06-23-2008, 02:02 PM

I just ran into this article on LEM (Low End Mac), and have really spat my dummy out.

http://lowendmac.com/ed/nygren/08ny/...d-powerpc.html

Firstly they have jumped on the 'This is going to be Intel Only' rumour, which in turn is based on a single developer showing a photo that says the early beta SDK required an Intel machine to be installed. This could be for any number of reasons. Maybe the PPC libraries are not a mature or not stable, maybe the SDK will only run on Intel machines?

He then goes on to say how this will "kill a huge number of Macs". Oh? How? If he'd been taking any notice at all as to exactly what 10.6 actually is, he'd know that users will not be required to upgrade to it to use certain software (unlike the case from 10.3 to 10.4 or 10.4 to 10.5). The core technologies this time will remain the same.

From this, he concludes that Apple won't be supporting older hardware, and therefore a lot of users. Funnily enough, he had to go back 4 Ubuntu versions to get one to work on a Dual G4 533mhz.

Finally, he compares Microsoft's support to Apple's, saying MS are still supporting Win2K, whilst Apple are not supporting older hardware. I am not sure why he feels comparing a software company's support for an enterprise level desktop OS to a hardware company's support for 5 year old hardware is appropriate, but all I can say is try running Vista on anything with the same horsepower as a 833mhz G4.

One other thing is the reference to it being 64-bit only (of which there is no evidence at all), suggesting that this will leave Core Solo users in the cold. Well not only that, but it will also leave Core Duo users in the cold too, as the Core Duo is 32-bit.

I know that was a bit of a rant, but these kinds of articles, baseless and poorly researched (not to mention poorly written), are killing journalism and misinforming users.

06-23-2008, 02:10 PM

I agree with you. No one really knows anything right now for sure and one developer release really does not prove a thing.

But with that said, they will not support the Power PC forever. The end will come. OSX will improve with all that code out of the way as would Windows if they killed all the old legacy code.

I could be wrong, but I feel that 10.6 in the end might support PPC but maybe only the G5. Just a guess, if it still does support PPC hardware, 10.7 almost for sure will not.

Jobs never said Apple would forever support the old PPC hardware.

But leaving the first generation Intel Macs out in the cold would just be wrong. I seriously doubt they will do that for some time to come.

I wish I could find the article but Microsoft officially dropped support for 2k long time ago now. I don't know where they got that one from. I bookmarked the article on one of my machines!

06-23-2008, 02:14 PM

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/lifecycle/default.mspx

It EOL'd March 31's 2005.


I agree, working in this field, it is impossible to support legacy product forever. Eventually even the developers don't know the legacy product anymore.

06-23-2008, 02:15 PM

Originally Posted by Dysfunction

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/lifecycle/default.mspx

It EOL'd March 31's 2005.

Thanks for the URL. Mine was on Anandtech somewhere, but since that is Microsoft themselves, it's even better!

06-23-2008, 03:21 PM

From this, he concludes that Apple won't be supporting older hardware, and therefore a lot of users. Funnily enough, he had to go back 4 Ubuntu versions to get one to work on a Dual G4 533mhz.

Really, I have the latest release of Ubuntu working just fine on my 733 mhz quicksilver

As for the rest - I wouldn't mind if Snow Leopard left behind the G4s. I have stuck with tiger on mine, and am just fine with that - its a great OS. If the new version needs to abandon some compatibility to get better - well I will just have to buy that new macbook I have been differing over

But let's wait and see

06-23-2008, 03:49 PM

It just sounds like a load of plop as far as I'm concerned. Scaremongering? Definitely.

06-23-2008, 07:18 PM

I've read in various places that Snow Leopard will only run on Intel Macs, so I'm not doubting the accuracy of that statement. But to say that Apple is "killing" older Macs is a little extreme.

After all, would Windows Vista run on a 1999 vintage Compaq Presario? I doubt very much that it would. In fact, Vista probably couldn't run on any PC manufactured before 2007. But nobody said that Microsoft was "killing" PCs.

There's nothing wrong with running an older operating system. A lot of people still run Windows 98 and are perfectly happy to continue running it.

Technology must move forward. Apple can't be expected to provide backward compatibility without limits.

06-23-2008, 11:22 PM

Originally Posted by Juan Largo

I've read in various places that Snow Leopard will only run on Intel Macs, so I'm not doubting the accuracy of that statement.

All of those stories are based on the one single source saying that the current developer preview can only be installed on an intel Mac.

I totally agree with the rest of your post.

06-24-2008, 12:05 AM

Well that is interesting. Have a look at this link:-

http://gizmodo.com/5015495/snow-leop...rpcs-after-all

Unusual for Lowendmac to be wide of the mark.

06-24-2008, 12:40 AM

Originally Posted by harryb2448

Well that is interesting. Have a look at this link:-

http://gizmodo.com/5015495/snow-leop...rpcs-after-all

Unusual for Lowendmac to be wide of the mark.

It's exactly the same source that LEM based its story on, nothing new. Arstechnica had this 14 days ago.

http://arstechnica.com/journals/appl...ot-64-bit-only

They could very well be right, but their tirade is based on little information, and many of their conclusions are way off the mark. The whole point of having a low-end-Mac is not to be able to run the latest OS...

06-24-2008, 01:09 AM

At this point I feel the best thing we can all do is wait. Eventually we will get to the real truth.

I am hoping they keep PPC support one more version though. Only time will tell.

In the mean time, I purchased a C2d 2.16 for my Intel Mac Mini. Put it in tonight and it FLYS. So even if they do go 64-Bit only like some are suggesting, I can run it at least!

06-24-2008, 02:45 AM

dtravis, on another note to your last post in this thread, could you PM me the processor part number you bought for your Mini, I'd like to kick mine up a notch too !