The days of “the only thing Macs are good for are graphic designers and newspapers” appear to be coming to a close. It seems like a smart move, as the years of product placement in movies like “You’ve Got Mail” haven’t helped Apple regain the ground it lost to Microsoft in the 90’s.
“Yes, it’s true,” confirmed Apple Computer CEO Steve Jobs in answer to industry speculators, still red-faced from the winds of the rumor mill, carrying a bushel full of shocking news.
In 2006, Macintosh personal computers will have Intel inside.
Jobs went on to say that Apple had been leading a secret life since 2001, developing a new Mac OS X that would run on the Pentium 4.36 GHz processor.
The crowd gasped, hitting each other the backs to regain respiration. This is dogs and cats living together, pandemonium. Well, as
pandemonious as computer geeks get. Some had to buy new glasses. Yes, I did make up that word.
The Rosetta software will provide cross-compatibility in the future, meaning that Windows as well as Mac operating systems could be installed concurrently. But the new Macs will not support OS 9 or other versions.
Though Apple will not sell or support other operating systems but acknowledges the ability to run other systems.
"Mac OS X is cross-platform by design," Jobs said.
A dual-system machine may prove to be a crowd pleaser indeed. But Jobs support of the new hardware seems a bit contradictory. Jobs still maintains that the Power PC architecture will always be superior, even with the acknowledgement that the G5 has power consumption and heat issues.
At any rate, the only constant in life is change (unless your
Kant), and this may prove to be a positive one, especially if families can’t agree on which kind of computer to buy. Now they can buy one and have both.
Apples and Oranges No More; Intel-based Macs?
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