OS X 10.7 Lion is displacing a lot of
stuff we just don't need anymore. PowerPC applications were designed
for a time that has come and gone.
OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard
bridged this gap and made the transition to Intel easier with Rosetta,
which has allowed use of PowerPC apps on Intel Macs since 2006.
Pre-Lion versions of OS X will continue to allow legacy users to
have a great existence with their PowerPC applications on Intel
hardware far into the foreseeable future. The Mac App store and 64-bit
operation is fully supported in Snow Leopard, so without question,
support will continue to exist for both older and newer software under
Snow Leopard.
You can get the best of both worlds by backing up your hard drive
and partitioning it with separate Lion and Snow Leopard partition on a
Core 2 Duo or better machine (Lion does not support Core Solo or Core
Duo Macs). After enough time with Lion, you just might find yourself
leaving that old world behind the way longtime Mac users did with
OS 9 when it was time to move to Mac OS X.
Time for Something Fresh and New
We have been using Intel Macs for over five years, and now it is
time for something fresh and new, something that can fully unleash
64-bit computing without anything bogging down system performance - and
something that will make iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad owners feel right
at home, especially with the integration of iCloud.
Many iOS device owners don't own a Mac, but something about those
iOS devices has captivated them. It's the App Store, the sleek and
simple interface, and the natural gestures that have brought them to
the iOS platform. It's swiping to turn a page, and pinching and
dragging to expand a window. It has become second nature to them, so
creating a Mac with the same feel will make purchasing a new Mac and
moving to OS X easier than ever for those who are accustomed to
iOS but were not accustomed to Mac OS X.
To make things even better, iCloud will ensure that your devices
talk to each other, making your entertainment and workflow merge
seamlessly between Macs and iOS devices. The Mac itself is hence "just
another device", a part of your lineup of Apple gear to make your
computing experience simple both at home and on the go. The newest
applications designed for Lion will not only save automatically to your
hard drive or SSD, they will also save versions of themselves as you
work, saving you time and effort. Why bother with mundane tasks such as
using the File menu to save a file or pressing Command-S when the Mac
can do it for you? And that's just the beginning!
Macs Have Gone Mainstream
The Mac used to be a geeky fringe platform that was scoffed at by
the average PC user for being different and incompatible. (With
Mac market share over 15% in the US, who's scoffing now?) Those who
embraced the Mac often Think Different and always
knew that the Mac was simply better engineered and allowed us to do
many more tasks more efficiently than a Windows PC.
That's what brought us all together in the first place, and now
things have come full circle with iOS and OS X Lion. Lion is going to
be a game changer, mark my word. Tens of millions of iOS device owners
who don't even have a Mac will want one! Without a doubt, Lion is king
of the jungle and the most fearsome of the big cats!
Copycat Microsoft
Windows has undoubtedly followed suit, but this time Microsoft may
find itself struggling to catch up due to Windows 7 Mobile coming so
late to the game - and with Android capturing a large share of the
market.* Nonetheless, Microsoft is going to strive ahead with Windows 8
on traditional desktops and notebooks in an effort to create the same
seamless environment that Apple has provided with iOS and Mac OS X
(which is being perfected with OS X Lion).
With that said, post-PC era computing is not such a bad thing, since
Apple obviously has a leg up on Microsoft in every way possible. With a
huge lead-time on an operating system that will make post-PC era
computing so simple that you will never go back to the old way, it's
going to be better than ever to own a new Mac.
I rest my case. 
Part
1: An Introduction to Both Sides
Part 3: No Way, My
Current Mac Works Just Fine!
Part 4: Will Post-PC
Computing Leave Real Mac Users Behind?
Dan Bashur lives in central Ohio with his wife and children. He uses various PowerPC G3 and G4 Macs running Tiger and Leopard. Besides finding new uses for Macs and other tech, Dan enjoys writing (fantasy novel series in the works), is an avid gamer, and a member of Sony's Gamer Advisor Panel. You can read more of Dan Bashur's work on ProjectGamers.com, where he contributes regular articles about the PSP, classic gaming, and ways you can use Sony gaming hardware with your Mac.
