“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.
Zepp,
Dell sterotypes aside, your point about working for a living on Windows computers is the single best reason Apple has a hard time in the enterprise. Back in the day when Boston had real MacWorld Expos, I was behind a couple of consultants in line when they were talking about why they loved Macs and would prefer to recommend them, but that they made far more money installing Windows PCs and the profitable return visits to keep them running properly. And this was before viruses were the issue they are today!
BTW, I am a Dell and Apple customer. Frankly, I don’t want or need a top-end PC. My Dell just keeps on chugging. Am I an idiot for spending short change on a long-lasting PC which runs software currently unavailable for my PowerMac? Are my employers idiots for continuing to buy Dells – many of which are now at least 4 years old? And yes, there are PLENTY of purposes for which a 4 year old PC still works plenty fast.
“If anything, Dell customers are outright idiots!”
Hmmm, did not Steve J himself choose a Dell when introducing iTunes for Windows? Personally I’ve had very good experience with Dell machines. I’ve never encountered a better-built system from another major manufacturer, for that matter. HPs are junk. There are lots of other options, but my experience with Dells has been flawless, so why experiment with unknowns?
I use both Macs (PowerBook, G5) and a Dell.
Zep–rediculous
Is that the color of one’s face when spelling ‘Ridiculous’ that way?
Just a processor change. OSX still protects everything and kicks butt.
I have no worries.
Here’s where my BS detector pegged out and caught fire:
“Mac users are going ga-ga over Dashboard”
No, they’re not. I’m still ambivalent about Dashboard. It’s useful, but not earth-shattering. While it has many wonderful widgets, and I find it much more useful than I thought I would, I’m certainly not “ga-ga” over it. An informal poll of my Mac using family and friends reveal that they’ pretty much share my opinion.
And:
“It’s actually an idea that’s, um, “borrowed” from a Windows and Mac program called Konfabulator.”
No, it’s not. John Gruber of Daring Fireball has already thoroughly debunked this supposition.
Poorly researched article that adds nothing to the discussion about Mac-on-Intel.
It’s my understanding that the Konfabulator folks were working with Apple when Jobs and NeXT were pulled into the mix, and that the Konfab/Dashboard technology came directly from NeXT.
Jobs has essentially revived much of NeXT with OS X.
I’m putting 2 and 2 together. (Konfabulator AND Dashboard came from NeXT?)
“I’m putting 2 and 2 together. (Konfabulator AND Dashboard came from NeXT?)”
justified,
Actually, they didn’t. The co-creator of Konfabulator, Arlo Rose, is an interface designer who formerly worked at Apple. Read Daring Fireball’s excellent articles on what Konfabulator is, and why Dashboard is not a rip-off.
Viridian,
http://everything2.com/index.pl?node=dashboard
Daring Fireball articles aside, this comparison to NextStep’s dockapps is what I was referring to. Rose and Clarke worked for Apple when Jobs was bringing Next technologies into the Mac OS. The implication here is that Rose and Clarke took and ran with Next’s dockapps with the intent to create a third-party app offering, while Apple was reworking these technologies for the Mac OS. In otherwords, Rose and Clarke didn’t just come up with this stuff out of nowhere, and Apple didn’t simply steal from them.
Also, from a Macworld article:
“During an interview with MacCentral following the keynote Apple executives declined the opportunity to discuss the similarities between Konfabulator and Dashboard. However, Apple Senior Vice President Phil Schiller said in a CNET interview that Dashboard is Apple’s own creation and that Widgets have long been a part of Mac OS X and the NextStep OS.”
Four MacIntel Questions:
1. Will these Intel chips Mac plans to use be 64-bit?
2. Will they be duel processors, with a frontside bus each?
3. Will they be faster? or just a higher rated CPU?
4. Will I, and other Mac owners, be able to get new software and upgrades, etc. or will Mac software be dead?