Apple switch to Intel microprocessors earlier than expected

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.suntimes.com/output/business/cst-fin-apple11.html

Full speed ahead for Apple chip change

SAN FRANCISCO -- Apple Computer's historic shift to Intel microprocessors came months earlier than expected as CEO Steve Jobs on Tuesday debuted personal computers based on new two-brained chips from the world's largest semiconductor company.

The first Macs to deploy Intel's Core Duo processors will be the latest iMac desktop, whose circuitry is all built into the display, and the MacBook Pro laptop.

When it announced the massive switch in June, Apple said it expected to begin making the transition by mid-2006. On Tuesday, Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs was joined at the Macworld Expo by Intel CEO Paul Otellini to unveil the new jointly designed computers.

The shift comes as Apple is on a streak with its hugely popular iPod music players. Earlier, Jobs said the company brought in a record $5.7 billion in sales during the holiday quarter as it sold nearly three times as many iPods as it did in the same period a year ago. But Tuesday's focus was on Apple's Macintosh computers. Jobs said its Mac line will be converted to Intel by the end of this calendar year.

:argh:

[Me.]

1. What Will The Chips Do?

What effect will they have?

[jmowreader]

4. They make the computers very, very fast

According to Apple's site, the Intel iMac (based on the Intel Dual Core chip, not a run-of-the-mill Pentium 4) is about twice as fast as an iMac G5.

Unfortunately, it also makes them completely incompatible with Classic applications, which means that if I want one of these I have to immediately buy Adobe Creative Suite and QuarkXPress--all my art programs are incompatible with the Intel machine.

[NYC Liberal]

9. Possibly allow you to dual-boot Windows and Mac OS on a Mac.

Not to mention a vast increase in speed.

[Atman]

12. It will not dual-boot. OSX only.

And it is not any sort of Pentium crap. PC's will still be slower than Macs, but now they'll be MUCH slower. It is a whole new chip, the Core Duo, essentially two processors on one chip, and it wont run Windows. Apple says it is 2-3 times faster than a G5, which was already pretty insanely fast.

http://www.apple.com/imac/

[Pavulon]

2. Hopefully make it easier

to port a good os on to generic hardware.

[jmowreader]

6. There's more than one way to skin an Intel chip

Because the new Mac is an Apple design, you KNOW they figured out some way to get the OS to not run on a regular PC.

The dumbest fucking thing in the world Apple could possibly do is port the OS to run on generic hardware. Someone would buy it, walk into the house, upload it to every pirate server known to man, then throw the installation DVD in the trash. I think they'd sell nine copies of it. It would be the biggest OS migration in history, and Apple would receive about $1400 for their troubles.

[frylock]

13. been there, done that..

deleted my OSx86 partition and am booting to XP exclusively. It was fun for a while, but I'll stick with my Windoze box, thanks.

[benburch]

7. It is already mostly ported!

Darwin, the Open Source OS which underlies the Mac OS, has been running fine on generic hardware for years and years.

[Junkdrawer]

3. Wonder if that means the Windows emulation mode will run faster?

Macs may be able to run Windows-Only apps with reasonable performance.

[benburch]

5. Yes.

The DarWINE Open Source Software project aims to make this easy to do, and cuts Microsoft out of the picture entirely! I think this is the beginning of the end of Microsoft as an OS vendor. They will have to concentrate on selling people applications software in the future.

[billbuckhead]

10. This means Apple can apply the iPod business model to computers

Just mix the latest greatest chips bought at large volumes with cutting edge software and interfaces. INTEL has been held back by Microsoft dragging it's feet on developing new software that keeps up with advances in chips.

Bill Gates and Michael Dell will end up with bad heartburn over this. Dell is already rumoured to be talking to AMD. :nopity:

Another advantage is that someone will come up with software that allows people to dual boot Windows and Mac OSX.

[benburch]

14. And still sell MacOS X licenses to generic computer users...

Here is where I wish I had money to buy Apple stock.

[NYC Liberal]

11. May not even need emulation. You might be able to install Windows

directly and dual-boot.

HOWEVER, I am not sure if it is compatible with the BIOS that they use. I've heard it doesn't, at least not the 32-bit version.

[benburch]

15. Doesn't matter.

I can easily build you a virtual machine environment that will fake the bios with an open source bios and windows won't even know it is running in a virtual machine. So no dual boot; Windows would be running under the Apple system as a process.

[3waygeek]

8. Coincidentally

Apple stock closed Tuesday at $80.86 per share (the 8086 was the first chip in the Intel x86 family).

[NNN0LHI]

16. That ain't no coincidence

Thats a full fledge conspiracy theory you got there fella.

Don