A Crisis of Conscience

[Moo-Boo]

Greetings my Mac aficionados,

Wonderful to be speaking with you again. For the last few months, I have been struggling with the issue of Power PC vs Intel processors. Intellectually, I know that Intel processors used in Macs are faster, at least under native applications...yet I can't seem to bring myself to buy one. Why not? Because, for the last decade or more, I have programmed to think that Intel is evil and slow. After all, it's used in Microsoft boxes. The propoganda sprouted by Apple over the last 10 years has worked very well on me, and I can't seem to engineer the required paradigm shift to pay good money for a Mac with an Intel processor in it, despite the Speedmark tests. Am I alone? Did the same reaction occur when Motorola shacked up with IBM to produce the Power PC chip back around 93/94? To make matters even murkier, I've read that IBM have produced a chip that runs at 500GHz! Would someone please allay my fears about Intel and why it's a good thing that Apple has switched, and when perhaps I should make the switch too?

Thanks for reading my deluded rantings...it's good to talk about these things with my fellow Mac kids!

Matt (and the cat)

 

[skunk]

What this has to do with your conscience I have no idea.

 

[aquajet]

I hope this is just satire.

 

[yellow]

Err.. you can Run windows too?

Of course Apple lambasted the "other guy".
At one point, the G4 actually WAS faster than the Pentiums, however they matured and the G4s languished.
And then they were stuck. You can't very well sell computers when you admit that 'yeah, our **** sucks'.

Now they have to eat crow.

 

[Mord]

These days RISC Vs CISC is irelivent, cpu's are designed with the most efficient design possible and then a translation layer is slapped onto of it so it conforms to a cpu standard, it's not quite as simple as that but that's largely what it comes down to, intel calls this micro and macro ops.


Intel has pretty much fired their P4 design team, their current cpu's are good for a reason.

Their should be no morral dilema, intel has realised why they sucked nd fixed those flaws.

 

[Moo-Boo]

What this has to do with your conscience I have no idea.

The crisis of conscience encompasses the quality of Apple Macs using Power PC processors vs Apple Macs using Intel. With Intel, Macs to me feel a little cheap and nasty. To buy a new Mac (with Intel very quickly all you can get now new), would it be better to stick with what I have and spend the money on my family (albeit somewhat undeserving!). I guess that's a bit convoluted, but, I'm pretty sure you get the idea.

Matt (and the cat)

 

[Moo-Boo]

These days RISC Vs CISC is irelivent, cpu's are designed with the most efficient design possible and then a translation layer is slapped onto of it so it conforms to a cpu standard, it's not quite as simple as that but that's largely what it comes down to, intel calls this micro and macro ops.


Intel has pretty much fired their P4 design team, their current cpu's are good for a reason.

Their should be no morral dilema, intel has realised why they sucked nd fixed those flaws.

You raise an excellent point, but most of my problem is to do with psychology. The new Core 2 Duo processors are fast, especially with native apps running. But having succumbed to Apple's propoganda, then having to swallow the diatribe that Intel is now "cool"" smacks of Orwellian conceptualisation.

Matt (and the cat)

 

[Moo-Boo]

Err.. you can Run windows too?

Of course Apple lambasted the "other guy".
At one point, the G4 actually WAS faster than the Pentiums, however they matured and the G4s languished.
And then they were stuck. You can't very well sell computers when you admit that 'yeah, our **** sucks'.

Now they have to eat crow.

Yeah, they have to eat crow all right! Very well put indeed.

Matt (and the cat)

 

[yellow]

I can assure you, the MacTels are quite nice and worth the transition.

 

[Swarmlord]

Unless you're fully invested in programming in assembler for PPC chips, I don't see where you should be concerned about a processor change. I'm both surprised and delighted that Apple was able to pull off such a smooth transition between the two processor families. I can't help but think about what a fiasco it might have been had the transition gone the other way (Dell changing from Intel chips to something else and Micro$oft porting Windows over to it.)

I'm wringing the last bit of use out of my G4 before passing it off to my wife and I can't wait to get my own Intel based iMac. If we weren't so accustomed to making large purchases after the Christmas holidays for 30 years, I'd have one in hand right now.

 

[atari1356]

But having succumbed to Apple's propoganda, then having to swallow the diatribe that Intel is now "cool"" smacks of Orwellian conceptualisation.

You're overthinking this a bit... it's just a processor.

Intel makes the best processors for personal computers right now, therefore it's a good thing that Apple made the switch rather than stick with the languishing PowerPC.

Buy a new computer and be happy that you're using the best processors available along with the best operating system and best industrial design.

 

[sunfast]

I have programmed to think that Intel is evil and slow.

By adverts like this?

Seriously though - who really cares what's inside? I wouldn't care if it was a hamster in a wheel as long as OS X runs well. I have both PPC and Intel and am very happy with them.

 

[®îçhå®?]

Actually it was a 5 GHz chip. Any company would promote their products and saying that a rival sucks and is slow is part of that. Just buy one of the best machines that Apple has ever made.

 

[0010101]

I could care less about 'industrial design'.. I think the last really cool looking computer Apple made was the G4 tower.. the G5 tower certianly dosen't put any lead in my pencil.

As far as the PowerPC processor goes, it's time has come and went. x86 archetecture has finally caught up with, and surpassed the PPC hardware.. and Apple made the right decision to make the switch to Intel.

I like MacOS X. It's rock solid, stable, and not only easy to use, but a joy to use. I could care less what hardware it's running on, so long as it runs it well.

People who got caught up in The Good Reverend Jobs' Reality Distortion Field in regards to hardware superiority need to wake up and smell the juju beans. Macs and PC's haven't been much different in the hardware or quality department for many years (aside from the actual CPU) so all that's really changed is the processor.. in fact, looking at a logic board out of a 400Mhz G3 iMac i've got on my desk, it's loaded full of chips commonly found on very low end PC's. (Crystal Audio Chipset, for instance)

 

[Moo-Boo]

I believe the concensus from all of you is overwhelmingly posiitive in favour of the new Intel chip, and you have put forward excellent arguments. I praise you for your clear heads and reasoning. And I do agree that the G4 Tower design was much nicer than that of the G5. it looks like, next year, if I am still alive, I will be purchasing an Intel Mac. If the Core 2 Duo chips prove their worth, it might be wise to start saving up for a MacBook Pro. Thanks for helping me see past Steve Jobs reality distorting field, kids, I am very grateful to you indeed!

Take care, all of you, and keep up the great advice!

Matt (and the cat)