Compiled by Charles Moore
and edited by Dan Knight
- 2005.08.04
This Week's Mac-on-Intel News
Low End Mac has standardized on Macintel as our official
informal label for the forthcoming OS X-on-Intel Macintosh
computers, although you'll probably find just as many people
calling them "Mactels". Whatever we call them, 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
Tech Developments
News, Analysis, and Opinion
Apple Recruiting Former Sony Engineers
PC Pro's Simon Aughton reports:
"Apple is recruiting former Sony engineers to help it build its
new, Intel-based laptops, according to Engadget.
"The website claims that a reliable source told them that Apple
is 'having trouble playing catch up with the learning curve for
designing using the Intel platform' and as a result has been
'scrambling' to hire engineers with experience of developing light
notebooks, of which the Sony Vaios are a prime example."
Apple to Include Trusted Computing on
Macintels?
boingboing.net's Cory Doctorow says:
"People working with early versions of the forthcoming
Intel-based Mac OS X operating system have discovered that
Apple's new kernel makes use of Intel's Trusted Computing hardware.
If this 'feature' appears in a commercial, shipping version of
Apple's OS, they'll lose me as a customer - I've used Apple
computers since 1979 and have a Mac tattooed on my right bicep, but
this is a deal-breaker....
"...when I use apps that aren't free, like Apple's Mail.app,
BBEdit, NetNewsWire, etc, I do so comfortable in the fact that they
save their data-files in free formats, open file-formats that can
be read by free or proprietary applications. That means that I
always retain the power to switch apps when I need to. That means
that if the vendor changes their policy in a way that is
incongruent with my needs, or if they go out of business, or if
they treat me badly, I can always go across the street to another
vendor, or to a free software project, and switch. This acts as a
check against abusive behavior on the vendors' part and it is, I
believe, partly responsible for the quality and pricing of their
offerings.
"The point of Trusted Computing is to make it hard - impossible,
if you believe the snake-oil salesmen from the Trusted Computing
world - to open a document in a player other than the one that
wrote it in the first place, unless the application vendor
authorizes it....
"What this means is that 'open formats' is no longer
meaningful....
"My data is my life, and I won't keep it in a strongbox that
someone else has the keys for."
Note: I agree. It's one reason I do my word crunching in text
editors that save files in generic plain text documents rather than
a word processor like MS Word. cw
Apple's Halo Stays on Despite Switch to
Intel
eWeek's Daniel Drew Turner writes:
"News Analysis: Industry watchers don't see the company
suffering from its decision to change, as iPod brings more of the
masses to the Mac."
Apple's Not-so-grand Entrance
Electronic Business Online's Cameron Crotty says:
"Apple Computer's recent embrace of Intel processors for its
Macintosh line of personal computers set the mainstream press
abuzz. Only hours after the announcement at the company's Worldwide
Developer Conference in San Francisco in June 2005, ordinarily
buttoned-down financial columnists and cynical tech pundits were
speculating about everything from an impending merger between Apple
and Intel to a renewal of Apple's suicidal flirtation with the
Macintosh clone market. But Apple's shift isn't likely to affect
the electronics industry in proportion to the amount of news
coverage it generated. Here's who Apple's move will affect, and how
much&emdash;or how little."
Tech Developments
Dude, You're Getting a Mac
InfoWorld's Tom Yager reports:
"Dell and Apple are now two peas in Intel's pod, which raises
questions about servers
"One reason that Dell didn't make my short list of companies
with vision is its lousy business decision to remain the lone
first-tier player not to add AMD's processors to its server lineup.
HewlettPackard, IBM, and Sun Microsystems, among others, like
Dell's decision fine. They know Dell's missing out on AMD's secret
sauce. AMD's CPU line is so very manufacturer-friendly- meaning
that it's also profit-friendly, as system vendors evolve from model
to model and reach into new markets, especially the higher-density
value server market that AMD is certain to own.
"Dell wants no part of this, choosing instead to cleave only
unto Intel, and by gum, to stick to the idea even though
competitors and their customers have proved the folly of it.
Standing out like a Southern belle in a biker bar must make Dell a
little squirmy. Even I must empathize with the pain of sharing a
flshbowl with a bad decision. I suppose I should be glad that Dell
has found a friend in Apple."
Intel Trims Centrino, Celeron Prices
The Register's Tony Smith reports:
"Intel cut the prices of its Celeron D desktop processor line-up
this weekend, knocking up to 13.6 per cent of the price of each
part.
"The chip giant also formally added last week's Pentium M 780
and 778 mobile processors to its price list, prompting price cuts
to the existing Pentium M family, and to the Centrino bundles that
incorporate them."
Intel to Build Memory Controller into Desktop,
Mobile CPUs?
The Register's Tony Smith reports:
"Intel is to follow AMD's lead and integrate memory controllers
into its microprocessors, market watcher In-Stat has forecast. By
2009, it reckons, 70 per cent of all x86 processors shipping will
have their own memory controller, it said.
"Right now, the number's under 20 per cent, each one an AMD
chip. Indeed, that figure roughly matches AMD's market share. It's
possible to see AMD increasing its market share considerably, but
not to the extent that Athlon, Opteron and Sempron processors will
command 70 per cent of the x86 market."
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.
