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Here is an artical on intel mac and powerpc macs..to shich or not to swich
With the euphoria of another Steve Jobs Macworld Expo keynote waning, Apple faithful are coming to terms with one troubling fact -- the whole platform has gone beta again. Apple's new iMac and the MacBook Pro, based on Intel's Core Duo processors, are available for purchase right now, but it will be at least a year before Apple's transition away from PowerPC hardware is complete.
These are some of the questions Mac users are asking.
I've been in the market for a new Mac forever -- should I buy an Intel Mac today?
That depends on your priorities: Do you want to stay current or use a machine capable of running every program you use? Longtime Mac users went through a similar transition in 1994, and it took years for the Mac experience on a PowerPC machine to equal that found on older hardware. This switch should proceed more quickly and less painfully, now that software updates over the internet are the norm and the chips involved are so much faster.
What kinds of problems crop up with a new processor?
A platform is made of software as much as it is hardware, and most applications for Mac OS X are not written for Intel machines. Most applications that run in OS X Tiger are able to run on Intel hardware via an emulation layer called Rosetta, but there are a few exceptions, spelled out in Apple's Universal Binary Programming Guidelines.
Applications that require a G5 processor or extensive AltiVec support don't run, including Apple's own Pro applications Aperture, Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro. Java-based applications compiled for PowerPC chips are broken, such as file-sharing client LimeWire; and so are any applications requiring the Classic compatibility environment, including out-of-date but still popular versions of FrameMaker and QuarkXPress. A few emulation options have appeared to support such needs. MacFixIt hosts perhaps the most comprehensive list of incompatible applications.
Do Photoshop, Microsoft Office, Quark and other Pro applications run on the new machines?
They do, but not optimally. Though Apple has touted its newest offerings as two to four times as fast as their predecessors, that applies to native programs only. Microsoft announced it will update Office soon for better Rosetta compatibility, with a conversion to Intel code coming later. Jobs demoed Photoshop at Macworld, but conceded that the application's performance is worse under Rosetta than the speeds offered by older PowerPC hardware.
Adobe has not announced a time line for upgrades to its Creative Suite software. Quark is currently offering Intel-native software with QuarkXPress 7, but it's presently beta software and unsuited to a professional environment. Apple promises it will have its Pro applications -- Final Cut Pro, Aperture and Logic Pro -- ready to run in March for a $50 "crossgrade" fee. The programs currently won't install on Intel hardware. Regular updates of Intel-native applications appear on this list. Bottom line: If you need to do critical work and want maximum performance today, get a G5-based computer.
How fast are these computers right now?
That varies from program to program. Reports from users and analysts conclude that the new iMacs run at least as well as their predecessors for most consumer tasks. Macworld showed Apple's claims of doubled speed to be exaggerations, though the Intel iMacs did run as much as 1.84 times as fast as older hardware in iMovie 6. On other tasks, including file exports in iPhoto, the new machines offered minimal improvements or ran slightly slower.
The Wall Street Journal found performance differences of 12 to 44 percent in favor of Intel for some tasks and little change in others. Reports from users who tested non-native professional applications paint a grimmer picture, including a Photoshop test that found an Intel machine ran at just a quarter of the speed of an iMac G5.
Can I run Windows on the new Macs?
The potential to run both Mac OS X and Windows on the same machine has excited users for years. Apple Senior Vice President for Worldwide Sales Phil Schiller said the company would do nothing to prevent users from installing Windows, but that remains impossible for now. Almost every version of Windows requires a BIOS to launch, and Apple's Intel Macs use Intel's new extensible-firmware interface (EFI) instead, which Windows XP doesn't support. Vista supposedly will, so it might be possible by the end of the year.
A few programs promise to fill the niche in the meantime. IEmulator has announced a February release for native Windows performance on Intel Macs, and WinTel is now native for Intel. Microsoft's Virtual PC program, which runs Windows under Mac OS X, does not run on the new machines, and the software giant has not confirmed plans for a new native version.
Will I regret buying one of these computers in three months?
Jobs said at his keynote that all the company's computers will feature Intel chips by the end of year, so updates to the iBook, Mac mini and Power Mac are surely coming. Jobs also noted Apple's impending 30th anniversary on April 1, which has led many to speculate more new computers will be released then. If you do buy now, the Intel iMac will feel as fast or faster than the iMac G5 at most consumer tasks. And for portable users who have used the PowerPC G4 for years, the MacBook Pro will likely feel light-years faster.
Artical From http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,70086-0.html?tw=rss.technology
With the euphoria of another Steve Jobs Macworld Expo keynote waning, Apple faithful are coming to terms with one troubling fact -- the whole platform has gone beta again. Apple's new iMac and the MacBook Pro, based on Intel's Core Duo processors, are available for purchase right now, but it will be at least a year before Apple's transition away from PowerPC hardware is complete.
These are some of the questions Mac users are asking.
I've been in the market for a new Mac forever -- should I buy an Intel Mac today?
That depends on your priorities: Do you want to stay current or use a machine capable of running every program you use? Longtime Mac users went through a similar transition in 1994, and it took years for the Mac experience on a PowerPC machine to equal that found on older hardware. This switch should proceed more quickly and less painfully, now that software updates over the internet are the norm and the chips involved are so much faster.
What kinds of problems crop up with a new processor?
A platform is made of software as much as it is hardware, and most applications for Mac OS X are not written for Intel machines. Most applications that run in OS X Tiger are able to run on Intel hardware via an emulation layer called Rosetta, but there are a few exceptions, spelled out in Apple's Universal Binary Programming Guidelines.
Applications that require a G5 processor or extensive AltiVec support don't run, including Apple's own Pro applications Aperture, Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro. Java-based applications compiled for PowerPC chips are broken, such as file-sharing client LimeWire; and so are any applications requiring the Classic compatibility environment, including out-of-date but still popular versions of FrameMaker and QuarkXPress. A few emulation options have appeared to support such needs. MacFixIt hosts perhaps the most comprehensive list of incompatible applications.
Do Photoshop, Microsoft Office, Quark and other Pro applications run on the new machines?
They do, but not optimally. Though Apple has touted its newest offerings as two to four times as fast as their predecessors, that applies to native programs only. Microsoft announced it will update Office soon for better Rosetta compatibility, with a conversion to Intel code coming later. Jobs demoed Photoshop at Macworld, but conceded that the application's performance is worse under Rosetta than the speeds offered by older PowerPC hardware.
Adobe has not announced a time line for upgrades to its Creative Suite software. Quark is currently offering Intel-native software with QuarkXPress 7, but it's presently beta software and unsuited to a professional environment. Apple promises it will have its Pro applications -- Final Cut Pro, Aperture and Logic Pro -- ready to run in March for a $50 "crossgrade" fee. The programs currently won't install on Intel hardware. Regular updates of Intel-native applications appear on this list. Bottom line: If you need to do critical work and want maximum performance today, get a G5-based computer.
How fast are these computers right now?
That varies from program to program. Reports from users and analysts conclude that the new iMacs run at least as well as their predecessors for most consumer tasks. Macworld showed Apple's claims of doubled speed to be exaggerations, though the Intel iMacs did run as much as 1.84 times as fast as older hardware in iMovie 6. On other tasks, including file exports in iPhoto, the new machines offered minimal improvements or ran slightly slower.
The Wall Street Journal found performance differences of 12 to 44 percent in favor of Intel for some tasks and little change in others. Reports from users who tested non-native professional applications paint a grimmer picture, including a Photoshop test that found an Intel machine ran at just a quarter of the speed of an iMac G5.
Can I run Windows on the new Macs?
The potential to run both Mac OS X and Windows on the same machine has excited users for years. Apple Senior Vice President for Worldwide Sales Phil Schiller said the company would do nothing to prevent users from installing Windows, but that remains impossible for now. Almost every version of Windows requires a BIOS to launch, and Apple's Intel Macs use Intel's new extensible-firmware interface (EFI) instead, which Windows XP doesn't support. Vista supposedly will, so it might be possible by the end of the year.
A few programs promise to fill the niche in the meantime. IEmulator has announced a February release for native Windows performance on Intel Macs, and WinTel is now native for Intel. Microsoft's Virtual PC program, which runs Windows under Mac OS X, does not run on the new machines, and the software giant has not confirmed plans for a new native version.
Will I regret buying one of these computers in three months?
Jobs said at his keynote that all the company's computers will feature Intel chips by the end of year, so updates to the iBook, Mac mini and Power Mac are surely coming. Jobs also noted Apple's impending 30th anniversary on April 1, which has led many to speculate more new computers will be released then. If you do buy now, the Intel iMac will feel as fast or faster than the iMac G5 at most consumer tasks. And for portable users who have used the PowerPC G4 for years, the MacBook Pro will likely feel light-years faster.
Artical From http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,70086-0.html?tw=rss.technology
