"64bit" refers to the size of the instruction word, not "how much data the processor handles at once". That is a function of pipelining, ALUs, branch prediction, etc. This can be proved by a recompile of a 32bit application with 64bit flags. The application won't be "magically" twice as fast.
There is something else... a 64bit app may even be *slower* as the cache can only hold half the number of words, given an equal cache size. Cache misses are a huge performance hit these days, as RAM is much slower than Cache RAM.
Of course the big difference between AMD and IBM is that the new 64bit PPC970 doesn't take a performance hit switching between 32 and 64bit applications. This has more to do with the PPC ISA than anything in the processor.
The only thing that 64bits will give "normal" users is the ability to address a *huge* amount of LOGICAL memory. In most cases, it doesn't make sense to make 64bit versions of applications, due to the above cache issue. Also, note the allusion that users will require more RAM for 64bit applications, as it will be needed to store the larger word size.
rendering apps like Lightwave, Maya, etc will benefit from this for several reasons:
The 64bit architecture: Lightwave [if rewritten to be 64bit] will be able to use bigger numbers, and use more memory. Bigger numbers means that calculations that would involve making a 64bit word out of 2 32bit words [as it currently stands] needn't be done. Being able to address more memory is *always* a good thing.
Really good Floating Point Performance: 3D rendering apps love FP. bigger/faster/more Fp units are a good thing.
Memory Bandwidth: The 900MHz bus will allow a *huge* amount of memory to be shuttled back and forth from the processor *very* quickly. This means your huge scenes will be rendered faster.
Altivec/Vector Processing unit: Because the VPU doesn't do double precision FP, it doesn't help in the final rendering [much]. It *will* help in things like realtime previews, where the math is simplified. Imagine *big* previews of scenes in realtime.
Multiprocessing: This chip is [as implied] MERSI compliant. This means that it is a perfect candidate for multiprocessing, like the current G4.... but the 970 can go many more "ways" than the G4 [the G4 was in an "optimal" multiprocessing stage with 2 procs]. The 970 can go up to 16, IIRC.
Actually, IPC is *increased* from the current G4. It will now fetch 8 instructions per clock, and retire 5 per clock.
The current G4 IIRC fetches either 3 or 4 per clock. I have no idea how many it can retire at once.
This coupled with a quick move to a.09 process shows me that this 970 chip has legs. Another thing... IBM has *always* been conservative about what not-quite-ready chips will do as far as clock, and benchmarks. I expect "Real World" [no relation to Peter Gabriel] performance to be quite good. [although I expect Peter Gabriel's performances to be fantastic =)]
Also keep in mind that SPEC marks are *highly* manipulatable. Here you have a benchmark that is supposed to test the CPU. The problem with this is that is both compiler dependent *and* OS dependent . As has stated many times before, the current G4 machines score in the low 300s in SPEC marks. Does this mean that the G4 is 3 to 5 times slower than the P4? In practice, it isn't. Yes, the P4 2.8 is much faster than the current G4 in most day-to-day activities, but not by *that* much. Anyone can "cook" SPEC marks.
What you *really* want to do is use the machine, *then* consider whether or not the machine is fast enough for your purposes. Personally, I think that machines with the 970 in them will be quite competitive with the machines that are available at launch.
[quote]altivec and SIMD are different approaches to the same job. [/quote]
SIMD is merely "Single Instruction, Multiple Data" MMX, Altivec, etc. are all SIMD instruction sets. Having an actual SIMD unit on the chip gives it an edge over the very early Pentium MMX implementation that needed the floating point registers [effectivly this meant that you could do FP *or* MMX instructions at one time]. Also note that later versions of the Pentium architecture have real SIMD units.
I hope they use a memory controller that does at least DDR 333.
Considering that the current line-up of Powermacs uses DDR333, my guess is that the new controller will allow for it. That being said, DDR 333 *isn't* fast enough for the chip or the rest of the bus. What Apple should do [and will more than likely] use an off-chip memory controller so that they will have the greatest flexibility with regard to emerging fast-memory standards [Quad pumped, DDRII, etc etc]
Keep in mind most of these articles are coming from the BusinessWeek article, or an IBM press release. IN the IBM release, *nothing* about a real date of shipping was stated. What was stated was "Second Half of 2003".
As for the GHz issue, the chip does more per-clock than the P4. This means that it can still be competitive. Just wait another day for the MPF, and maybe we'll be able to see some initial SPEC numbers.
I've always thought that cooking, like photography is both a science and an art. The science involves understanding "why", while the art is the ability to make it your own. I've found that good cooks rarely follow a set recipe, but instead understand the relationships between savory and sweet, weight and heat.
Rather than ask a question about "how to make xxx", my question is on your personal food philosophy. What to you makes "Good Eats"?
Quicktime Player [not Quicktime the framework] doesn't have a playlist editor, that is true... but then again, I like to be able to view several videos at once, with the option of playing the sound on all, or only the frontmost video [yeah, sometimes it's pr0n, big deal]. As for MP3s, yes, that is what iTunes is for, just download it, it won't harm you, I promise....and it really is the best MP3 player out there. I used to be a hardcore Audion fan, but not since iTunes 2. It's a wonderful solution.
Keep in mind that your gripes [rightly so] are for the QT player, not QT itself. If you wrote a QT player in Cocoa or Carbon [for example] you could add your own playlist support, and have the option of single or multiple video windows. Hey that sounds like a good idea.. I think I'll start spec'ing a Cocoa player [see my previous post WRT my opinions of the brushed aluminium interface]
To be honest, I can't stand that I am not allowed to play several videos at the same time using Real or WMP. When you need to get your pr0n *on* you gots to get your pr0n *ON*!
Ok troll, I'll bite [sigh]. Quicktime APIs are available for free to developers if they want to make their own codecs. Apple includes *many* codecs, most not written by Apple. The latest version of Quicktime includes MPEG4 encoding and decoding. MPEG4 is an open standard format, it just happens that Open != Free. Quite simply, Apple, *can't* base QT entirely on "open standards" simply because it's a container format, the codecs are what matter. Since Apple doesn't own all the codecs, they can't make that happen.
As far as dominance goes... If windows media player had to be downloaded just like RealPlayer or Quicktime Player, do you *really* think that WMP would be in the position it is in?
Re:And they ar still using that moronic UI!
on
QuickTime 6 Is Out
·
· Score: 1
They *have* fixed the UI... for the most part. Gone are the "thumb wheel" and the strange drawer/tab pulldown. I understand that upon casual inspection the brushed aluminium appearance is the same, but if you actually take the time to look, it has changed. That being said, I *hate* the brushed aluminium look. I'd rather have it be a standard window widget much like the old Movie Player application. One of these days I will make one in Cocoa, as I still haven't found one that I liked...
Actually in teh Mac universe, most CD-R hardware comes with a copy of Toast. Mine did. It's the most popular burning SW on the mac... assuming you don't count Apple's own authoring support module [used in iTunes and the Finder].
So while true, many have not purchased a copy of Toast per se, they do have a legit version.
What you said in your post is correct. The studios are the bottleneck... but ya know what? Studios usually [if modern] are recording at higher-than-CD-quality, then down-mixing to 16bit/44.1Khz.
Being a bit of an audiophile, I've tested both the SACD as well as the DVDA [DVD-Audio] and I must admit, I like the DVDA version better. On paper, the specs for DVDA are also much better. Check it out here. There is a DVDA FAQ here
I highly suggest that you check out some of the recordings.... *much* better than standard CD!
Some of the problems in handling this approach is that unlike the SETI, etc. way of doing things, where a client goes out, grabs a chunk of data to be worked on, then sends the resultant data back to the server, each of these social/governance problems *aren't* a mathmatical formula. You can't just apply the same formulae to every problem. There is no "right" way to do it.
Computers are also good at multitasking, whereas humans [aside from life-functions] have for the most part, a single tasking thought processes. It also takes people a non-trivial amount of time to context switch [see various/. postings on "getting in the zone"]. This means that while people may not be thinking about work during their lunch hour, they will have a difficult time getting back to thinking about work when they are done [or getting into the mindset of whatever problem needs to be solved]
Human filter. Again, unlike the SETI idea, a human needs to filter all the resultant data, as by definition, new ways of solving problems don't fit into a previously known idea. say you do get several thousand people working on this project, the resultant data will be huge, *and* every human filter will filter the information in their own way, there is no "control".
That being said, new ideas come from all around us. Who knows what this experiment can yield.
Re:New to Macs, Do They Charge for Updates?
on
Apple Drops Mac OS 9
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
The answer you didn't want to hear:
"Sometimes"
Apple has never charged for online downloads of point upgrades. This usually means things like 10.0.1,.0.2,.0.3, etc. This is usually for things like bug fixes, speed improvements, etc.
That being said, Apple *does* charge for "big" point upgrades. Technically, they charged for 10.1, although it was available *for free* if you had a MacOS Up-to-Date card. All you had to do was give the guy at an Apple Store or a Comp-USA the card [one of the three] and you walked out of the store with a "free" upgrade.
So what is MacOS Up-to-Date?? When you purchased your mac, it came with all sorts of paper/docs, etc. One of those bit of paper is important. It allows you 3 "free" updates to the Mac OS. After you use your cards, you are expected to pay full retail for your OS purchase. The cool bit about this being that the cards aren't needed for the downloadable updates.
While it hasn't been announced as of yet, I would speculate that 10.2 *is* a "pay" upgrade. The new features that they are adding are *huge*, and anything of this magnatude is a pay upgrade. Apple is an interesting company, as they realise that users won't pay $100 to $130 for a "dot upgrade". This means that they will charge maybe $50, but with that you get a CD, so if you lunch your HDD you won't need to play "software update control panel wheel of fortune".
Apple is just trying to cover their own colective arses. Here's the deal, say some sub-18 year old kid decideds to take/steal someone else's code [from work, from a friend, etc.] and then submits this code to Apple. Apple likes the code, so it gets included in the Darwin source. Later it is found that the code is actually the IP of aome other company, Apple gets litigated into oblivion, as the code is sitting right out in the open. Apple has no recourse on the sub-18 year old kid.
Apple is not evil, they are just covering their own arse. Yes, I do agree that kids under 18 should be allowed to contribute, but the problem is that Apple is a corp. They need some way to make sure they are protected. "Signing" a document is a good way to do that. Falsly filling out a form is not a solution, it just makes matters worse.
So *that* is what that smell is!!! Gods! I go to two Boston Markets [was going to abbr to BM, but well...] and the one in Greenwich, CT I can't stay in for more than 5 minutes, as it smells like urine! The other, in the neighbouring city of Stamford, CT, smells just fine. Maybe they didn't get the memo!
Wow! and for all this time, I thought it was someone on staff with a *really* bad bladder problem
One thing that puzzles me however... If the DDR333 spec isn't fully complete, what happens when it *is* complete and the chipset isn't 100% compatible ?
Thats all you need to fight mega-corps. The mega-corps don't control anything I publish. The only things they control is their own property and the property of those who whore themselves out to the megacorps.
Sure they control things you publish, or to be slightly more accurate, they probably do. Who owns your ISP? Who owns the pipe? If you decide to raise up a large enough stink for the "mega-corps" to care, don't you think they'll lean on your ISP to shut your access down?
Yes Virginia, this is what happens when the same company owns the content, distribution channels and infrastructure. Your voice *will* be drowned out by the big-guys, if they choose to. Don't fool yourself.
No this isn't what the article is stating... The article said that "File Type" can be changed to reflect *accuracy* ie, if your file *is* a JPEG, but for some reason, the meta-data associated with the file tags it as a TIFF, you can change the meta-data to the more accurate JPEG, without affecting the actual encoding of the file itself.
That feature was called NX Hosting. It allowed you do remote desktop functionality a la X, but with quite a bit of added functionality. It was also much faster over a network, considering it wasn't pushing pixels, it was pushing PS.
Unfort, they pulled this functionality out of this version of OS X, but the underlying framework is there, they just need to tweak it for PDF, rather than plain jane PS. I expect someone will either hack it to work, or Apple will add it in a later version [release 2 or 3]
Slashdot Mirror
This isn't totally correct.
"64bit" refers to the size of the instruction word, not "how much data the processor handles at once". That is a function of pipelining, ALUs, branch prediction, etc. This can be proved by a recompile of a 32bit application with 64bit flags. The application won't be "magically" twice as fast.
There is something else... a 64bit app may even be *slower* as the cache can only hold half the number of words, given an equal cache size. Cache misses are a huge performance hit these days, as RAM is much slower than Cache RAM.
Of course the big difference between AMD and IBM is that the new 64bit PPC970 doesn't take a performance hit switching between 32 and 64bit applications. This has more to do with the PPC ISA than anything in the processor.
The only thing that 64bits will give "normal" users is the ability to address a *huge* amount of LOGICAL memory. In most cases, it doesn't make sense to make 64bit versions of applications, due to the above cache issue. Also, note the allusion that users will require more RAM for 64bit applications, as it will be needed to store the larger word size.
.
Well, I'll try.
rendering apps like Lightwave, Maya, etc will benefit from this for several reasons:
The 64bit architecture:
Lightwave [if rewritten to be 64bit] will be able to use bigger numbers, and use more memory. Bigger numbers means that calculations that would involve making a 64bit word out of 2 32bit words [as it currently stands] needn't be done. Being able to address more memory is *always* a good thing.
Really good Floating Point Performance:
3D rendering apps love FP. bigger/faster/more Fp units are a good thing.
Memory Bandwidth:
The 900MHz bus will allow a *huge* amount of memory to be shuttled back and forth from the processor *very* quickly. This means your huge scenes will be rendered faster.
Altivec/Vector Processing unit:
Because the VPU doesn't do double precision FP, it doesn't help in the final rendering [much]. It *will* help in things like realtime previews, where the math is simplified. Imagine *big* previews of scenes in realtime.
Multiprocessing:
This chip is [as implied] MERSI compliant. This means that it is a perfect candidate for multiprocessing, like the current G4.... but the 970 can go many more "ways" than the G4 [the G4 was in an "optimal" multiprocessing stage with 2 procs]. The 970 can go up to 16, IIRC.
This seems like it'll be a winner.
.
> Instructions per clock will decrease.
.09 process shows me that this 970 chip has legs. Another thing... IBM has *always* been conservative about what not-quite-ready chips will do as far as clock, and benchmarks. I expect "Real World" [no relation to Peter Gabriel] performance to be quite good. [although I expect Peter Gabriel's performances to be fantastic =)]
Actually, IPC is *increased* from the current G4. It will now fetch 8 instructions per clock, and retire 5 per clock.
The current G4 IIRC fetches either 3 or 4 per clock. I have no idea how many it can retire at once.
This coupled with a quick move to a
Also keep in mind that SPEC marks are *highly* manipulatable. Here you have a benchmark that is supposed to test the CPU. The problem with this is that is both compiler dependent *and* OS dependent . As has stated many times before, the current G4 machines score in the low 300s in SPEC marks. Does this mean that the G4 is 3 to 5 times slower than the P4? In practice, it isn't. Yes, the P4 2.8 is much faster than the current G4 in most day-to-day activities, but not by *that* much. Anyone can "cook" SPEC marks.
What you *really* want to do is use the machine, *then* consider whether or not the machine is fast enough for your purposes. Personally, I think that machines with the 970 in them will be quite competitive with the machines that are available at launch.
.
[quote]altivec and SIMD are different approaches to the same job. [/quote]
SIMD is merely "Single Instruction, Multiple Data" MMX, Altivec, etc. are all SIMD instruction sets. Having an actual SIMD unit on the chip gives it an edge over the very early Pentium MMX implementation that needed the floating point registers [effectivly this meant that you could do FP *or* MMX instructions at one time]. Also note that later versions of the Pentium architecture have real SIMD units.
I hope they use a memory controller that does at least DDR 333.
Considering that the current line-up of Powermacs uses DDR333, my guess is that the new controller will allow for it. That being said, DDR 333 *isn't* fast enough for the chip or the rest of the bus. What Apple should do [and will more than likely] use an off-chip memory controller so that they will have the greatest flexibility with regard to emerging fast-memory standards [Quad pumped, DDRII, etc etc]
.
Keep in mind most of these articles are coming from the BusinessWeek article, or an IBM press release. IN the IBM release, *nothing* about a real date of shipping was stated. What was stated was "Second Half of 2003".
As for the GHz issue, the chip does more per-clock than the P4. This means that it can still be competitive. Just wait another day for the MPF, and maybe we'll be able to see some initial SPEC numbers.
I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.
.
"I wonder if the /. effect could drain the batteries of this Newton quickly?"
Seeing as I don't get a response, I'd say *yes*
.
I've always thought that cooking, like photography is both a science and an art. The science involves understanding "why", while the art is the ability to make it your own. I've found that good cooks rarely follow a set recipe, but instead understand the relationships between savory and sweet, weight and heat.
Rather than ask a question about "how to make xxx", my question is on your personal food philosophy. What to you makes "Good Eats"?
And onother thing.... Alton R0x0rz my B0x0rz!
.
Quicktime Player [not Quicktime the framework] doesn't have a playlist editor, that is true... but then again, I like to be able to view several videos at once, with the option of playing the sound on all, or only the frontmost video [yeah, sometimes it's pr0n, big deal]. As for MP3s, yes, that is what iTunes is for, just download it, it won't harm you, I promise. ...and it really is the best MP3 player out there. I used to be a hardcore Audion fan, but not since iTunes 2. It's a wonderful solution.
Keep in mind that your gripes [rightly so] are for the QT player, not QT itself. If you wrote a QT player in Cocoa or Carbon [for example] you could add your own playlist support, and have the option of single or multiple video windows. Hey that sounds like a good idea.. I think I'll start spec'ing a Cocoa player [see my previous post WRT my opinions of the brushed aluminium interface]
To be honest, I can't stand that I am not allowed to play several videos at the same time using Real or WMP. When you need to get your pr0n *on* you gots to get your pr0n *ON*!
Ok troll, I'll bite [sigh]. Quicktime APIs are available for free to developers if they want to make their own codecs. Apple includes *many* codecs, most not written by Apple. The latest version of Quicktime includes MPEG4 encoding and decoding. MPEG4 is an open standard format, it just happens that Open != Free. Quite simply, Apple, *can't* base QT entirely on "open standards" simply because it's a container format, the codecs are what matter. Since Apple doesn't own all the codecs, they can't make that happen.
As far as dominance goes... If windows media player had to be downloaded just like RealPlayer or Quicktime Player, do you *really* think that WMP would be in the position it is in?
They *have* fixed the UI... for the most part. Gone are the "thumb wheel" and the strange drawer/tab pulldown. I understand that upon casual inspection the brushed aluminium appearance is the same, but if you actually take the time to look, it has changed. That being said, I *hate* the brushed aluminium look. I'd rather have it be a standard window widget much like the old Movie Player application. One of these days I will make one in Cocoa, as I still haven't found one that I liked...
Anyone else want one?
.
Actually in teh Mac universe, most CD-R hardware comes with a copy of Toast. Mine did. It's the most popular burning SW on the mac... assuming you don't count Apple's own authoring support module [used in iTunes and the Finder].
So while true, many have not purchased a copy of Toast per se, they do have a legit version.
.
Of when the Native Americans were given pox-ridden blankets by the early settlers..
Gee, thanks! [caugh, caugh]
Or maybe it was to get back at Korea for the Speed Skating events during the winter olympics
=)
Being a bit of an audiophile, I've tested both the SACD as well as the DVDA [DVD-Audio] and I must admit, I like the DVDA version better. On paper, the specs for DVDA are also much better. Check it out here. There is a DVDA FAQ here
I highly suggest that you check out some of the recordings.... *much* better than standard CD!
.
Some of the problems in handling this approach is that unlike the SETI, etc. way of doing things, where a client goes out, grabs a chunk of data to be worked on, then sends the resultant data back to the server, each of these social/governance problems *aren't* a mathmatical formula. You can't just apply the same formulae to every problem. There is no "right" way to do it.
/. postings on "getting in the zone"]. This means that while people may not be thinking about work during their lunch hour, they will have a difficult time getting back to thinking about work when they are done [or getting into the mindset of whatever problem needs to be solved]
Computers are also good at multitasking, whereas humans [aside from life-functions] have for the most part, a single tasking thought processes. It also takes people a non-trivial amount of time to context switch [see various
Human filter. Again, unlike the SETI idea, a human needs to filter all the resultant data, as by definition, new ways of solving problems don't fit into a previously known idea. say you do get several thousand people working on this project, the resultant data will be huge, *and* every human filter will filter the information in their own way, there is no "control".
That being said, new ideas come from all around us. Who knows what this experiment can yield.
.
Waaay out, on the water, see it swimming!
Pixies Rock!
.
The answer you didn't want to hear:
.0.2, .0.3, etc. This is usually for things like bug fixes, speed improvements, etc.
"Sometimes"
Apple has never charged for online downloads of point upgrades. This usually means things like 10.0.1,
That being said, Apple *does* charge for "big" point upgrades. Technically, they charged for 10.1, although it was available *for free* if you had a MacOS Up-to-Date card. All you had to do was give the guy at an Apple Store or a Comp-USA the card [one of the three] and you walked out of the store with a "free" upgrade.
So what is MacOS Up-to-Date?? When you purchased your mac, it came with all sorts of paper/docs, etc. One of those bit of paper is important. It allows you 3 "free" updates to the Mac OS. After you use your cards, you are expected to pay full retail for your OS purchase. The cool bit about this being that the cards aren't needed for the downloadable updates.
While it hasn't been announced as of yet, I would speculate that 10.2 *is* a "pay" upgrade. The new features that they are adding are *huge*, and anything of this magnatude is a pay upgrade. Apple is an interesting company, as they realise that users won't pay $100 to $130 for a "dot upgrade". This means that they will charge maybe $50, but with that you get a CD, so if you lunch your HDD you won't need to play "software update control panel wheel of fortune".
I hope this helped
.
Apple is just trying to cover their own colective arses. Here's the deal, say some sub-18 year old kid decideds to take/steal someone else's code [from work, from a friend, etc.] and then submits this code to Apple. Apple likes the code, so it gets included in the Darwin source. Later it is found that the code is actually the IP of aome other company, Apple gets litigated into oblivion, as the code is sitting right out in the open. Apple has no recourse on the sub-18 year old kid.
Apple is not evil, they are just covering their own arse. Yes, I do agree that kids under 18 should be allowed to contribute, but the problem is that Apple is a corp. They need some way to make sure they are protected. "Signing" a document is a good way to do that. Falsly filling out a form is not a solution, it just makes matters worse.
So *that* is what that smell is!!! Gods! I go to two Boston Markets [was going to abbr to BM, but well...] and the one in Greenwich, CT I can't stay in for more than 5 minutes, as it smells like urine! The other, in the neighbouring city of Stamford, CT, smells just fine. Maybe they didn't get the memo!
Wow! and for all this time, I thought it was someone on staff with a *really* bad bladder problem
Thanks for clearing that up!
One thing that puzzles me however... If the DDR333 spec isn't fully complete, what happens when it *is* complete and the chipset isn't 100% compatible ?
Hey! just because some of us are gay, doesn't mean we are all "flamers" LOL.
Congrats to you both, I hope you have a wonderful life together!!!!!
Can they get a W00t! W00t!
Sure they control things you publish, or to be slightly more accurate, they probably do. Who owns your ISP? Who owns the pipe? If you decide to raise up a large enough stink for the "mega-corps" to care, don't you think they'll lean on your ISP to shut your access down?
Yes Virginia, this is what happens when the same company owns the content, distribution channels and infrastructure. Your voice *will* be drowned out by the big-guys, if they choose to. Don't fool yourself.
No this isn't what the article is stating... The article said that "File Type" can be changed to reflect *accuracy* ie, if your file *is* a JPEG, but for some reason, the meta-data associated with the file tags it as a TIFF, you can change the meta-data to the more accurate JPEG, without affecting the actual encoding of the file itself.
That feature was called NX Hosting. It allowed you do remote desktop functionality a la X, but with quite a bit of added functionality. It was also much faster over a network, considering it wasn't pushing pixels, it was pushing PS.
Unfort, they pulled this functionality out of this version of OS X, but the underlying framework is there, they just need to tweak it for PDF, rather than plain jane PS. I expect someone will either hack it to work, or Apple will add it in a later version [release 2 or 3]