OS X 'to Fly' on Intel, Intel OS X Catches Up to PowerPC Version, Dell on Apple, and More

Charles Moore - 2005.11.10

This Week's Macintel News

Apple's decision to switch to Intel CPUs means we live in very interesting times.

PowerBook, iBook, and other portable computing news is covered in The 'Book Review. General Apple and Mac desktop news is covered in The Mac News Review. iPod news is covered in The iPod News Review.

• Mac OS X 'to Fly' on Intel
• OS X for Intel on Par with OS X for PowerPC
• OS X for Intel Catches Up with Its Older Brother
• Apple Looks Set to Announce New Intel 'Books in First Half of 2006
• Speaking of Things Michael Dell Said About Apple
• Building the $200 OSx86 Mac

Mac OS X 'to Fly' on Intel

Gene Steinberg says:

"I don't like to depend on what rumor sites say, although they are sometimes right. And when Mac developers violate their nondisclosure agreements with Apple and tell you things they shouldn't be discussing, you want to both listen and tell them to keep their mouths shut. What a dilemma!

"But one fact is emerging from the hushed discussions, and that is you will see a very different user experience when you buy the first MacIntels, even the Mac mini. For one thing, the operating system will seem to have, as one technology writer has suggested, 'afterburners.' It'll fly in places where it now seems to run out of steam. No, it's not just because Intel processors will be faster, and they will of course. But why should this be so? Why should moving Mac OS X away from its 'native' processor to a new one suddenly yield such a surprising speed gain? Well, if you can believe what some are saying, and it makes perfect sense, Mac OS X is really better optimized for Intel, and that getting it to run in a satisfactory fashion on the PowerPC required a lot of work under-the-hood. That's why, for example, Mac OS 10.0 was so sluggish."

Link: Mac OS X on Intel Revisited

OS X for Intel on Par with OS X for PowerPC

PCPro's Simon Aughton says:

"The version of OS X that Apple is developing in preparation for its transition to Intel hardware has caught up with the publicly available version for its Power PC-based Macs.

"OSx86 Project reports that: 'This marks the first time that Apple has released a copy of the OS for the Developer Transition Kits which is identical to the PPC version.'

"The website adds that this reflects the change in emphasis within Apple's engineering resources toward the Intel (x86) version of OS X.

"The latest x86 version is said to have much stronger security controls than before, designed to prevent the software from being hacked to run on non-Apple hardware."

Link: Apple's Intel-ready OS X on a Par with Power PC-based Range

OS X for Intel Catches Up with Its Older Brother

osx86project.org's Mashugly says:

"Hot on the heels of a 10.4.1 'update' which pulled parts from an uncracked 10.4.3 OSx86 to improve the already cracked version, we've received confirmed reports that the full OS X 10.4.3 installation DVD has been leaked via bittorrent. Although the TPM restrictions are still protecting the OS as of this writing, the word on the street is that hackers have already begun dissecting Apple's new security measures. We are told that the TPM protections in 10.4.3 are significantly stronger, indicating that Apple has used the previous two releases to refine their mechanism for hardware control."

Link: Intel OS X Finally Catches Up with Its Older Brother

Apple Looks Set to Announce New Intel 'Books in First Half of 2006

businessreview's Stuart Lauchlan says:

"To date Apple has only said that the first Intel-based Macintosh systems will appear by the middle of 2006, but it now looks as though they'll debut at MacWorld in San Francisco in the New Year.

"Apple announced in June 2005 at the World Wide Developer Conference (WWDC) in San Francisco that it will over the next two years be transferring to Intel chips for its Apple computer range. As well as the Intel models, there will be a design overhaul. A new 15in widescreen model will be first and have a much thinner design than current models and will come with an iSight web camera similar to that found in the new iMac. An updated 17in widescreen PowerBook will appear a few months later with an iBook appearing around April/May in America."

Link: Apple Looks Set to Announce New PowerBooks and iBooks with the Intel Chipset in the First Half of Next Year

Speaking of Things Michael Dell Said About Apple

BusinessWeek's Arik Hesseldahl says:

"...while I'm thinking of Michael Dell, something else he said about Apple . . . came to mind following Apple's release last week of a new round of PowerMac G5 and PowerBook portable computers. It occurs to me that the next round of Macs due next year should be the first to sport Intel Microprocessors.

"When asked about Apple's switch to Intel over the summer, Dell conceded in an interview he'd be interested in selling computers under his own brand that run Apple's Mac OS X. Of course Apple hasn't issued any licenses for the Mac OS - at least not since the mid-1990s when you could buy Mac-clones from outfits like Power Computing and Umax - so there's little hope of a Dell running OS X anytime soon.

"I don't know that I would want to buy a Dell machine running the Mac OS, but I certainly would buy - and indeed pay extra for - a Mac that boots to both the Mac OS and Windows, and runs both natively without compromising on performance....

"Give me two computers - one a Mac, the other Windows - crammed into a single box, and operating off a single monitor, and I'll be pretty happy...."

Link: And Speaking of Things Michael Dell Said About Apple

Building the $200 OSx86 Mac

i-hacked.com's hevnsnt says:

"With the OSx86 (OSX Tiger for Intel chipsets) leak, hundreds of people have been attempting to install OSx86 on their home computers. Some are having great luck, while others are finding that their hardware is not compatible, and it just won't install. In the following article I will discuss how to build a Intel based computer that comes very closely to meeting the specs of the OSx86 Development machines. We will discuss exactly WHAT hardware you want, WHERE to find the software, and HOW to install it. Meaning that with a little magic, this complete walkthrough will have you installing OSx86 on a $200 Intel machine using the OSX install disc, and have everything work great!"

Link: Building the $200 OSx86 Mac

More Mac News

PowerBook, iBook, and other portable computing news is covered in The 'Book Review. General Apple and Mac desktop news is covered in The Mac News Review. iPod news is covered in The iPod News Review.