally as you would have people believe. That is conspiracy theory kids stuff.
Now that Apple have a solid lead in OS technology, they are going to piss their lead away again, if they’re not careful. People think with their wallets. Macs will never be more than a fringe niche with those prices. For OSX to become widespread, it needs to be able to run on cheap boxes.
Hybrid, you cheapskate!
You get what you pay for in this life.
John, I also own some Macs (hence ‘hybrid’), but 90% of the buyers out there *are* cheapskates. Nature of the consumer-beast. Cheap is the only way to reach them. Nowadays, we can choose between ‘cheap’ and ‘simply works’. I want to see: ‘simply works, and cheap, too’. Which can happen if Apple take a big chunk of the OS market, but for that to happen, they need to be cheap. A circle, that only Apple can break.
but 90% of the buyers out there *are* cheapskates
—-
Same here.. that’s why I buy a computer that requires no additional software, never breaks down… a Mac.
I can ‘share’ music and movies to my hearts content (if I want quality, I pay for that content, which i have done in the past)
Not my fault ‘cheapskates’ pay 50% more than I do when they buy a computer that only lasts 2 years..
I live in Houston, Dwight Silverman isn’t a bad guy but he’s well known in this area for not being very Mac-literate – that’s why the Chronicle also has Bob “Dr. Mac” LeVitus on their writing staff.
MDN Magic word “based” The Houston Area Apple Users Group, based in Houston, shows after 25 years “in business” that not everyone from Texas is ignorant of Macs.
http://www.haaug.org
also another Apple user group http://www.tmcmug.org
I find it rediculousthat so many people keep promotingthe idea that Apple should produce Mac OSX as a stand-alone OS, and the concept introduced the articles author that a bootable CD with Mac OSX on it would not help any…
It failed to make a dent for BeOS… Which ALMOST became OSX (though thankfully, Apple’s board of Directors got smart, bought NeXT and brought back the Mac’s soul, which had always been living inside Steve Jobs. Say what you may about the man. He was the creative inspiration behind the original Mac, and he is the one that made it a serious contender… If only the board recognised him for what he was back in ’85, they never would have “fired” him.
What authors of the above article also seem to be forgetting is the brilliant success of the Apple Stores… They are one of the mostp rofitable, and fastest gorwing retail chains in the world today… They continue to open new stores, and ever store turns a profit… They are brilliantly laid out, well staffed by generally very knowledgable people who are passionate about the products. Compare the Apple stores to the former Gateway stores… Can you imagine how eqully badly a Dell store would do? Dell doesn’t have passion behind their name… Their customers buy on price and gimmickry alone. They aren’t an intelligent bunch. If anything, Dell customers are outright idiots!
By the way, I should mention… I work for a living on Windows computers… Not “using” them, but repairing them… 90% of my week is spent fixing viral infections, removing spyware, reinstalling the OS, and generally fixing problems caused by dumbass users… I go home to a Mac, and breath a sigh of relief.
“If anything, Dell customers are outright idiots!”
I own Dells and I own Macs.
What am I, a multiple personality? Stupid stereotyping gets no one anywhere, Zepp.
MDNMW: {lack} of willingness to listen and understand those who are uninformed or misinformed does not aid anyone.