Compiled by Charles Moore
and edited by Dan Knight
- 2006.05.18
This Week's Macintel News
This week Gene Steinberg notes the passing of the last
sub-$1,000 'Book - perhaps only temporarily. One user has pushes a
Core Duo chip to 3.8 GHz, and Pioneer Press notes a third player in
the Windows-on-Mac game. All this and more in this week's news
roundup.
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.
The End of the $999 iBook
Gene Steinberg, the Mac Night Owl, writes
"Call me an optimist, but I think Apple has done an excellent
job transitioning its notebook computers to Intel processors. Yes,
I know some of you readers remain upset that the earliest
production runs of the MacBook
Pro weren't quite as reliable as you hoped. But all in all,
Apple has done what some might regard as a near-impossible feat,
which is to move most Macs to a totally new processor architecture
within months, way ahead of what many expected when the maneuver
was first announced nearly a year ago."
- Link: Apple's
Notebooks: Is This the End?
Core Duo Successfully Overclocked to 3.8
GHz
Dr. Macenstein says:
"Faithful Macenstein reader rico has turned us on to a posting
over at Cooling Masters which claims to have successfully
over-clocked a Core Duo (T2600) chip to as high as 3.8 GHz. (Or at
least we think that's what it says. |it's in French, and we have
enough trouble reading benchmarks in English.)....
"Now, we all know Apple is waiting for the new Core 2 Duo chips
before releasing a new PowerMac, but what I am hoping is this
experiment implies that perhaps the Core 2 Duos will be shipping
around the 3+ GHz range when they DO arrive...."
- Link: Core
Duo Successfully Over-clocked to 3.8 GHz
Macintel: Two Computers in One
Pioneer Press's Julio Ojeda-Zapata says:
"Until recently, you faced a stark choice when picking a home
computer - you bought either a Windows PC or a Macintosh.
"The popular PCs guarantee you will have access to a vast
software library, but the computers' antiquated Windows XP
operating system is infamous for its security failings. The PCs
offered by top makers wouldn't win sexiness awards, either.
"Apple Computer's Macs, by comparison, are attractive machines
with a state-of-the-art operating system and slick software for
mainstream tasks. But Apple's meager market share has meant slim
software pickings elsewhere.
"Now, you no longer have to choose. Just buy a Macintosh."
Includes comparison profiles of Apple Boot Camp, Parallels
Workstation, and Codeweavers Crossover Mac.
- Link:
It's a PC! It's a Mac! It's... Two Computers in One
Despite Scurrying to Market, Apple Got Intel
Right
InfoWorld's Tom Yager says:
"The Intel-based iMac is impossibly energy- and space-efficient,
giving far more than it takes in both regards. Pushed to the
performance red line and with the monitor cranked to full
brightness, iMac never consumed more than 95 watts of power -
one-third to half what a comparable desktop with a high-quality
20-inch LCD panel would use.
"Apple's first Intel-based Macs, iMac and MacBook Pro, were born
into a position of advantage. OS X Tiger, a loyal base of
customers and developers, firm ownership of high-margin specialty
markets, and high regard in the mainstream have turned everything
Apple's touched - at least since the Titanium PowerBook G4 - into
gold.
"These advantages did not guarantee Apple or its customers
smooth sailing from PowerPC to Intel. Despite gaping holes in its
Intel rollout strategy - holes that Apple is attempting to spackle
with speed and nerve - Apple managed to hit a home run and a double
in its first two Intel at-bats."
- Link: Despite the
Scurrying to Market, Apple Got Intel Right
PCs and Macs Start to Converge
The BBC's Chris Long reports:
"Apple's Boot Camp has changed the course of the PC/Mac war
"In 1859 Charles Darwin published The Origin of the Species. In
it he described the way he thought life had developed on Earth. He
called it 'survival of the fittest'.
"One hundred and fifty years later, that concept continues to
cause a stir around the world.
"After watching the little local difficulty between Apple and
Microsoft that has been bubbling under for the last 25 odd years I
suggest a new chapter to Darwin's book: 'If you can't beat them,
join them'.
"With a seriously innovative approach to computing and a user
base that lives to embrace those innovations, Apple was able to
deliver its own funky front end.
"Microsoft could only play catch up: not only did it not
manufacture the hardware, but the hardware was not built to treat
graphics in the same way.
"The personal computer was finding it hard to match the Mac's
pictures.
"But still, the PC market exploded. There are now nearly a
billion desktop computers being used these days and only 3% or so
of those are Apple Macs.
"The computer market has evolved. We can now see PCs running
beta versions of the new Microsoft Windows, Vista. Some thought it
was game over, then it all changed.
"With the next evolution we had an Apple computer with an Intel
processor and a brand new version of OS X, the Mac operating
system, to run on it."
- Link: PCs
and Macs Start to Converge
Intel Talks Up 'Centrino 4' for Small PCs
The Register's Tony Smith reports:
"Taiwanese manufacturers of small form-factor PCs have
re-iterated Intel's scheme to pitch 'Santa Rosa', the next version
of the chip maker's Centrino platform, as the basis for future
compact desktop and living room PCs.
"According to a DigiTimes report, Intel has of late been pushing
Santa Rosa's suitability for SFF PCs. Certainly, leaked Intel
presentation slides have claimed Santa Rosa will "enable
form-factor innovation" in the desktop PC market, as we reported
back in April."
- Link:
Intel Talks Up 'Centrino 4' for SFF PC Makers
