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Speculation on Real Reasons Behind Apple Switch

/ASCII writes "There is an article over at Ars Technica with some insider information about the reasons behind Apples x86 switch, given that the new IBM processors seem to be a perfect fit for Apple. The article claims that Apple hopes to power its entire line, from Servers to desktops to iPods and other gadgets with Intel CPUs, and that by doing so, they will gain the same kinds of discounts that Dell get."

3 of 659 comments (clear)

  1. A perfect Fit by Atlantic+Wall · · Score: 0, Troll

    Are u kidding, these G5 cpu's would melt the plastic cases they came in in seconds. yeah they may be good chips but to compete with the windows market this had to happen, a not so perfect fit after all.

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  2. Re:Elements by ivan256 · · Score: 1, Troll

    AMD chose a differant design, which sacrificed a lot of transistors for x86 compatibility, limiting the scalability and performance of their chip.

    Um... Intel did the same thing, but worse. IA-64, or the Itanium architecture, or whatever Intel wants you to call it this year spent tons of transistors on X86 compatibility, and the performance and scalability sucked. Not only that, but the compatability wasn't that great and the chips have all but failed in the marketplace.

  3. Yes, Mac is inferior. Here's why: by doublem · · Score: 0, Troll

    Let's look at a typical scenario.

    I'm looking up possible solutions to an SQL problem during lunch. I'm eating with one hand, while using the mouse with the other. Before my hand became occupied with food, I used it to type some search terms into Google.

    I now want to skim through the first 20 or so hits on both Google and Google groups.

    On Windows or Linux, I fire up my favorite web browser with tab support, and middle click on the relevant links. By the time I finish clicking, the first few links have loaded. I go skim through each page, looking for something that's helpful.

    On a MAC laptop without an external mouse, I have to put the food down and hold down the Option key to do what evolved operating systems simply give you a button to do.

    The simple fact of the matter is, Mac is using the "Better UI design" claim to cover up the use of inferior hardware. Their marketing has been so effective that Mac users have actually convinced themselves that having fewer features and more restrictions is somehow better. This isn't even feature bloat we're talking about here, but useful features that Apple just can't be bothered to actually make easy.

    The "aesthetic" is always more important that actual utility with Apple. If the feature would save the average user time, but require something that doesn't fit Steve's vision of what the OS should "look" like, the feature just doesn't happen.

    Don't give me that "Better UI design" crap. Scroll wheels and three mouse buttons are damn useful things, and anyone running around saying otherwise is just kidding themselves. It's the whole "I can't have it so I'll mock it," mentality.

    Keep in mind, we're talking about a company that took until version Ten to add a command line to the consumer OS.

    Hardly a sign of an advanced OS in my opinion, given how much faster and more elegant a command line can be.

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