Apple may consider move to x86 CPUs

[Mark R]

As Motorola struggles to boost the speed of the PowerPC G4 processor, Mac users have been speculating for months about the possibility that Apple Computer Inc. might dump the chip in favor of CPUs from Advanced Micro Devices Inc. or Intel Corp.

ZDnet

 

[Cosmic_Horror]

It would be an interesting move, i can here mac die hards screamming in terror at having to use an 'ibm clone'.
Wonder what operating system they would sell with it?


They would just become another OEM but with funky coloured cases. If it helps keep the in business what choice do they have?

 

[spec8472]

"Wonder what operating system they would sell with it?"
Why OSX of course, apparently if your really stupid you can run it on a "IBM Clone"... or am i thinking of Windows with that WindowBlinds skin? hehehe

Apple will never become "just another" retailer... they'll always try to come up with something different. whether that makes them go bust or not, only time will tell.

I think everyone is forgetting that the PowerPC was actually developed in conjunction with IBM, hell it even had "IBM" written on the chip (no, i didnt see it personally, a mac 'friend' [read: aquantance] told me this, if its wrong, dont shoot me, shoot him.)

 

[PCAddict]

I gotta send this link to my old roomate who is a Mac zealot. MUAHAHAHA

 

[medic]

Would OSx or any of the previous O.S.'s actually run on an Intel or AMD chip?
Would it be a matter of recompiling or emulating?... and wouldn't that kill performance?

 

[xtreme2k]

i think becoming x86 compatible is the last thing Apple wants

i mean... how sarcastic is that?

 

[RSI]

That will be something to see... If they do that, then we'll really be able to compare the operating systems with more accuracy.

I don't know how good of an idea it is though... I like things the way they are, now we'll have another OS on our platform to deal with?

-RSI

 

[Soccerman]

now THAT would be a very interesting thing..

if you ask me, THAT would be one KILLER computer. OSX.. any x86 compatable setup..

in fact, ALOT of people I know of would quickly jump to that from their PC's.

 

[thraxes]

try this guys: Macweek Article

One issue with running OS-X on an x86 would be older "classic" Mac progs. Even OS-X has to sortof emulate a OS-9 system to make those old progs work (it actually starts a scaled down version of OS-9 in the background when such an old prog is started), so no classic apps for Intel... But for apps designed for the Darwin core it shouldn't be a prob.

Another issue would be drivers. Macs don't have the wide choice of "core" hardware (sound and graphics) available to them because of the lack of drivers, not because of technical differences (At least I don't see a problem in putting my SB-Live in a PCI slot of my Power Mac except for the lack of drivers) When exporting to the x86 environment you will have to have 1000s of drivers as there are far more variations in system configs than with macs.

 

[R0b0tN1k]

This move would not make Apple into another Dell or Gateway2k. Their designs would still be proprietary and still run MacOS only...and they won't want you to be running their OS on your crappy PC hardware. They will remain in their own little world, but they will just be using a different CPU architecture. This might even be beneficial to the Mac market since it will make apps designed for PC's a lot easier to be ported over to MacOS.

 

[Dark4ng3l]

well I guess apple are losing most of their buyers because of low mhz yields on the g4 chips(the masses buy the fastest mhz)

 

[Rigoletto]

Apple has always tried to avoid IBM's mistake in letting the PC go open and unlicensed. Apple is not a company that grants anyone else their technology, that is why the proprietary mac only retains a niche share. So going x86 is ridiculous. Oh yah, let's go over to x86 and get completely creamed ha ha. Apple won't let other manufacturers even make their core gear under license, they try to keep production facility themselves. Whilst this has been good for Apple paranoia, it's put them in the ghetto.
The advantages of the Mac are a thing of the past when people loved its graphics and DTP. Now Mac don't have a software or hardware advantage there, they are just living on the past reputation and gullible technophobes. Nope, I know no more about macs than what I read or see in a computer store, but I absolutely don't want one, I'll take a modern computer really built down to the lowest price before that. At least I will be in a more open software community.