“Here’s the best thing I can say after trying out Apple’s new iMac computer with an Intel processor: I didn’t notice much difference from Apple’s previous iMacs with PowerPC processors from IBM,” Mike Langberg reports for The San Jose Mercury News. “I borrowed a 20-inch Intel iMac from Apple last week, and found it responded very quickly. But then again so did the previous iMac that I reviewed, a G5 model, in September 2004.”
“Switching from the G5 processor to Intel chips is a huge step forward in the long run. IBM couldn’t or wouldn’t design processors for personal computers that keep pace with those from Intel and rival Advanced Micro Devices. Apple will get elbow room to continue creating innovative hardware and software by leaving the PowerPC behind,” Langberg reports. “The new iMac reliably runs Apple’s elegant and easy to use Mac operating system and related software, including the outstanding new iLife ’06 suite for managing photos, music, video and Web pages. Ordinary users would have no reason to suspect there’s a new chip under the hood.”
“One small disappointment: Apple doesn’t include its AppleWorks program — an unexciting but useful word processor, spreadsheet and desktop publishing package aimed at home users — on the new iMac, unlike previous models where it was included free,” Langberg writes. “Apple now wants Mac users to spend $79 to unlock a copy of iWorks ’06, a combination of the Pages program for word-processing and the Keynote program for making presentations, that’s included on the new iMac. Or pay anywhere from $149 to $499 to unlock Microsoft Office, also included. AppleWorks remains available for purchase separately from Apple, also for $79.”
“On the other hand, Apple deserves applause for iLife ’06. I had a lot of fun trying out new features that make it drop-dead easy to share pictures online, write blog entries and create podcasts — provided you’re willing to spend $99 a year for Apple’s .mac online service. iLife ’06 is also available at $79 for older Macs running the 10.3 Panther or 10.4 Tiger versions of the Mac OS X operating system,” Langberg writes.
“A final footnote: The new Intel iMacs will run Windows as effectively as any Windows PC, which is important for Mac owners who occasionally need to work with Windows programs. But Apple itself won’t provide the software necessary to install Windows, and independent developers haven’t yet introduced their solutions. So if you need to run Windows on a Mac, hold off a few months,” Langberg writes. “For everyone else, the new iMac is safe to buy right now. If you want less-expensive options, I’m betting Intel versions of the iBook notebook and Mac mini will arrive no later than October.”
Full article with more about Rosetta for running PowerPC-only non-Universal Binary applications here.
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Related MacDailyNews article:
PC Magazine review gives Apple iMac Intel Core Duo 4.5 out of 5 stars – January 20, 2006
” you don’t have to subscribe to .Mac to use iWeb. The program will export the site to a folder and you can upload it to any server.”
@MacMania
Sure, but any changes you make with iWeb overwrites it.
I’m not sure this is a big deal. I’ve tried NeoOffice (from the Open OfficeX group) which is absolutely free, and in it’s current release, seems quite stable and robust. Just Google NeoOffice, download the program, and forget about paying for Appleworks! I don’t know, of course, if it will have compatability issues with the DualCore Intel processor or not.
Does anyone know whether Macromedia (Adobe) Dreamweaver and Flash will run on Rosetta?
I think that Apple should release a version of iWork for Windows. If it could gain popularity, Apple would benefit in several ways. They would make money off of the Windows versions, and probably gain name recognition. Most importantly, especially if they bundled it free, they could sell more Macs because iWork would be native to the Mac.
“Are we going to see Apple release three different OSX flavours going forward (PPC, Intel32, Intel64)”
Yes
Intel is supposed to release a 64bit Core Duo in September.
If Apple releases a Quad 32bit Mactel or not remains to be seen, I would assume so since they are so hot and bothered to dump IBM.
However, given the 32bit Core Duo performs less than a pair of 2 Ghz PPC G5 processors may suggest the switch might not happen anytime soon.
The G5 chip is still a monster, dumbing down to $hitty Intel chips is going to take a bit.
Yes Intel chips are $hitty, DRM, EFI laden pieces of snitchola crapola.
Remember the days one could do anything with their computers?
Forget it.
Cubert,
dead right.
Two months ago a colleague of mine wanted an iMac but was holding back because she thought documents from Word and Power Point on a Mac wouldn’t be compatible with the PC she uses at work.
I convinced her they would and she bought one.
MacDude…
Please tell us how Powerpoint contributed to the shuttle disaster…the article costs real $…
Thanks
Please tell us how Powerpoint contributed to the shuttle disaster…the article costs real $..
PowerPoint Makes You Dumb By CLIVE THOMPSON
Published: December 14, 2003
In August, the Columbia Accident Investigation Board at NASA released Volume 1 of its report on why the space shuttle crashed. As expected, the ship’s foam insulation was the main cause of the disaster. But the board also fingered another unusual culprit: PowerPoint, Microsoft’s well-known ”slideware” program.
NASA, the board argued, had become too reliant on presenting complex information via PowerPoint, instead of by means of traditional ink-and-paper technical reports. When NASA engineers assessed possible wing damage during the mission, they presented the findings in a confusing PowerPoint slide — so crammed with nested bullet points and irregular short forms that it was nearly impossible to untangle. ”It is easy to understand how a senior manager might read this PowerPoint slide and not realize that it addresses a life-threatening situation,” the board sternly noted.
PowerPoint is the world’s most popular tool for presenting information. There are 400 million copies in circulation, and almost no corporate decision takes place without it. But what if PowerPoint is actually making us stupider?
This year, Edward Tufte — the famous theorist of information presentation — made precisely that argument in a blistering screed called The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint. In his slim 28-page pamphlet, Tufte claimed that Microsoft’s ubiquitous software forces people to mutilate data beyond comprehension. For example, the low resolution of a PowerPoint slide means that it usually contains only about 40 words, or barely eight seconds of reading. PowerPoint also encourages users to rely on bulleted lists, a ”faux analytical” technique, Tufte wrote, that dodges the speaker’s responsibility to tie his information together. And perhaps worst of all is how PowerPoint renders charts. Charts in newspapers like The Wall Street Journal contain up to 120 elements on average, allowing readers to compare large groupings of data. But, as Tufte found, PowerPoint users typically produce charts with only 12 elements. Ultimately, Tufte concluded, PowerPoint is infused with ”an attitude of commercialism that turns everything into a sales pitch.”
Blame the person(s) who created the powerpoint slides, not powerpoint itself. Powerpoint presentations can be as easy to read as you want it to be.
Don’t be stupid.
Appleworks is lame but I’ve managed a lot of half-million dollar installation projects using nothing more than this antiquated inexpensive piece of software.
The spreadsheet functionality is minimalist but works reliably for doing projections and tracking costs. I resolved a $750,000.00+ installation project for Anheuser Busch to within $5.00 upon completion and this project dragged on for a year and a half from concept to completiion. AB’s mainframe system and accounting department didn’t have as tight or as accurate a grip as I did and I accomplished this with good old AppleWorks.
The word processor in Appleworks does an adequate job of putting words on paper. I’ve done several 100 page owners manuals with it.
The drawing portion of Appleworks is a fantastic mini-cadd program. For laying out cable runs, doing rack elevations and quick illustrations to communicate with contractors the drawing app in Appleworks totally justifies buying the program. Repeatedly, customers have asked me what I used to do my drawings, they’ve also complemented me wildly for how good the illustrations are. I just smile and tell them I did it on a Mac, then they say something like “oh, that explains it, you’re using a Mac”. I don’t bother to tell them it’s a $79 piece of software, I just let them go ahead and think it’s a $3500.00 CADD program (on a computer platform they’re totally out of touch with).
The fourth and most amazing thing about Appleworks is the tiny footprint it requires on your hard drive, how little RAM memory it needs and how fast it loads (ok that’s three things but they’re all about high efficiency, speed and small data size). This program is a derivative of the ancient “ClarisWorks” which I began using in the early 90’s. While Appleworks may be old and a little bit quirky in OS-X it has been very reliable and made me a lot of money over the years.
A worthy competitor needs a good “Mac Draw” drawing module to even come close to the utility of AppleWorks.
Last year my daughter needed Office on her Mac at college. Like many others I bought “Student Teacher” edition and installed one of the three licenses on my main Mac (which is a rock steady reliable machine and one of 5 Macs I own, maintain and regularly use). When opening a DOC file downloaded from the internet, Word would lock up OS-X in half of the attempts to open a file. File corrruption? Bloatware? or just half assed Microsoft lameware? I’ve never had that problem on Appleworks. Interesting that the only MS software I own thwarts the reliability of my whole Mac. I’m in a lot better place by not using Office or any MS product.
Word takes a while to startup and load. Appleworks loads and is ready to create in about 3 seconds on my aging Dual 1GHz Quicksilver machine.
Small, fast, reliable, versatile, capable and cheap describe Appleworks.
Bloated, slow, expensive and somewhat unreliable describes MS Office which does not include drawing at all.
I’ll take Appleworks at $79.
SJ, please add a Mac Draw module to iWork. That would not compete with MS Office so it would be a safe and very useful addition.
Has anyone heard whether that story about Intel chips having an NSA backdoor was/is true or not?
I have a G4 Mac mini running Tiger, and I don’t see AppleWorks anywhere on my machine. I think Apple discontinued installing it by default when Tiger shipped, not when the Intel iMac shipped.