Actually, it has never actually been proven that factoring problems are NP-complete. So the fact that quantum computers may be able to solve them in polynomial time may be more of a demonstration that they are not in fact NP-complete rather than that P=NP. As has been pointed out by others, there has yet to be a quantum algorithm demonstrated that solves a problem that is KNOWN to be NP-complete in polynomial time.
LaserWriter IIs has TrueType support? They were PostScript printers, and since TrueType rasterizers have always been in the main CPU under the MacOS, if Apple gave them TrueType rasterizers, they made them for systems other than Macs. It's possible, but count me dubious.
Heh.. Yesterday I said something about how the IBM/G3 Linux systems might not cetch on, and several people replyed "Yea, but Apple will help get GCC up to speed, GCC is better than thier compiler." Well... I doubt it.
GCC is not better than their compiler. GCC is their compiler, for MacOS X.
Apple's support of GNU has always been more hype IMHO than fact. They like to say they do to gain market share, but when it comes down to it, they seem to need to be forced to do anything. If people are going to hope it will happen, they will probably be SOL.
Can you say flamebait?
Think about it. IBM lets out motherboard specs for Motorola processors, hoping Linux will be used on them.
PowerPC are Motorola processors? That's probably news to IBM. PowerPC are based on POWER ISA and Moto 88k bus spec, and are made by both IBM and Motorola.
What would Apple gain by getting GCC to work better with the G3?
Get a better compiler for their OS? (See above.)
What's left? Well, maybe the "polish" like fonts, GUI stuff...
I would guess Apple would be perfectly happy keeping all the polish stuff. However, font technology hasn't been a differentiating factor for about a decade, so they're not likely to hold on too tightly to it. In fact, the biggest recent Apple innovation to font technology, GX fonts, is largely moribund now.
Regarding GCC support and optimization for the PPC architecture, it is worth noting that Apple use GCC for MaxOS X development, and so do have an interest in GCC being optimized for PPC. They also do fold their changes back into the main tree.
(It is also worth noting that Apple's Mr. C compiler was and still may be one of the best C compilers you could get for the PPC architecture. So Apple is not exactly short on compilation talent.)
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Actually, it has never actually been proven that factoring problems are NP-complete. So the fact that quantum computers may be able to solve them in polynomial time may be more of a demonstration that they are not in fact NP-complete rather than that P=NP. As has been pointed out by others, there has yet to be a quantum algorithm demonstrated that solves a problem that is KNOWN to be NP-complete in polynomial time.
LaserWriter IIs has TrueType support? They were PostScript printers, and since TrueType rasterizers have always been in the main CPU under the MacOS, if Apple gave them TrueType rasterizers, they made them for systems other than Macs. It's possible, but count me dubious.
GCC is not better than their compiler. GCC is their compiler, for MacOS X.
Apple's support of GNU has always been more hype IMHO than fact. They like to say they do to gain market share, but when it comes down to it, they seem to need to be forced to do anything. If people are going to hope it will happen, they will probably be SOL.
Can you say flamebait?
Think about it. IBM lets out motherboard specs for Motorola processors, hoping Linux will be used on them.
PowerPC are Motorola processors? That's probably news to IBM. PowerPC are based on POWER ISA and Moto 88k bus spec, and are made by both IBM and Motorola.
What would Apple gain by getting GCC to work better with the G3?
Get a better compiler for their OS? (See above.)
What's left? Well, maybe the "polish" like fonts, GUI stuff...
I would guess Apple would be perfectly happy keeping all the polish stuff. However, font technology hasn't been a differentiating factor for about a decade, so they're not likely to hold on too tightly to it. In fact, the biggest recent Apple innovation to font technology, GX fonts, is largely moribund now.
Regarding GCC support and optimization for the PPC architecture, it is worth noting that Apple use GCC for MaxOS X development, and so do have an interest in GCC being optimized for PPC. They also do fold their changes back into the main tree.
(It is also worth noting that Apple's Mr. C compiler was and still may be one of the best C compilers you could get for the PPC architecture. So Apple is not exactly short on compilation talent.)