So..... If Apple is switching to intel processors....... What does this mean for the g5?? cause, I'm in the middle of saving up $2500 for the new g5 imac...... please tell me I'm not wasting my time.
Dr. Tad K Sexington M.D.
Apple to Intel, platform switches, and the cult mindset
by Midget-Sasquatch 27 Replies latest jw experiences
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tetrapod.sapien
I'm in the middle of saving up $2500 for the new g5 imac...... please tell me I'm not wasting my time.
ouch. i personally think it's a waste of time. but perhaps you are a graphic designer that travels a lot or a photographer? in that case, it's not bad.
but really, if apple is switching processors, it is for a good reason. and even if you buy the IBM G5 processor, it will still run nicely. just buy whatever is out when you have your money saved up. it's all good, in a general sense.
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RichieRich
I must say I love my 2 PCs (desktop and laptop). I also have a MiniMac which is very nice for super advanced graphic design, layouts, and photoshoppage.
However I wish Windows had the TRUE plug and play that Mac has. And I wish that Mac had as many programs and things for it as windows does.
Im confused
$2500 for the new g5 imac......
Dude- buy a MiniMac with all the options and a new monitor. You'll come out better.
WHo cares about a watercooled processor...
And Tiger? Like who uses that??????
OS 9.x please!!!
OS X didn't kill me like it was supposed to either...
But iPod gets some cool points!
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seattleniceguy
tetra,
true. also, considering that their army of OS developers is considerably small compared to some of the opensource OSs. but really, i don't think they have it that hard with the hardware. i mean, if they don't provide a driver built in, the manufacturer almost always does from their web site. or did you mean something other than drivers?
On a continuum, I think writing Mac OS falls somewhere between writing to a console and writing to a PC. With a console (say, the XBox) the developer knows exactly what his software will be running on. There are no questions whatsoever. Can the code perform? Try it. Case closed. Gollum from this board has regaled me with stories of synchronizing sprite drawing with refresh scans when writing for the NES. That is possible only when you know with absolute certainty what hardware will be executing your code.
Apple has done a lot of really cool things in their recent OSes. I think they are able to push the limits a little easier, since there is very little variance in what hardware will be running the code.
Windows, on the other hand (and this is true of *UX as well) has a much more complicated task: write code that will work well across a great diversity of systems. I think that writing the hardware abstraction layers gets more complex.
Then again, I've never written an operating system, so maybe I'm overstating it.
SNG
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Jeffro
$2500!!! (And I assume that's American dollars!!) It's a rip-off regardless of whether they're bringing out something else or not!!
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Abaddon
*giggle*
Whoops, don't you hate it when you post blank posts and don't even notice it?
Errr... yeah, something about how amazing it is no one has said 'Linux' yet...
I used to have a BBC micro... and let us not forget Amstrad or Commodire... or Sinclair.
As for the switch, it's a good idea; nowadays Intel chips combine RISC and CISC technologies so the old RISC chip thing doesn't really apply. By doing this Apple lockstep with Intel development and gain advantages they never could if they had continued with PPC and its inevitably smaller development budgets.
There will be a high degree of back-compatability but not total. And with 18 months until they have Intel chiped products in the shops, they have a moribund product line; who's going to shell out $2.5k for a machine that will be obsolete in 18 months (even if it's still pretty good)?
I'm gonna wait for the prices to drop and maybe get my gf the Powerbook she has always moistened her gussets over...
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EvilForce
Sorry but I'm of the replace the computer every 2 years class anyway....so since I just got a new iMac by the time it needs replacing....I'll look at the Intel powered chipsets then.
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Midget-Sasquatch
Gollum from this board has regaled me with stories of synchronizing sprite drawing with refresh scans when writing for the NES. That is possible only when you know with absolute certainty what hardware will be executing your code.
Thats exactly one of the factors why AmigaOS had such a small footprint. And coders made some fantastic demos by banging the hardware. But being so tightly tied in with the hardware, spelt doom for the OS. If it used HALs though, then it would have been feasible to port the OS to say the PC. (Thats what some hobbyists are trying to do with AROS. An AmigaOS clone that has HALs and will run on all sorts of processors once compiled.)
I have to hand it to Windows and the unixes since they have that versatility. Funnily enough even MacOS 7.5 was software agnostic enough to be made to run on Amiga hardware.