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Apple Nearly Moved to SPARC

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the we-that-woulda-been-interesting dept.

taskforce writes "Sun Microsystems Co-Founder Bill Joy claims that Apple nearly moved to Sun's SPARC chips instead of IBM's PPC platform, back in the mid-1990s. From the article: "We got very close to having Apple use Sparc. That almost happened," Joy said at a panel discussion featuring reminiscences by Sun's four cofounders at the Computer History Museum. An account of his entire presentation can be found on Cnet."

15 of 257 comments (clear)

  1. Fine dining by Mostly+a+lurker · · Score: 5, Funny
    Sun Microsystems CEO Scott McNealy had to be wined and dined at a Silicon Valley McDonald's before he gave up his reluctance to help launch the workstation maker in 1982
    History does not record which of the many fine vintages available at McDonald's was selected on this illustrious occasion.
    1. Re:Fine dining by Neo-Rio-101 · · Score: 4, Funny

      So that explains the "Happy Meal Ethernet" driver for Linux on SPARC systems....

      --
      READY.
      PRINT ""+-0
    2. Re:Fine dining by rubycodez · · Score: 2, Funny

      can I suggest the McMerlot, July was a truly remarkable vintage!

    3. Re:Fine dining by wildsurf · · Score: 2, Funny

      I think the iPod should have been called the MacNugget.

      --
      Weeks of coding saves hours of planning.
  2. almost ?!?!? by TTL0 · · Score: 4, Funny

    almost only counts in horseshoes and handgrenades.

    --
    Sanity is the trademark of a weak mind. -- Mark Harrold
  3. Alternative Headline by Bloater · · Score: 5, Funny

    Sun Microsystems Boasts "We're not quite good enough."

  4. I hear.... by Slashcrap · · Score: 2, Funny

    ...that Sun are also considering switching to Sparc for their servers. You know, if things don't work out with the Opteron they need a backup strategy.

    I kid, I kid....

  5. Re:Back in the day.. by turgid · · Score: 2, Funny

    My dad wouldn't let me have anything that wasn't "PeeCee compatible" since that's what all businesses and Right Thinking Folk(TM) used, even if it was technically inferior.

    I wasn't allowed an Amiga either (before the Archimedes came out)...

    He's still stuck on Windows and curses it every time I speak to him.

    I've been doing Linux and UNIX since 1995 (when I left home).

    --
    Stick Men
  6. Isn't that... by Black+Parrot · · Score: 4, Funny

    Isn't that kinda like "I almost got laid"?

    --
    Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
    1. Re:Isn't that... by aztektum · · Score: 3, Funny

      In their last meeting, Apple reps. were rumored to have consoled them by saying, "Don't worry, it happens to a lot of chip makers."

      --
      :: aztek ::
      No sig for you!!
  7. Re:we know by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Yeah, he forgot where he was posting

  8. More History by FrankDrebin · · Score: 2, Funny

    The Macintosh line would have been replaced by the SPARtan, leading to memorable models like the iSpart.

    --
    Anybody want a peanut?
  9. obligatory George Carlin quote by Laebshade · · Score: 3, Funny

    "here's a phrase that apparently the airlines simply made up: near miss. Bullshit, my friend. It's a near hit! A collision is a near miss." - Airline Announcements, George Carlin

  10. Re:Had the workstation vendors worked together. by poot_rootbeer · · Score: 3, Funny

    Indeed, the combined talents of the Alpha crew from DEC, with the PA-RISC developers from HP, the SPARC group from Sun, those behind the MIPS at SGI and MIPS Technologies, and the PPC people from IBM, for instance, could have come up with a CPU that completely trumped what Intel was putting out at the time.

    Hey, this broth isn't tasty enough! Better bring in a few more cooks...

  11. Well if they *almost* used SPARC by alfrin · · Score: 2, Funny

    Isn't that like, "I almost got laid with man"