Macintosh Goes Intel


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Hey folks

Don't know if you've heard or not, but Mac's are going to Intel CPU chips from now on.

Ok, you may be saying to yourself...."So what", well it's a HUGE deal really. This means that programs that previously could not run on Mac's because of the different architecture, can now be run on Mac's...and this includes Windows!

That's right.. WINDOWS! The line between Mac's and PC's is not only blurred, it's almost completely erased.

Read up on all the buzz that this is making, so I don't have to write it all out here.

This is probably one of the Biggest changes in personal computing in recent memory. It's an unbelievably bold step on Apple's part, and will probably lead to a major increase in Mac popularity worldwide. Hell....I want one now too...a great big gorgeous (they are beautiful) 20" IMac will look great right over... there...yah, just beside the scanner..little to the left...ok, right there. Perfect!

Now I just need to pay for it somehow..anyone need a slightly used (abused) PC?

;)

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Hey folks

Don't know if you've heard or not, but Mac's are going to Intel CPU chips from now on.

Ok, you may be saying to yourself...."So what", well it's a HUGE deal really. This means that programs that previously could not run on Mac's because of the different architecture, can now be run on Mac's...and this includes Windows!

That's right.. WINDOWS! The line between Mac's and PC's is not only blurred, it's almost completely erased.

Read up on all the buzz that this is making, so I don't have to write it all out here.

This is probably one of the Biggest changes in personal computing in recent memory. It's an unbelievably bold step on Apple's part, and will probably lead to a major increase in Mac popularity worldwide. Hell....I want one now too...a great big gorgeous (they are beautiful) 20" IMac will look great right over... there...yah, just beside the scanner..little to the left...ok, right there. Perfect!

Now I just need to pay for it somehow..anyone need a slightly used (abused) PC?

;)

That's right Chappy.

The thinking is that Apple will inherit a much larger portion of the hardware market, and Micro$oft will focus more on their Office apps.

And then there is the looming threat (to Bill) that Office type apps will just become online on demand downloads via Google.

Looks interesting.

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Has anyone confirmed that WinXP will boot on the MacTels? Apple is using the Extensible Firmware Interface instead of the PC BIOS. Windows currently supports EFI only on Itanium. EFI defines a Compatibility Support Module that provides BIOS emulation but it's optional.

Edited by jcl
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ohhh there's so much more going on in the backgrounds than you guys can even imagine.

btw jcl yes and no. it can but never will. M$ has made it so that every copy will not install on a mac. with help from apple by the way. apple doesn't want anything but os x to be on there too.

another btw, jobs has just put the full cabosh on M$ trying to get disney or at least the disney animation movie distribution contract.

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There is a contest going on with a cash prize for the first to get windows working on the Mac but nothing yet.

Also M$ at macworld said they would be making office for mac for another five years but have stop making other apps for Mac, windows media player, Internet explorer. My guess is that Microsoft is working on a new version of virtual PC that will allow windows to run at full speed but transparently alongside os x.

I was also wondering if at this time can Windows XP run on the new Intel Core Duo chips. I thought the chip only work with EFI and not BIOS.

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I've been doing a little investigation and found that the problem getting windows XP running on the new Mactels is that XP doesn't support EFI. I also found that Vista will support EFI so when Vista hits the shelfs it should just install on a Mac...of course I said it should that's far from it will.

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I've been doing a little investigation and found that the problem getting windows XP running on the new Mactels is that XP doesn't support EFI. I also found that Vista will support EFI so when Vista hits the shelfs it should just install on a Mac...of course I said it should that's far from it will.

All signs seem to indicate that Vista will be basically able to run on the Mactels, provided driver support doesn't kill the idea. Apple has essentially taken the stance that they don't care whether it works or not.

I might seriously consider a Mac if I weren't limited to Apple's OS.

Edited by Aluvus
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I've been doing a little investigation and found that the problem getting windows XP running on the new Mactels is that XP doesn't support EFI. I also found that Vista will support EFI so when Vista hits the shelfs it should just install on a Mac...of course I said it should that's far from it will.

The only concern I would have with Vista© going on a mac would be the system requirements. would the new macs with Intel© chips actually meet the hardware requirements?

spcifically the ram, cpu speeds, and graphics.

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The only concern I would have with Vista© going on a mac would be the system requirements. would the new macs with Intel© chips actually meet the hardware requirements?

spcifically the ram, cpu speeds, and graphics.

CPU is more than adequate. Core is nearly a match for the Athlon 64 at the same frequency.

RAM is borderline. Apple skimps on memory. No problem, buy more.

Graphics is a good question. It looks like the X1600 meets the requirements for Aero Glass but it's not supported by ATI's Vista drivers. The W2k UI should work if nothing else.

Future MacTels will almost certainly easily meet the minimum requirements if Apple doesn't intentionally break compatibility.

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  • 5 weeks later...

unfortunately i see this as another of the worst things to happen to Apple. one of the main reasons to go with apple is to get away from Windows and Microsoft and to have something different than PCs. well Macs have been becoming less and less different from just being another Pc. sure this makes it far easier to port things over for a Mac but that also means it's easier to port over trouble windows, the os with the most trouble following it directly on a Mac. Apple isn't even fighting it. Apple has already been having a huge dive in quality and support compared to what us Mac people have been used to in the past but i now fear that it's only going to get worse and with another flood of bandwagon users that did nothing but rag on Macs before but want one now it's getting nuts. i'm sorry but i don't want any joe blow to get and use a Mac.

another thing is that it just feels wrong. the distinctiveness between Macs and PCs, how ever blurred it has been getting is now almost gone. i know that they haven't really been Macs since the last of the G4 towers but now they are no more.

it just feels like us Mac people that have been loyal for a long time like myself have been abandoned. some of us have been fighting M$ for years, i fight because one of my friends businesses was one that was railroaded by M$ entirely for doing business with Apple. i've been using Macs since 1986 and now Macs are entirely just another PC for M$ to make money off of.

for some of us this was more than just a processor brand and architecture change, this was the final nail in the coffin of a Macs individuality.

and since i'm already in a ranting mood i absolutly tired of people ripping on Macs and games. almost every single major game is available on a Mac with in 6 months of release. Macs have not been made for games because most real Mac people actually use their computer for more than a $1,000+ dollar gaming counsel. also instead of getting free printers and what ever cheap crap to make it seem more like a good deal Mac usually come with more for your money on the inside with software and such.

Edited by macmarauder
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I totally agree with you Macmarauder. I personally would never put windows on a mac. Up until recently I've been using linux at work just so I didn't have to run windows, the boss gave me a new Dell and told me not to install linux because he was worried about security "fill in your own joke". And after seeing the vista previews it looks like it's pretty much coping the os x ui.

But I don't see intel in the mac as a bad thing. IBM pretty much jumped on the Microsoft xbox sony playstation bandwagon putting apple on the back burner. You can't blame IBM for the decision and you can't blame Jobs either.

Meanwhile apple just introduced intel single and duo core minis and I going to have a hard time not buying one.

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And after seeing the vista previews it looks like it's pretty much coping the os x ui.

I never have understood that view. The UIs don't look all that similar to me. Vista still looks like Win9x and OS X still looks like it can't decide whether it's OPENSTEP or MacOS. There are some broad similarities but most of them are historical (WIMP) or industry-wide trends (eye-candy).

But I don't see intel in the mac as a bad thing. IBM pretty much jumped on the Microsoft xbox sony playstation bandwagon putting apple on the back burner. You can't blame IBM for the decision and you can't blame Jobs either.

Apple likely wouldn't have been happy with the successors to the PPC970. IBM seems to be experimenting with the "narrow, deep, stupid, fast, parallel" school of microarchitecture. It didn't work when Intel tried it and it hasn't worked particularly well for IBM so far but they seem to determined to stick with it for at least one generation. A POWER6-derived replacement for the PPC970 could easily have turned out to be a downgrade. (It also would have forced Jobs are adopt to MHz Myth as the marketing tool.)

Freescale is doing interesting things with the PowerPC but I don't think that want Apple's business.

Edited by jcl
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