Apple's Leopard Will Exclude 800MHz G4 Processors

goombah99 writes "According to AppleInsider, Apple is about to announce that Leopard will not support 800 MHz G4 PowerPC processors. Previously developers had been told that it would require at least an 800 MHz G4. But AppleInsider alleges only 867 MHz G4s and higher will now be supported because of speed issues, and testers have been told that the new OS 'cannot be installed' on lesser machines. This cutoff in minimum requirements means that all those original iMac flat screens and Titanium PowerBooks are now forked to the Tiger (10.4) Update Path."

Comments

Whoopee doo

[Joe Jay Bee]

As far as I'm concerned, it's no real loss, to be honest.

Leopard looks to me to be quite a disappointing update. Not only did Apple completely cast out the refined Aqua look and feel in favour of something that looks like Windows Vista beat Front Row over the head, but there's nothing much I'm excited about (a backup utility? whoopee-fuck. multiple desktops? excuse me while i soil myself...) and indeed a lot I'm more apprehensive about (the iTunes finder with Cover Flow...jesus wept). I think I'll be sticking with Tiger a bit longer; it's a shame Apple diverted attention from what could have been a fantastic new release of OS X onto the glitzy, crippled fashion accessory that is the iPhone.

I'll probably get modded to hell and back, but Leopard is rapidly becoming Apple's version of Vista. Just like Vista, Leopard will be mostly under the hood changes and a few piffling new features, and a whole new look which goes for all out eye candy but simply doesn't match the elegance of what went before. I'm sure the XPostFacto guys will whip something up for all those G4/3 users in the mean time though...

Re:Whoopee doo

[Achromatic1978]

Only in Apple-land could "going from intolerable performance hiccups to tolerability" be considered a "huge advantage".

Re:Whoopee doo

[somersault]

Meh, you're one of them open source nuts.. aintcha? =_= *pokes carefully with a stick*

Death knell for PPC Mac Mini

[chiph]

If this is true, Leopard is probably the last OS upgrade that will be available for the 1.2-1.5gHz PPC Mac Mini family.

Prepare to buy an Intel CPU Mac for your next major OS upgrade after Leopard.

Chip H.

Re:Death knell for PPC Mac Mini

[Knara]

Well, seeing how Apple is a religion, not a practical group of computing users, the followers of said religion seem to need an upgrade whenever The Jobs decrees it is so.

Re:Death knell for PPC Mac Mini

[harkabeeparolyn]

Or, just keep using a perfectly good computer as-is, instead of "upgrading" just because something new came out.

Until the security updates stop coming. After that you may be a sitting duck whenever you go online.

Under the hood

[earnest murderer]

There better be something good in there eating all those cycles. We will have been waiting for over two years.... The keynote demo's looked more like weekend projects that were a result of someone taking code home to play with. New lipstick on the same pig if you will.

Re:How "big" is an OS X update anyway?

[base3]

It's like a service pack, except that Apple charges $129.00 for it. So not everyone upgrades.

Re:for Developers

[DECS]

Ann Coulter is a hateful, evil-defending shell of a person who can't discuss issues or facts and prefers to slink along instead by making cowardly, groundless accusations and calling here enemies names.

I'm not the Ann Coulter in our relationship, Mr Anonymous Coward.