I would hate to point this out but Macrumors.com has known about this for years now. Marklar was the code name of this beast.
As everyone knows by now, Apple announced yesterday that they'll be switching to Intel processors in the next year or two. For most users, I'm betting the change will be seamless, and I'm looking forward to owning a Powerbook in a year or two (my G4 still does what I need it to for now) that can dual boot both OS X (which I vastly prefer) and Windows XP for games and other assorted nonsense. Hell, I might even throw in a partition for Linux if I'm feeling especially jaunty.
But while I and a few other Macophiles have taken this change in stride, the true believers don't seem to know how to take Uncle Steve's latest move. After extolling the virtues of PowerPC for years, way past the point of any rational discourse, the backpedalling and navel-gazing is sure to reach fever pitch.
One thing I found really amusing is that for all their exclamations of authority and "sources inside Cupertino", the Mac rumour sites completely dropped the ball on this one. Apple's been running an Intel version of OS X for five years, and they had no idea. Makes me wonder what else Jobs has up his sleeve in the coming months.
I would hate to point this out but Macrumors.com has known about this for years now. Marklar was the code name of this beast.
Ok, so Macrumors ain't so bad...but they generally don't claim to be superspies. Mac OS Rumors, on the other hand, always makes a show of their inside connections, and they've really got egg on their face for this one.
Also, I expect a 14,000 word essay out of the Daring Fireball guy, who can post epic length solliloquys on Automator, fer crissakes. :)
Took you long enough to post about this--geez! ;) The mac-sane at work were indifferent--they couldn't care as long as it runs. Though they did express hope for lower prices.
The mac-INsane at work were crushed. Utterly. Crushed. They walked around work in a haze. Lost.
I say bring it on. I was saving up for a G5 but screw it. If I can run OSX on an Intel, all the better. Go ahead and refuse my money apple. Make your little "proprietary intel mac" and there'll be a crack within a week. Then I'll run it for free.
I have a feeling that the long term game plan is to open OSX up to any PC, but he can't move that fast. It would be War of the Worlds all over again--mac maniacs killing their kids and jumping out of windows to escape certain doom. I'm sure Jobs doesn't want that on his soul...
Ha! Yeah, I don't get the "Mac-Insane," they invest so much of their time in brainwashing themselves that the Mac is the Greatest Thing Ever no matter what, that they can't just step back and be rational.
Personally, I don't see what the big deal is. I'm going to sit down at a Mac and presumably it's going to have the same look and feel it always did. And I'll spend the extra bucks for a Apple box that's all pretty-like. So where's the difference? Can the Mac-Insanes hear the number crunching in a PowerPC chip? Do they hear it crying with loneliness? :)
Sort of on topic: what do you guys recommend for the average user: a Mac or PC laptop? My friend is going to buy one and is undecided. She mostly does office admin (so Office is a must) and some basic design work with InDesign and Photoshop.
I'm a bit Mac biased as the PC laptop that I bought two years ago currently can't display the colour black, the AC adapter keeps shutting the computer off randomly, and it's always, always full of viruses and trojan horses, no matter how much anti-shit I put on it. I'd stick with a Mac just because they *seem* to break down less often and are less prone to viruses. But what's your opinion on the matter?
Well, I'm biased towards the Mac as well. Switched in 2002 and I ain't going back. Office and the design stuff work fine on the Mac, so for her purposes it should be alright. The only thing the Mac sucks at is games, which is why I also own an Xbox.
Tell her to save some dough and buy a Handspring with keyboard. Way more portable, easy on the batteries and too cool retro with that black and green screen.
Saaaaaaaaay, I might even know someone who's got one for sale!
Sold! No, wait a minute, not. :)
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