Compiled by Charles Moore
and edited by Dan Knight
- 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 iNews Review.
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 iNews Review.
