After people drink
the Kool-Aid, their thinking is
never quite the same . . .
Posted on 06/11/2005 8:46:12 AM PDT by quidnunc
The war in Iraq rages on, the European Union is fraying and North Korea may have nuclear weapons. But if you read the business and technology news this past week, all of that seemed to pale before an event variously described as seismic, epic and stunning: Apple Computer has decided to adopt processors made by Intel for its future Macintosh computers.
There's a reason this was big news in the computer world. For decades, Intel's chips have been tightly linked to the software of Apple's archrival, Microsoft, and Apple has touted as superior the IBM PowerPC chips that powered the Mac. Plus, Apple CEO Steve Jobs, probably the most charismatic business leader in America, attracts attention for anything he does, even though his Macintosh has a tiny share of the PC market.
But what does Apple's move mean for the average consumer, who just wants the best computer for the job?
In the long term, the change will strengthen Apple and the Mac, which is good news for anyone devoted to that platform or considering switching to it. That's because Intel's processors and other chips will give Apple more options than IBM's products could for building Macs that run faster and cooler, and have longer battery life. The first Intel-based Mac is due in spring 2006. Even consumers who use Microsoft Windows, which runs on the vast majority of computers, will benefit, because the Mac's impact on the industry is vastly greater than its market share. Apple is the most innovative major computer maker, and the only one largely dedicated to serving consumers instead of large corporate customers. Almost everything it does is later copied by the Windows PC makers, so keeping Apple strong and innovating is good for Windows users, too.
-snip-
(Excerpt) Read more at ptech.wsj.com ...
FYI
Ping.
"Will users be able to install and run Microsoft Windows on the new Intel-based Macs?
"Apple's official position is that it won't block the use of Windows on its new machines. Unofficially, however, the company says people won't be able to just buy a copy of Windows XP and install it on an Intel-based Mac. That's because Apple is unlikely to build in all the standard under-the-hood hardware pieces that Windows is designed to mate with. And it won't supply any special software called "drivers" to help Windows use the unique under-the-hood hardware Apple will use.
"However, I expect some third-party company to supply the missing drivers and otherwise make it possible to run Windows on an Intel-based Mac. Microsoft itself might even do this. That would allow Mac users to run Windows programs that lack Mac equivalents at speeds comparable to a Windows computer's."
"Will users be able to install and run Microsoft Windows on the new Intel-based Macs?"
Maybe. But who would want to? OS X is far superior to Windows. No viruses or spyware. Elegant interface. Apple's problem has been underperforming processors, which the switch to Intel will rectify. I just bought an iMac G5 which I am thrilled with. I cant wait for my next Apple computer to be a Macintosh running a fast Intel Pentium D or some other 64 bit processor.
JOBS?? CHARISMATIC??
Excuse me while I go barf.
After people drink
the Kool-Aid, their thinking is
never quite the same . . .
Anyone who needs to run a good CAD program...
> ... long term, the change will strengthen Apple and the Mac ...
In the short term, however, Osborne Effect.
Which, fully realized, means there may be no long term
for Apple.
Stevie needs to have intro'd shippable hardware when he
announced Apple's capitulation to Intel.
...and Hitler was great with children. Say what you want about Jobs, it seems he saw what the Segue(sp?) was destined for. I love how they seem to always forget to mention the original brains behind the computer itself, Wozniac. It's like how you always hear about Woodward and Berstein is just a footnote.
I actually think the bigger problem for Apple machines has been not being able to run the huge selection of Windows-based applications.
Like what? Microsoft Office? Adobe CS? All of the big software titles have Macintosh versions.
AutoCAD, Solidworks, ProE, CADKey...
Suprem
P-Spice
L-Edit
Ansys
Cosmos
Almost everything it does is later copied by the Windows PC makers, so keeping Apple strong and innovating is good for Windows users, too.if jobs hadn't stolen the mouse and GUI ideas from Xerox and then integrated it into UNIX that statement might of been amusing instead of ironic...
I'm not a Mac head, but let's be fair. He didn't steal anything. Xerox gave it to him gladly out of sheer corporate stupidity.
true... but it's not like he invented the damn stuff either anymore than gates did DOS when he really bought it for $50,000
Got it in one. Woz was "da man" (and I'm not even an Apple user). As far as I can tell, Jobs only REAL talent is for capitalizing on other folks work.
PING!
Thanks to quidnunc for the headsup.
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