Compiled by Charles Moore
and edited by Dan Knight
- 2005.12.01
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.
News, Analysis, and Opinion
Other Intel News
News, Analysis, and Opinion
Introduction to OS Virtualization
Expect this to be a Really Big Thing™ with
high-end Macintel computers. Virtualization would allow you to run
OS X, Linux, and Windows concurrently. dk
DebCentral's Josh reports:
"One of the hottest topics in all of IT today is the subject of
virtualization. While it has been around for some time, it has just
recently started to garner the attention of the biggest names in
tech. Everyone from Intel and AMD, to Microsoft, Sun, and virtually
every commercial Linux vendor has either current or planned support
for virtualization. So what is it, and why is everyone so head over
heels about it?
"Virtualization comes chiefly in two forms, hardware or software
virtualization. The most well known is likely hardware emulation.
In this type of virtualization, the host OS provides a layer which
translates the usual system functions of the guest OS. For example,
VMware running on Linux but also running a Windows OS inside the
application. In this situation, VMware intercepts the calls Windows
makes to the actual physical hardware and translates those calls
into a manner in which the Linux kernel can understand....
"The second main type of virtualization is OS or software. This
type is a newer approach, and is much more efficient than the older
method of hardware emulation we talked about above. Examples of
this type of virtualization can be seen in applications such as
Xen, Virtuozzo, UserMode Linux, VServer, or Solaris' Zones. This
type of virtualization also uses a base, or host OS but with one
major difference. Instead of sharing processes by translating them
from the guest, running them on the host, and returning the result,
this approach provides each guest its own environment to directly
access the hardware....
"The next step in this evolution is actually to go down lower to
do 'real' hardware virtualization. Intel and AMD both have been
developing processors that allow multiple OS's to run inside
partitions on the system, requiring no additional software and no
emulation of any kind. Earlier this week, Intel was the first to
announce the availability of this type of virtualization for
desktops (it has been available within Xeons for some time now)
with Intel Virtualization Technology (VT). These processors
currently are single core Pentiums with Hyperthreading, but will be
replaced with dual core, Hyperthreaded VT enabled processors next
year. AMD is planning to roll out their line of virtualization
equipped processors in multiple core designs very shortly. These
chips function by providing a layer, called a hypervisor, that
allows multiple OS or applications to utilize the host hardware to
its full potential without tripping over each other or attempting
to share a single memory address among OS's."
Link: OS
Virtualization: An Introduction
Instant-on Macs Coming Soon?
The Motley Fool's Seth Jayson says:
"Someone's gotta be the one who starts the rumor, right? So here
goes.
"I think Apple's going to be offering instant-on computers in
the very near future. Make that near-instant. Faster than normal,
anyway. And some of these may just be the integrated music and
video home-media boxes people have been predicting ever since the
iPod redefined Apple's game.
"Confused yet? Let's take a step back and look again at the big
NAND flash deal that Apple signed with Toshiba, Samsung, and a new
joint venture between Intel and Micron Technologies...."
Link: Instant
Gratification from Apple?
No Media Drives on Macintel Models?
My friend MyMac columnist Roger Born says:
"Think about it. Apple did something like this before when they
came out with the very first new iMacs. Remember? No floppy drives.
Apple was ahead of the curve then. So why not now, when the new
Intel Macs come out? Having a CD/DVD drive is old hat. What better
time to drop them altogether and allow media content to play on the
Mac from downloads, FireWire and WiFi? Why not allow backups
directly to external USB drives, iPods and such?
"Take a look at what has been said about this idea...."
Link: No
Media Drives on Intel Macs?
Intel, Micron Team on Flash Production
eWeek's Jeffrey Burt reports:
"Intel Corp. and Micron Technology Inc. are forming a company
that will manufacture NAND flash memory, a rapidly growing segment
of the flash memory market that is used in such devices as some of
Apple Computer Inc.'s popular iPod music players.
"In announcing the plan last week, Intel and Micron also said
Apple will buy a 'significant share' of the flash memory
manufactured by the new company, which will be called IM Flash
Technologies LLC. Apple will prepay Intel and Micron $250 million
each as part of the deal."
Link: Intel, Micron
Team on Flash Production
Intel Hedges Its Bets with Flash Memory
BusinessWeek's Olga Kharif reports:
"For years, Wall Street has urged Intel to change its approach
to the computer-memory market. Investors pressed the chipmaking
colossus to make a play for so-called NAND flash memory, used to
store music and video in consumer electronics products such as
Apple's iPod digital music players. Intel balked, insisting NAND
would go nowhere. Instead, the chipmaker clung to its plan to
support an different data-storage format known as NOR. Since then,
Intel, which developed NOR in the 1980s, has become the market
leader in the technology.
"Now, it looks like Intel finally has got the message. Demand
for NOR, which stores data on cell phones, is dropping, while sales
of NAND have been growing about 60% a year. On Nov. 21, Intel
announced a joint venture with a top PC memory supplier, Micron, to
manufacture NAND. The companies will invest as much as $5.2 billion
over three years. Intel's about-face didn't come a moment too soon
- and it could trigger a sea change in how NAND memory is used and
the way Intel markets its products.
"Called IM Flash Technologies, the joint venture has already
signed up a heavy-hitting customer: none other than Apple , which
consumes about 20% of all NAND output today, according to chip
consultancy iSuppli. Apple has already placed a $500 million order
that will be divided equally between Intel and Micron, the
companies said. That's likely to give Apple a whooping 25% of all
NAND chips next year (its other suppliers include Samsung, Toshiba,
and Hynix)."
Link:
Intel Switches Its Chip Bets
Intel Starts an 'Apple Group'
eWeek's Daniel Drew Turner reports:
"Industry analysts and others have confirmed that Intel Corp.
has formed an internal 'Apple group.' This group, formed in the
wake of Apple Computer Inc.'s decision to base its next generation
of Macintosh computers on Intel processors, is comprised of
engineers and sales staff.
"Intel has similar groups for other large clients such as Lenovo
and Hewlett-Packard. Specifics on the Apple group are sparse,
however. Details are considered confidential internal information,
said Intel representative Tom Beerman."
Link: Intel Starts
an 'Apple Group'
Revisiting the Apple/Intel Connection
Gene Steinberg, the Mac Night Owl, says:
"When 2005 began, I doubt that many of you expected Apple would
announce a switch to Intel processors by the middle of the year. At
the time, the new products included a pair of product lines that
Apple said it wouldn't produce: The Mac mini and the iPod shuffle.
So you knew from the get-go to expect the unexpected, but did you
ever believe that would include a switch to Intel processors?"
Link: Revisiting
the Apple/Intel Connection
Will Apple Rush Macintels to Market?
Gene Steinberg, the Mac Night Owl, says:
"As any one who has dared invest on Wall Street can attest,
psychology remains a huge factor in a company's stock performance.
If you perceive that a company's sales are apt to increase, you buy
its stock to take advantage of the expected higher prices, and if
you perceive that sales are not meeting expectations, you sell in a
mad rush before prices collapse. The same apt to be quite as true
for a retail product. If you know that a superior model or a price
reduction is coming soon, you may ignore existing products and sit
on the sidelines."
Link: Will
Apple Be Forced to Rush Macintels?
BBEdit Ready for Intel Macs
Dr. Dobb's Journal's Tom Thompson says:
"In June of this year, Apple Macintosh developers discovered
that they had a formidable challenge set before them. The bad news
was that to continue in the Macintosh software market, they were
going to have to migrate their Power PC-based applications to an
Intel x86-based Macintosh. The good news was that the operating
system, Mac OS X, had already been ported and was running on
prototype x86-based systems. Furthermore, Apple Computer offered
cross-compiler Xcode tools that would take an application's
existing source code and generate a 'universal binary' file of the
application. The universal binary file contains both Power PC and
x86 versions of the program, and would therefore execute on both
the old and new Mac platforms....
"Apple provided developer reports that describe the migration of
an existing Mac to the new platform as relatively quick and easy. I
don't dispute those reports. There are situations where a
particular application's software design dovetails nicely with the
target platform's software. For example, if the application is
written to use Cocoa, an object-oriented API whose
hardware-independent frameworks implement many of Mac OS X's system
services, the job is straightforward.
"However, not all Mac applications are in such an ideal
position....
"This brings us to the $64,000 (or more) question: For most
existing Mac applications, how difficult and costly is it to
migrate a Power PC Mac application to the x86-based Mac platform?
To see where the truth lies, I present in this article a case study
of the porting process for a commercial Mac application.
"The application in question is Bare Bones Software's BBEdit, an
industrial-strength text editor
(http://www.barebones.com/)...."
Link:
A Mac Text Editor Migrates to Intel
Other Intel News
Intel's P4 Roadmap
The Register's Tony Smith reports:
"Roadmap Intel's 'Conroe' processor, the multicore desktop CPU
derived from the company's next-generation notebook chip, 'Merom',
will ship in Q3 2006, according to the latest leaked roadmap.
"The roadmap confirms the arrival of the Pentium Extreme Edition
955, the 65nm, HyperThreading-enabled 3.46 GHz dual-core processor
already mentioned by motherboard maker Asus. The 955 will ship in
Q1 2006, and not be replaced until Q4 with a part whose model
number and clock speed remain unknown.
"The 955 is based on the Presler core, which will also form the
basis for the Pentium D 920, 930, 940 and 950 next quarter. The two
HyperThreading-less dualies are clocked at 2.8 GHz, 3 GHz, 3.2
GHz and 3.4 GHz, respectively, the roadmap - revealed by
Japanese-language website PCWatch - shows."
Link:
Intel Juggles 'Cedar Mill' P4 Model Numbers
Intel Preps Next Gen Celeron
Rollout
The Register's Tony Smith reports:
"Exclusive Intel Celeron M processors based on the upcoming 65nm
'Yonah' core will appear in Q2 2006, according to the chip giant's
latest roadmap.
"Separately, internal Intel retail documentation seen by The
Register reveal the next generation of Centrino, a.k.a. 'Napa',
will debut in January as anticipated, but be followed by a
second-stage rollout in March.
"Celeron M clock speeds remain unlisted for now, but the
roadmaps, as conveyed by Japanese-language site PCWatch, indicate
the chips will appear as models 410 and 420. A third Celeron M, the
430, will ship in Q3 2006. All three contain 1 MB of L2 cache
and are single-core chips.
"A single Yonah-based Celeron M ULV will debut in Q2 2006, as
the 423."
Link:
Intel Preps Two-stage 'Napa' Retail Rollout
Intel to Take 'Averill' to Market as
Centrino-like Platform
The Register's Tony Smith reports:
"Intel will next year launch its third branded PC platform,
after Centrino and Viiv, this time pitched at corporate
desktops.
"As yet there's no word on the platform's go-to-market
brandname, but it will almost certainly be based on Intel's
'Averill' platform. Averill was announced at the chip giant's
Developer Forum in March this year for availability in 2006."
Link:
Intel to Take 'Averill' to Market as Centrino-like
Platform
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.
