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PPC G5 On The Way -- And Fast
Sulka writes: "The Register has a report claiming the PPC G5 CPU is ready for production and will be launched by Apple in January. Initial batch would include a 1.6GHz version with 2GHz to follow. 64 bit architecture, 10 stage pipeline, Silicon-On-Insulator and other buzzwords are mentioned." Maybe this will mean cheaper G4s for those of us who buy computers somewhat lower on the food chain, too.
OS X 10.1 will be released sometime this month. I've seen beta versions, and it's kickin'. Look for that smoothness you're so desparately in need of. Look for a faster GUI, faster application boot time, more organized dock (some things have been moved), and other improvements.
The One Rule Of Chess You'll Ever Need: Don't play someone who carries a kit in their bookbag.
Keep in mind that Wintel vendors don't do any real R&D -- they take Intel's motherboards and chipsets, put them in cases from Taiwan, slap on whatever OS Microsoft provides, and ships them. Some of them do "R&D" but it's mainly basic product development, like QAing a particular HW/SW configuration, vendor selection, and so on.
Apple invests heavily in real research. They build the OS, custom chips, custom industrial design, etc., as well as investing in creating and/or advancing various standards (e.g. PCMCIA, USB, FireWire, OpenFirmware, DVI) and pushing advanced technologies into their products (e.g. the above list, plus DVD-R, flat panel displays). And a much higher percentage of the retail price of Apple hardware goes for R&D than for any other PC vendor.
I'd also point out that while Apple hardware costs more than no-name PC hardware, their products cost about the same as comparable PC's from brand-name Wintel vendors (aside from recent price cutting due to the PC market sucking), and in some cases (e.g. the iBook and PowerBook G4) their prices are quite good.
There are some exceptions: you see some real R&D at Sony and Compaq, for example. But I think that it would be hard to argue that Dell or Gateway do anything interesting from a technology perspective (as oppposed to marketing or manufacturing)...
The Osborne Effect cuts both ways. If you like Macs but were thinking of buying an Intel-based machine in the near future, you might now be tempted to wait a few months for a G5-based Mac.
1. plenty of apps are using Cocoa (updated Next API). Im using one right now, Omniweb. There are plenty more.
2. If you believe developers, many of them doing carbon ports now are thinking cocoa for future releases further down the road.
3. "it had an excellent API that would have actually seen full support by developers"... just like BeOS saw 'full' support from developers? How many major BeOS apps are there? BeOS Photoshop? BeOS Office? BeOS Quicken? I havent heard of any of these.
4. regardless of how you feel about the iMac and cube, Jobs saved Apple. No two ways about it. If they had chosen BeOS, more than likely Apple wouldn't have made it. You may see that as an argument in your favor, but thats just trolltalk
Time for some tasty Shiner Bock!