- Jobs did not say Pentium, he said Intel
- Apple said coding should work for Intel if the code worked for the G3 PowerPC. This places the Pentium 4 used in the devloper boxes in the same class as a G3 PowerMac. Making the Pentium a third class citizan in the Mac world. This could roughly be equated as a baseline for the Mactel.
- Coding for the Pentium instruction set is not the same as coding for the Pentium CPU. The instruction set can be emulated by the alpha for instance.
- The Pentium, by ALL accounts is out-of-gas at 4Ghz, this isn’t a future, it the past. any new procesor will have to have either a faster, or a much wider future. 128bit anyone?
- And what of the Altivec thing, such a good idea should not go to waste
Mac
Yohan and the Mac
Every one in the Mactel discussion is talking Yohan, or the Pentium D as the new laptop chip for Apple. But I’m not convinced. There is another chip in the works. One with Apple fingerprints on it. And while the developer boxes are only using a Pentium 4s now, I will NOT expect the new Mactel IntBooks (read PowerBook) or IntMacs (read PowerMac) to be generic Pentiums.
Can you imagine the names if they used Yohan, YoBooks or YoMac. It just sounds wrong.
Upgrading to Mac OS X Tiger
I have just upgraded to OS X Tiger and I have to say I’m happy, No, Impressed! I’m am using WordPressDash widgit to post, and I have to say it’s very useful. I can now post without a browser login. widgets are great, and further more Spotlight is more than I expected. I have disk images from the three previous Macs I owned, and I can find things from all of them, from along time ago. Very cool.
Apple, XML and Podcasting
Seems like Apple is in hot water about Podcasting with many people accusing them of making the podcasting used in the iPod, proprietary. The whole nature of XML is that is is extensible, by anyone. While I’m not in the loop about current podcasting formats, it looks like there is no standard as yet. And most of the podcasting is being made up as they goo along. As far as I can tell of Apple development, they generally try and make it usable by the general user, not the Geek or earlier adopter.
Seem like the market is wide open to XLM formats, and Apple is not wrong to develop one to suit Apple and it’s customers.
More Mactel things
I received an email with a good point about my rant on MacIntel’s
We’ll see, I guess. I think the CPUs themselves will be standard,
but that the motherboard designs will not.
Why use standard CPUs? Because they’d be cheaper than custom fabs.
In the past Apple boards utilized fewer chips than PC’s instead relying on software and CPUs and ASIC’s. This would make a Pentium unable to perform as fast running windows as a PC type board would. While this would still work, no one would want to install and run Windows on an Apple Intel system. Running Windows Applications, Yes, Windows OS NO! Custom ASICs are more expensive than dedicated chips for I/O etc. So Apple is going to go cheap, then a generic PC mother board via Intel. And we are back into what distinguishes Apple from Dell. Something in hardware is got to give.
But from the Rosette emulation only translating G3 code currently on the Pentium 4 that makes the P4 a third class citizen to the PowerPC G5. The Pentium 4 will need to take two steps forward to put Apple back into the same place it’s at. Again making the idea of a different Pentium being in the works. Not custom, but a new Pentium that doesn’t comply with generic Windows design.
One other note, Why not a new Pentium customized for Linux, It’s the Hear no evil, See no evil, Do no evil. I don’ hear any manufacture asking for a Pentium for Linux, I don’t see anyone building a system for Linux, and I don’t do custom CPU’s without a customer.
Pentium M, Yohan and beyond
Every one is talking about Chips, Apple will use the same chips as PC’s. What will Apple do to distinguish it’s product from other Dell PC’s using the same chips. What will prevent OS-X from being put on generic PC’s?
The first question one should ask is, will the chip be the same as one available to Dell?
Thinking back to the days of the PowerPC, were the G3, G4 and G5 the same as other chips that IBM manufactured? Answer: No, they all had been created or modified from generic PowerX architecture. The G5, the last, was NOT a Power4 or a Power5 CPU like the ones IBM uses in it’s servers.
Why would you think that the CPU’s from Intel made for the Mactel’s be any different, or rather the same as the CPU’s available for Dell? They won’t be, trust me they will be made to order, and released on Apple’s release schedule, not Intel’s normal method. Do you believe that any discussion with Intel would not include Core designs, release schedule’s and confidentiality?
Intel’s Pentium designs have been to keep up with Microsoft designs. The core, instruction sets and architecture have been compliant with Microsoft’s Windows compatibility in mind. There is no such requirement for a chip designed for Apple. An Intel chip designed FOR Apple does not even have to be compatible with Microsoft. (note this is also the easiest way to prevent OS-X migration (hacks) into the PC world, implement special instruction set extensions, Altivec on Pentium anyone?)
Intel engineer’s are probably dancing in cubicle space with the news that the new chips do not have to be backward compatible with windows. There is freedom in Intel land today. And now you will see innovation in chip design.
And now comes AMD, why not include AMD. The only reason I can think of is AMD is tied to Microsoft designs. And while they have pushed the architecture into 64 Bit instructions better than Intel, it’s still a windows roadmap. AMD is a creative imitator, not a creative innovator.
Think Different
OS-X Intel Development Platform
I’m wondering if anyone has had a chance to compile a Intel Binary and tried to execute it on a Darwin installation running on a generic PC platform?
This seems like a logical step. Darwin is OS-X ported to PC’s it would make sense that the binaries would work. The only question is rather, does Darwin have all the API’s necessary to operate the Interfaces?
Mactel questions and speculation
I have been reading all of the pro’s and con’s for this CPU change, and I smell a ulterior motive.
A) The Pentium CPU is nearly at it’s end of life. Hence the Itatium story.
B) The Pentium 4 is maxing out at sub 4Ghz
C) The Pentium 4 is very hot.
The Pentium M is would make a better choice. But a better question is this, is the Pentium D (double) a dual core Pentium 4 or Pentium M?
So the future is Yonah? Some at the presentation were calling it a Xeon?
Is the future dual core and quad core? Are we going wide instead of fast?
Seems like a mixed future. I can only believe Apple is in possession of more interesting information than is currently available to the rest of us. Leading me to believe that there are unspoken words here, like DRM. The Hollywood connection. Lots of good conspiracy here in these unspoken words.
Another note, some of the ‘Experts’ have been claiming that there are serious Kernel problems porting over to Intel. What are they thinking, they saw a demo on stage of a Pentium 4 (so they say) that means the kernel has been ported. And what the heck, Darwin IS the kernel and it’s been on Intel, in parallel for ages.
Just a speculation, I have always been grateful that my old iBook G3 has gotten faster with each release of OS-X. And I could hardly expect this as the G3 does not have Altivec in it. Could it be, that Apple has been pulling Altivec code out of the kernel all along in anticipation of this change? This would make a lot of sense.
Apple and Alpha
All the talk about Apple to ditch IBM, switch to Intel chips had be thinking one of the worlds greatest CPU’s was the Alpha. This chip was created by DEC and landed in Intel’s hands. And while Intel still produces it, I don’t think anyone uses it. It still contains revolutionary technology. The hyper threading in the Pentium 4 is a derived from the Alpha. But the amazing thing is that that the Alpha is micro encoded, and can emulate ANY instruction set. At DEC it was developed to emulate the aging VAX CPU. And guess what, it could emulate the PPC instruction set of the PowerPC, without requiring a PowerPC template or a license. Interesting thought, looking forward to Monday’s announcement.
Apple to ditch IBM, switch to Intel chips
This story on CNN Apple to ditch IBM, switch to Intel chips is burning up the wires Mac wise, and there is a ton of commentary pro and con, positive and negative. I won’t hazard a guess. The news coming the day before the Apple developers conference can only fuel this discussion. Let me inject my two bits worth.
Using Intel does not mean that the OS-X and the entire Mac line will switch to the Pentium CPU from Intel. Intel makes a lot of good CPU’s that are NOT x86 architecture. ARM, Alpha, xScale all come to mind. The truth be told there are intel chips are already in Apple Mac’s as controllers and what not.
What would make more sense is if Apple contracted Intel to produce PowerPC chips for the next generation of Mac’s. This makes more since for both as Intel has been cut off from the next generation of game consoles producing a competing PowerPC chip would be good for them. The amount of money to be make from Intel selling CPU’s to Apple, will pale in comparison to the game console market it could be buying into.
And for Apple, it could get the speed increase, power reduction, and those architectural enhancements that it has be unable to get IBM to provide in the current PowerPC line.
Win = Win or rather Mac = Mac
One more note: How about OS-X on the new Intel motherboard with firewire? How would that affect Longhorn?
Mac’s vs Windows and Broadband
My wife and I spent last Thursday night attempting to get another teacher’s Windows XP system up on their new broadband (DSL) modem. They had been talking to the Eircom techie’s for almost 2 months, the duration of the free trial trying to get connected. As a last resort, this teacher ask my wife, who is the ICT coordinator at the school they both teach in to help. So my wife, a PC user, dragged me, an Mac user, along to help.
I brought my 3+ year old iBook (500Mhz) and the first thing I tried upon arriving was to plug in my laptop. Sure as anything, the Mac pickup the ethernet line and DHCP from the modem, and I was Online.
Knowing that the modem, and the DSL line was working, I proceeded to attempt to get the XP system to connect, I tried the ethernet, I tried the USB, remove network places, reinstalled the DSL software kit. And guess what, nothing. (but you knew that was coming)
What was evident was the spy ware infestation, possible virus’s or worms that were slowing down this 1+Ghz Windows XP system.
End result for the night, nothing. We left them just as we came, no working Broadband. We sent them a CD the next day with anti-spy ware on it, not really expecting it to work. And told them if it didn’t work, find the original install CD’s for their system, and reinstall the OS from the ground up.
I cannot, for the life of me understand how people in the Windows XP world live with an operating system so prone to failure.
Perhaps now that there are a few stores in Cork that are carrying the Mac Mini, which I attempted to sell the people, there my be a turn around.
Perhaps Apple is missing an opportunity here, Mac Mini’s loaners? Let people with PC take one home for a week or so, show them what they are missing. Could be a big thing here in Ireland.