Apple goes Intel. Why?, Apple Options

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Apple goes Intel. Why?

[abcdaniel]

As Steve said, it won't be nothing like that. The universal FAT binaries will run on both x86 and PPC architecture, and Rosetta will make PPC binaries run on x86 machines in a totally transparent way.

But as lepetitmartien said:

A side note on rosetta, the emulator of PPC code to run on x86 (from Apple developer documentation):

QUOTE
Rosetta is designed to translate currently shipping applications that run on a PowerPC with a G3 processor and that are built for Mac OS X. Rosetta does not run the following:
- Applications built for Mac OS 8 or 9
- Code written specifically for AltiVec
- Code that inserts preferences in the System Preferences pane
- Applications that require a G4 or G5 processor
- Applications that depend on one or more kernel extensions
- Kernel extensions
- Bundled Java applications or Java applications with JNI libraries that can’t be translated

So recent apps will need either the universal code or the x86 only to run. ESPECIALLY OURS.

Just as we couldn't run OS9 music apps under Classic in OSX, we won't be able to run OSX PPC music apps under Rosetta in OSXwintel. We will have to upgrade again, and wait for softdevs to make "Rosetta-carbonized" versions.

I see this over the coming 5 years as being a very bad experience. After that, after mac has settled down into a stabile platform, it might be a good thing. But then again, maybe we will have to make another transition at that time.

Now it seems like a better solution to make apple into a software company, and drop the hardware. Make OSX run on any x86 box, then at least we as users will not be forced into the whimsyness af apple and partners. That is acceptable and a bit fun, having a closed intel box not knowing when the next transition will come is not.