Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

If Windows Came to PPC, Would You Switch?

Posted by Cliff on from the converse-questions dept.

An anonymous reader asks: "This question was posted on Ask Slashdot about a week ago: 'If Mac OS X Came to x86, Would You Switch?' This makes me ask why not have Windows run on PowerPC? Windows/PPC would not necessarily have to run on Apple hardware, or at least not exclusively on it. I'm sure their friends at IBM and Motorola would be happy to provide chips to anyone that wanted to make computers to run this new OS. Microsoft could dust off the code from NT4/PPC, add some code from Virtual PC to get Windows/x86 compatibility, and have it up and running in about the same amount of time it would take Apple to get Mac OS X running on common Intel hardware." An additional question comes to mind, however: If Microsoft made this move, how would Intel react?

46 of 906 comments (clear)

  1. Obligatory Quote by Average_Joe_Sixpack · · Score: 5, Funny

    "You can't polish a turd"

    1. Re:Obligatory Quote by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      You didn't forget about the Polish, your president would be so very proud.

    2. Re:Obligatory Quote by Trejkaz · · Score: 4, Funny

      Putting Windows on a PowerPC wouldn't be so much like polishing a turd, as it would be like smearing shit on a diamond.

      --
      Karma: It's all a bunch of tree-huggin' hippy crap!
    3. Re:Obligatory Quote by ActiveSX · · Score: 4, Funny

      Yeah, how dare somebody suggest sullying Windows like that! >:(

    4. Re:Obligatory Quote by arivanov · · Score: 3, Funny

      There was. For IBM power PC platform. Average uptime a few hours.

      --
      Baker's Law: Misery no longer loves company. Nowadays it insists on it
      http://www.sigsegv.cx/
    5. Re:Obligatory Quote by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      Nice uptime. For a windows box.

    6. Re:Obligatory Quote by DarkEdgeX · · Score: 4, Funny

      (shamelessly translated from http://ask.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=125372&cid =10505702)

      Look, you guys just can't get it through your heads that the reason why Windows XP works so well is because it runs on such a wide array of hardware-- this allows the engineers coding XP to make assumptions THAT CANNOT BE MADE in the PPC world, where a machine could be using one of dozens of motherboards, network cards, graphics cards, sound cards, etc. Mac OS developers have to code for the lowest common denominator. Windows developers code for specific hardware. Even the version of Windows that ran on PPC hardware ran on a tiny subset of the available PPC hardware. If your CD-ROM drive and motherboard weren't on the "supported hardware" list that came with Windows, you were SOL.

      That little fantasy you all have of buying "Windows for PPC", running it on some store-bought shitbox you purchased from the Apple store, and having it work as well as an x86 runs Windows XP today will NEVER come to pass. Apple has spent twenty years and untold millions trying to achieve that goal, and they still have quite a way to go.

      Do you think Gates could just snap his fingers one day and a few months later have a product on the shelves that would run perfectly on every PPC capable of running OS X today? It's impossible. And even if it were possible, you wouldn't buy it. Why? Because Microsoft uses their software to sell their hardware, so a copy of Windows XP for PPC would have to be priced to ease the pain of a lost hardware sale-- you'd either do without it and bitterly bitch about the price here on /., or you'd pirate it-- either way, Microsoft would lose money on it.

      ~DarkEdgeX

      --
      All I know about Bush is I had a good job when Clinton was president.
    7. Re:Obligatory Quote by Tanktalus · · Score: 3, Funny

      I think we now have proof ... Darl reads /.

    8. Re:Obligatory Quote by Kehvarl · · Score: 2, Funny

      I find your lack of perception of humor disturbing.

  2. How to put this... by daveschroeder · · Score: 5, Funny

    No

    1. Re:How to put this... by FauxReal · · Score: 2, Funny

      I'd switch... but only if they properly ported the virii and trojan software base, otherwise I'd feel lonely being the only person using my computer.

      --
      Deltron 3030 - Virus (music video)
    2. Re:How to put this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      It's a good thing too. If he had stayed around too long, who knows how many misspelled commands the VMS CLI would have understood:-)

  3. HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! by lordkimbot · · Score: 5, Funny

    Oh, you're serious.

    Sorry!

    --
    sig mind freed
    1. Re:HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! by kundor · · Score: 4, Funny

      The proper way to handle that situation is
      "Oh, wait you're serious. Let me laugh even harder."
      (--Bender)

  4. Well of course by willoc · · Score: 1, Funny

    Intel would start crying...

  5. Of Course. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    The quality of Microsoft software combined with the cost-effective PPC hardware! Not to mention the compatibility!

  6. April Fool came early this year, n'est pa? by ggvaidya · · Score: 1, Funny

    Strangest. Ask Slashdot. Ever.

  7. For Shame! by Draconix · · Score: 5, Funny

    Once more, people are overlooking an oft ignored market base:

    Masochists.

    --
    By reading this you acknowledge that you have read it.
  8. Yes! by Axem · · Score: 2, Funny

    So I can run Windows, on a Mac, running Virtual Machine, which in turn will emulate OSX! Genius I tell you!

    --
    We all live in a #FFFF00 submarine...
  9. Oh yeah by cubicledrone · · Score: 4, Funny

    People are going to switch to Windows from OS X. Oh sure. They'll probably line up around the Best Buy at midnight. Yeah. Uh huh.

    Dell makes an iPod. Sony makes an iPod. Windows is trying to be OS X. Microsoft has a music store. HP licenses the iPod. Hmmm.

    Yep. Everybody wants to be Apple.

    --
    Business isn't willing to pay for products, innovation and careers, so we get brands, mortgage commercials and layoffs.
  10. If the Astros put on Yankees uniforms... by PollGuy · · Score: 5, Funny

    would you root for them?

    1. Re:If the Astros put on Yankees uniforms... by mvdw · · Score: 4, Funny

      I'm an Aussie. Here in Australia, to root means something completely different to what you USAians would mean. Short answer is that yes, I would root for them. In fact, I'd root for anybody...

  11. Re:This is hilarious! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    The real question here is: If Martians landed on earth, would they use PPC WIndows, or would they prefer x86?

    Slashdot will now officially post anything.

  12. New Poll by Nova+Express · · Score: 5, Funny
    What do you think of running Windows on the PowerPC Platform?

    1. Finally! The stability and ease of use of Windows combined with the Mac's huge library of games!
    2. I think you should put down the crack pipe.
    3. Hmm, there's something just not right about this ice cream. I know! I'll improve it by adding this dead rat!
    4. Don't make me hurt you.
    5. You'll install Windows on my PPC over my dead body.
    6. The goggles! They do nothing!
    7. Seriously, I really, really have to hurt you now.
    8. I'm still trying to install Windows 3.0 on my PDP-11. Just 12,500 more dip switch flips and I'm done!
    9. With my 5000 node XServe cluster, I can now achieve a Blue Screen of Death in picoseconds!
    10. I'll use Windows when it runs on CowboyNeal.

    --
    Lawrence Person (lawrencepersonh@gmailh.com (remove all "h"s to mail)

    http://www.lawrenceperson.com/

  13. -1 Redundant by wazzzup · · Score: 4, Funny

    Why?

    Really, why was this story even posted? The barrier for entry to Windows is already lower on Intel than PPC. 99% of people buy PPC to get MacOS and have made a decision to stay away from Windows. Maybe for some obscure server configuration or something - I don't know. Ewww. I think I just felt my PowerBook shudder.

    It's like going to church and asking the congregation if, next week, they would like to hold a Satanic mass and worship the devil rather than the usual Sunday drill.

  14. Re:would do by Performaman · · Score: 2, Funny

    A wise Finn once wrote:
    "The memory maagement on the PowerPC can be used to frighten small children."

    --

    I have gas, but my car uses petrol.
  15. Re:Not possible. by finkployd · · Score: 4, Funny

    Umm, basic economics my friend. If the demand is there, the production capacity will rise with it. It isn't like PPC chips are a scarce, natural resource, IBM certainly has the ability to boost production.

    "Sir, we cannot keep up with the damand, we need to find more PPC mines"

    That would be kinda cool actually.

    "Eureka! We have struck Altivic!"

    Finkployd

  16. Re:muuuh. by rlwhite · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'm still waiting for Windows on x86 to have full efficiency.

  17. This sounds great! by wargolem · · Score: 2, Funny

    And after I start running Windows on my Mac, I think I'll outfit my Fiat with chrome wheels, spoiler, and a fart pipe!

  18. Wrong! by EtherAlchemist · · Score: 5, Funny


    You can't polish a turd

    Oh yes you can! See?

    And I remember on the old Ripley's show (circa 80's) a farmer that made jewelry out of chicken droppings.

    --
    R(k)
    1. Re:Wrong! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      OK, but that's a fossil. Windows is a little too fresh and steamy for that treatment now.

      Come back in a couple million years and we'll be ready for it. 8^)

  19. Re:Already done. It's called Microsoft Virtual PC. by damiam · · Score: 5, Funny
    But it's otherwise as useful and harmless as XP.

    I can't say that either of those adjectives would be my first choice for describing XP.

    --
    It's hard to be religious when certain people are never incinerated by bolts of lightning.
  20. Re:Already done. It's called Microsoft Virtual PC. by Anml4ixoye · · Score: 4, Funny
    But it's otherwise as useful and harmless as XP. I can't say that either of those adjectives would be my first choice for describing XP.

    That's because the poster mistyped. He meant useless and harmful

    --
    Random Musings
  21. Blargh. by waldoj · · Score: 2, Funny

    What kind a of a sick sonofabitch roots for the Yankees?

    -Waldo Jaquith

  22. The Political Equivelant... by Cheesewhiz · · Score: 2, Funny
    Look, from a pragmatic perspective this is like arguing over an invasion of Canada... after Nader wins the elections... and the French officially declare that they were wrong about Iraq, and that they suck.

    "Sure, sure... BUT WHAT IF?!"

    --

    -----
    "Cogito Eggo Sum: I think, therefore, waffle."
  23. Re:No by bob+beta · · Score: 2, Funny

    The processor architecture is of zero concern, except maybe as it pertains to battery life and heat.

    Does this really mean the chorus of 'RISC is better' ignorance from Macheads is over??

    Come on, let's have a RISC vs. CISC fight for good old times.

    I'll champion the Microchip PIC processor (RISC).

    You champion the Motorola 68HC11 processor (CISC).

    --
    "What's the frequency Kenneth?"
  24. Re:Intel... by $RANDOMLUSER · · Score: 1, Funny
    You're thinking of the Ia-432 IIRC. The very definition of "Never build anything simply, when it can be made Complex And Wonderful".

    Yes, the 68000 kicked the 8086's ass.
    Yup, the Z8000 kicked the 68000's ass. (Yeah, I remember the MMU)
    Right, the NS16032 kicked the Z8000's ass. (OK, so they never made any)
    And, yeah, the Alpha left them all in the dust.

    But none of us could resist that 8-bit, multiplexed-bus, single-accumulator redheaded-stepchild-of-the-4004-instruction-set sex-godess known as the 8088.
    Reserve a big chunk of address space for BASIC in ROM, and you've got history in the making.

    OK, mod me "troll" - but I'm not wrong .

    --
    No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
  25. Re:No by YOU+LIKEWISE+FAIL+IT · · Score: 3, Funny
    Does this really mean the chorus of 'RISC is better' ignorance from Macheads is over??

    No, I coded up a stack of PPC assembly on my mac last weekend, and damn, it felt good to have all those extra registers and nice, simple instructions.

    YLFI
    --
    One god, one market, one truth, one consumer.
  26. I'd buy it because I miss... by bogasity · · Score: 2, Funny

    downloading nine critical security updates every month! No other OS gives me my money's worth of software like Windows. It's like getting a whole new OS every lunar cycle!

  27. Aren't there laws... by umrgregg · · Score: 2, Funny

    Aren't there laws in the U.S. against purposfully spreading a virus?

    --
    NMG
  28. Question is redundant by ewe2 · · Score: 3, Funny

    They haven't got the x86 port right yet.

    --
    insecurity asks the wrong question irritation gives the wrong answer
  29. Lets see... by sirgoran · · Score: 2, Funny

    Take a buggy insecure OS and replace my stable, fast, easy to use OS? Sure!

    And while you're at it why not replace my regular coffee with decafe.

    Oh hell, why not kick me in the balls too. Because if I were stupid enough to do such a moronic thing I shouldn't enjoy my morning coffee or ever have kids.

    Goran

    --
    Carpe Scrotum - The only way to deal with your competition.
  30. Re:Why? FOR THE JOY. by crazyphilman · · Score: 2, Funny

    Follow the following algorithm to experience a moment of intense joy:

    1. Acquire Windows for PPC.

    2. Put Windows on your beautiful, pristine, PPC machine.

    3. Experience the joys of Windows on PPC for one full week. You MUST use ONLY IE and Outlook Express for the full week. Your feeling at the end of the week should be similar to the expereience of waking up after a week-long bender in Tijuana, only to realize you've been having unprotected sex with an 80-year old Tijuana hooker with no teeth and a hygeine problem. NOTE: I have not experienced this... Ahem.

    4. Re-install Mac OS/X on your machine, run it through a full update, set your wallpapers and so forth, then go to bed.

    5. The next morning, find a sunny, beautiful spot in your apartment, power your PPC machine up, and check your email. Browse the web for a while using Mozilla. See how much better the system is now, how wonderfully it works, and realize your ordeal is over.

    Relish the moment... Every now and then, if you need a pick-me-up, you can repeat it... ;)

    --
    Farewell! It's been a fine buncha years!
  31. Re:NT Runs on G5 Mac Hardware Now by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Wait wait wait... so let me get this straight... There used to be Apples and IBM-compatibles... now, Apples are the IBM-compatibles, and IBM doesn't make IBM-compatibles... I need to sit down.

  32. I would run Windows on a shiny new G5 by shplorb · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...for the exact same reason that I'd buy a Ferrari and run it on sump oil.

  33. This is like asking... by Antaeus+Feldspar · · Score: 3, Funny
    "If Richard Nixon were to come back from the grave, would you vote for him?"

    ...

    Well, come to think of it, if it came down to Lich Nixon or Dubya Bush....

    --
    If people are to respect the law, perhaps the law should begin by respecting the people.