I'll try to give an honest answer. I have this very same argu^H^H^H^Hconversation with one of the developers I work with pretty frequently. To give you a bit of background, I am a software developer on multiple platforms including Mac OS X, but I spend most of my time on Windows.
Performance in a given task is not defined by frontside bus bandwidth. It is defined in the amount of useful work done in a given time.
All things being equal, the computer platform with the highest raw performance should perform more useful work in a given time. But things are never equal. How many different parts of the operating system and application are mixed in with the process? How many different developers of varying skill levels have added code to the process? Under normal circumstances, a given algorithm can vary between log n and n-squared processing time, depending on the quality of the developer's insight to the problem at hand.
Perhaps an analogy: put me on a Suzuki GSX-R1000 and let me race against Nicky Hayden on a GSX-R600. By rights, I've got almost twice the horsepower. But there is no freakin' way I'll get around a racetrack faster! Objective fact: the raw performance of the GSX-R1000 is higher. Objective fact: the GSX-R600 made it around the racetrack faster. Conclusion: the raw performance of the platform was not the dominant factor in the test.
So, do I expect the Mac to be faster? No, I expect it to be slower. But I will not argue when I am presented with meaningful benchmarks which contradict that presumption, either. What those benchmarks are saying is that the variables other than raw performance are dominating the equation.
Two frames per second is pretty low. I looked at Apple's tech specs for the iBook 700 (I'm assuming it's the same one you can buy now), and it has the same graphics chip as my TiBook.
I have seen performance this low before on my system, however. Are you running jEdit or another Java application concurrently? My coding tool of choice is BBEdit, but for fun one time I took jEdit for a whirl, and when I tried to run my updated bot, I saw numbers that low. As soon as I quit jEdit, Robocode perked back up to 12 fps. Of course, that was with Java 1.3.1.
Other than that, I'm at a loss. I would imagine that with your extra clock speed, you would have the same performance with the G3 as with my G4, but that is speculation.
I installed and ran a perfunctory test of the new Java Runtime last night. I then fired up Robocode. I have a Powerbook G4 550, and in the past, I would see around 12 fps during the battles. With the new Java, I was seeing 24 fps consistently!
I found JEdit and started using it on Win2k at work. It is the best text editor (besides BBEdit) that I have ever used. Some of the plugins for java development are the cat's ass, and it does a lot right. I was doing some Java development at home at the time (playing with Robocode) and I wanted to use the java compiler plugin, because BBEdit 6.1 did not have a similar option.
However, I found that Robocode would grind to a halt (1-2 fps) when jEdit was running concurrently. Quit jEdit and my framerate jumped to around 12 fps. I don't see this kind of a performance hit when running jEdit/Robocode at work (don't tell my boss!), so I'm guessing that there is some issue with the java runtime in OS X.
Either way, I paid $49 for my upgrade to version 7 of BBEdit, which allows me to run UNIX commands from command windows (step in the way-back machine: we're doing the MPW shuffle!), including javac, so it's all moot in the end.
Summary: jEdit on Win2K, good, on OS X, bad!
Message to Microsoft bashers everywhere: strike back at the evil empire! Every XBox you buy costs MS $199. Run Linux on it, use it as a footstool, but don't buy any games for it!
I'm happy with my Powerbook G4 550. I bought it over a year ago (my first Powerbook). I get depressed when I think about not being able to play Doom 3 on it, but just think about all I have accomplished and will accomplish before it comes out. I haven't installed an AirPort card, so I don't know if the stories of bad reception are true. I have 256MB of RAM installed, and I'm starting to think about an extra 256, b/c things start to slow down when I'm running a few big Classic apps and X stuff at the same time. My usual use for the Powerbook: surfing, email, coding web applications (BBEdit 7!) and Cocoa Dev. I use an old B&W G3 350 as my web server.
I think that in its own way, the solution you have described would also set the software industry back into the stone ages. It's about lawyers and the little guy getting hosed, it's about component software and the way that that there would be a chain of litigation because everything builds on top of everything else.
I am a software developer, and I develop VB-based GIS applications. I use a well-known GIS vendor's GIS building blocks as the cornerstone of everything I have done in the last three years, and other vendor's COM controls in the interfaces. I have delivered several products to clients, and there have been extensive problems, a healthy portion of which are bubbling up from the components I have used and glued together within my applications.
If I were to be sued by my clients for defects in the components I had used, I would have to sue each of the component vendors (perhaps as part of a class-action lawsuit). In turn, each of those vendors would no doubt sue the large corporations such as Microsoft, Sybase, Oracle, etc. for the defects in the technology which underlies their components.
By avoiding components which had been built by other vendors, I gain the comfort that I have control over what I have sent to my client. But I can't build everything. That's why components, libraries and frameworks exist. By embracing components, I can deliver the expected product, but I open myself to unexpected litigation. Component vendors would disappear: they would be producing components with slim margins which could do nothing but bring them lawsuits.
Then there is the nightmare of proving in court that it was a flaw in the component that caused the fault. Jury of my peers, my ass. Have you ever grabbed a random person on the street and explained the problems of pointer arithmetic to them? Now try it with 12 people who will just end up listening to the lawyer with the biggest paycheck.
The cascading lawsuits will stop at the highest-priced lawyer, and then rebound back down the line. Most small and medium companies will fold after a single failed defense (or successful defense, if the court costs are high). There would be a vaccuum in the software industry: demand for software, but no one available to produce it. Some vendors (bigger ones who survived) would re-enter the space, and charge exorbitant prices to insure against litigation and because they are re-inventing the wheel constantly without available components.
Or you could let the current trends play out. There is an increasing realization by major OS vendors that stability and security are the next big hurdles. Microsoft has a seriously tarnished reputation from their track record. Apple has dropped their proprietary core and adopted UNIX. GNU/Linux is a manifestation of the inadequacies (stability and security) of the previous generations of operating systems. As the core OSes improve, that trend will trickle outwards to the component providers, and then finally to the application developer.
We don't need litigation, we need pissed off customers who scream bloody murder when their application crashes. We need to direct that passion at the OS vendors, and make them fear for their profits. Economics, my dear Watson.
If you're going to be databasing with PHP and MySQL, make sure you get phpMyAdmin. This is easily the most useful software I've ever downloaded.
It takes the software you already have: Apache and a browser, and turns it into an awesome admin tool for MySQL. Add databases, create tables, import/export data, browse data, you name it. Once you've got PHP, Apache and MySQL running, make this your next stop.
Or there is the original movie theatre alternative: the drive-in! They are getting pretty hard to find, but the one near where I live is hands-down the best movie experience. It's reasonable as heck, too: $7 Canadian for a double feature. The screen is huge, the environment is controlled (window goes up, window goes down) and the sound system is as good as your stereo.
I don't know exactly what the story is on the concession there, but believe it or not, they don't fleece you. I guess because you could bring in a trunkload of outside food, they provide a high-quality, reasonably priced menu. Try a large popcorn (and it's huge) for $2 Canadian. (Last time I checked, that's about a nickel in USD)
Slashdot Mirror
I'll try to give an honest answer. I have this very same argu^H^H^H^Hconversation with one of the developers I work with pretty frequently. To give you a bit of background, I am a software developer on multiple platforms including Mac OS X, but I spend most of my time on Windows.
Performance in a given task is not defined by frontside bus bandwidth. It is defined in the amount of useful work done in a given time.
All things being equal, the computer platform with the highest raw performance should perform more useful work in a given time. But things are never equal. How many different parts of the operating system and application are mixed in with the process? How many different developers of varying skill levels have added code to the process? Under normal circumstances, a given algorithm can vary between log n and n-squared processing time, depending on the quality of the developer's insight to the problem at hand.
Perhaps an analogy: put me on a Suzuki GSX-R1000 and let me race against Nicky Hayden on a GSX-R600. By rights, I've got almost twice the horsepower. But there is no freakin' way I'll get around a racetrack faster! Objective fact: the raw performance of the GSX-R1000 is higher. Objective fact: the GSX-R600 made it around the racetrack faster. Conclusion: the raw performance of the platform was not the dominant factor in the test.
So, do I expect the Mac to be faster? No, I expect it to be slower. But I will not argue when I am presented with meaningful benchmarks which contradict that presumption, either. What those benchmarks are saying is that the variables other than raw performance are dominating the equation.
Two frames per second is pretty low. I looked at Apple's tech specs for the iBook 700 (I'm assuming it's the same one you can buy now), and it has the same graphics chip as my TiBook.
I have seen performance this low before on my system, however. Are you running jEdit or another Java application concurrently? My coding tool of choice is BBEdit, but for fun one time I took jEdit for a whirl, and when I tried to run my updated bot, I saw numbers that low. As soon as I quit jEdit, Robocode perked back up to 12 fps. Of course, that was with Java 1.3.1.
Other than that, I'm at a loss. I would imagine that with your extra clock speed, you would have the same performance with the G3 as with my G4, but that is speculation.
I installed and ran a perfunctory test of the new Java Runtime last night. I then fired up Robocode. I have a Powerbook G4 550, and in the past, I would see around 12 fps during the battles. With the new Java, I was seeing 24 fps consistently!
This is a great leap forward, IMHO.
I found JEdit and started using it on Win2k at work. It is the best text editor (besides BBEdit) that I have ever used. Some of the plugins for java development are the cat's ass, and it does a lot right. I was doing some Java development at home at the time (playing with Robocode) and I wanted to use the java compiler plugin, because BBEdit 6.1 did not have a similar option. However, I found that Robocode would grind to a halt (1-2 fps) when jEdit was running concurrently. Quit jEdit and my framerate jumped to around 12 fps. I don't see this kind of a performance hit when running jEdit/Robocode at work (don't tell my boss!), so I'm guessing that there is some issue with the java runtime in OS X. Either way, I paid $49 for my upgrade to version 7 of BBEdit, which allows me to run UNIX commands from command windows (step in the way-back machine: we're doing the MPW shuffle!), including javac, so it's all moot in the end. Summary: jEdit on Win2K, good, on OS X, bad!
Message to Microsoft bashers everywhere: strike back at the evil empire! Every XBox you buy costs MS $199. Run Linux on it, use it as a footstool, but don't buy any games for it!
I'm happy with my Powerbook G4 550. I bought it over a year ago (my first Powerbook). I get depressed when I think about not being able to play Doom 3 on it, but just think about all I have accomplished and will accomplish before it comes out. I haven't installed an AirPort card, so I don't know if the stories of bad reception are true. I have 256MB of RAM installed, and I'm starting to think about an extra 256, b/c things start to slow down when I'm running a few big Classic apps and X stuff at the same time.
My usual use for the Powerbook: surfing, email, coding web applications (BBEdit 7!) and Cocoa Dev. I use an old B&W G3 350 as my web server.
The Indiana Jones quote (and it is a great one) is from Raiders of the Lost Ark.
I think that in its own way, the solution you have described would also set the software industry back into the stone ages. It's about lawyers and the little guy getting hosed, it's about component software and the way that that there would be a chain of litigation because everything builds on top of everything else.
I am a software developer, and I develop VB-based GIS applications. I use a well-known GIS vendor's GIS building blocks as the cornerstone of everything I have done in the last three years, and other vendor's COM controls in the interfaces. I have delivered several products to clients, and there have been extensive problems, a healthy portion of which are bubbling up from the components I have used and glued together within my applications.
If I were to be sued by my clients for defects in the components I had used, I would have to sue each of the component vendors (perhaps as part of a class-action lawsuit). In turn, each of those vendors would no doubt sue the large corporations such as Microsoft, Sybase, Oracle, etc. for the defects in the technology which underlies their components.
By avoiding components which had been built by other vendors, I gain the comfort that I have control over what I have sent to my client. But I can't build everything. That's why components, libraries and frameworks exist. By embracing components, I can deliver the expected product, but I open myself to unexpected litigation. Component vendors would disappear: they would be producing components with slim margins which could do nothing but bring them lawsuits.
Then there is the nightmare of proving in court that it was a flaw in the component that caused the fault. Jury of my peers, my ass. Have you ever grabbed a random person on the street and explained the problems of pointer arithmetic to them? Now try it with 12 people who will just end up listening to the lawyer with the biggest paycheck.
The cascading lawsuits will stop at the highest-priced lawyer, and then rebound back down the line. Most small and medium companies will fold after a single failed defense (or successful defense, if the court costs are high). There would be a vaccuum in the software industry: demand for software, but no one available to produce it. Some vendors (bigger ones who survived) would re-enter the space, and charge exorbitant prices to insure against litigation and because they are re-inventing the wheel constantly without available components.
Or you could let the current trends play out. There is an increasing realization by major OS vendors that stability and security are the next big hurdles. Microsoft has a seriously tarnished reputation from their track record. Apple has dropped their proprietary core and adopted UNIX. GNU/Linux is a manifestation of the inadequacies (stability and security) of the previous generations of operating systems. As the core OSes improve, that trend will trickle outwards to the component providers, and then finally to the application developer.
We don't need litigation, we need pissed off customers who scream bloody murder when their application crashes. We need to direct that passion at the OS vendors, and make them fear for their profits. Economics, my dear Watson.
Thanks for the heads up. I voted. It was a toss-up between Newton and Darwin, but physics won the day.
HBH
If you're going to be databasing with PHP and MySQL, make sure you get phpMyAdmin. This is easily the most useful software I've ever downloaded.
It takes the software you already have: Apache and a browser, and turns it into an awesome admin tool for MySQL. Add databases, create tables, import/export data, browse data, you name it. Once you've got PHP, Apache and MySQL running, make this your next stop.
Or there is the original movie theatre alternative: the drive-in! They are getting pretty hard to find, but the one near where I live is hands-down the best movie experience. It's reasonable as heck, too: $7 Canadian for a double feature. The screen is huge, the environment is controlled (window goes up, window goes down) and the sound system is as good as your stereo. I don't know exactly what the story is on the concession there, but believe it or not, they don't fleece you. I guess because you could bring in a trunkload of outside food, they provide a high-quality, reasonably priced menu. Try a large popcorn (and it's huge) for $2 Canadian. (Last time I checked, that's about a nickel in USD)