MacIntel

So Apple is switching from IBM’s PowerPC processors to Intel chips. Fans are throbbing forums with opinions and rumours, as with every Apple announcement. Should you buy a PowerPC or wait for the MacIntel? How long before the PowerPC becomes absolute? What about software that you’ve invested in?

This flowchart kinda puts everything into proper perspective. It also made me feel better about my upcoming PowerBook purchase!

But still, why Intel over AMD? If performance is the real reason behind this switch, I would think AMD is a better option… While Intel plans on releasing dual-core processors by ’06 or ’07, AMD already has plans for quad-core processors!

Here are some highlights from the Steve Jobs keynote:

Rosetta is a dynamic binary translator that will run existing PowerPC code on the Intel chips without a significant speed decrease.

Apple has had OS X running on Intel chips in-house for 5 years.

Wolfram Research recompiled Mathematica and got it up and running on OS X on Intel in 2 hours.