Apple is going to have an interesting legacy issue with these new machines...

[spaceballl]

So,
The G4 is a PPC 32bit CPU.
The G5 is a PPC 64bit CPU.
The Intel Core Duo is an x86 32bit CPU.
The next intel chip is an x86 64bit CPU.

Windows Vista will be a 64 bit x86 OS, with 32 bit compatibility mode.

I'm very curious how OSX will work in the future... 32 bit / 64 bit modes, x86 / PPC modes... someone's going to get left out along the way. Personally, while I love these new Intel Macbooks, I'm going to wait until they implement Intel's newer CPU, which will be dual core, higher clock speeds, lower power usage, and 64 bit.

So obviously, if you want to be the most future proof, you'll want an x86 CPU which is 64bit. The Core Duo that is in these macbooks is codenamed Yonah (32bit). The successor to this chip, codenamed Merom, will be out later this year. I'm sure everyone knows about the whole x86/ppc/32bit/64bit conondrum out there, but I thought i'd be redundant and make sure everyone knows .

 

[spaceballl]

One of the best part about the switch to Intel is that there are no more secrets! We know when new CPUs are coming, because Intel posts roadmaps and when other manufacturers get them, we know Apple will get them around the same time!

Some more info on Merom, Yonah's successor...
From Digitimes...

First mentioned by sources in 2004, Merom was announced by Intel in August this year at IDF Fall in San Francisco. The processor will be manufactured utilizing 65nm technology. Compared to Yonah, it will have a larger level-two cache (presumably up to 4MB) and will contain some micro-architecture innovations, according to Eden. One of these innovations will be a higher performance 4-issue out-of-order engine with deeper buffers and a pipeline extended to 14 stages. Another promised features include more power efficiency, direct L1-to-L1 cache transfer and improved memory access, Eden pointed out. He also said that Merom will feature some substantial improvements in floating-point unit (FPU) performance, but turned down questions about performance measurements.

And from theInquirer http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=26086

Intel Merom is 64-bit, and with 4MB L2 cache

 

[spaceballl]

boo ya

 

[cb911]

yeah, must be a nightmare to keep having to support so many different configurations.

and good point about the Intel roadmap not being filed away secretly somewhere. i'll bee having a look at that from time to time!

 

[spaceballl]

Yeah... I've been thinking about this more, and I think 64bit is just going to be basically left out... And then x86/ppc will be handled w/ universal binaries / rosetta, and yah

 

[Counterfit]

Wow, 4MB is pretty damn big for a L2 cache...

 

[rendezvouscp]

With the PPC, Apple made libraries available that took advantage of the 64-bit architecture of the G5 (from what I know). Will this be a similar process for the new Intel processors? If so, I don't think anyone will get left behind because of the move (even if it wasn't so, Apple's smart enough not to leave their PPC users in the dust).
-Chasen

 

[portent]

At the moment, OS X does not really have a 64-bit mode. Applications can be build to use 64-bit memory addressing, but OS X does not (and probably doesn't need to.)

It is, theoretically at least, possible to build a "really universal" binary application with PPC-32, PPC-64, IA-32, and x64 code, and a loader that will choose the appropriate code at runtime.

 

[spaceballl]

With the PPC, Apple made libraries available that took advantage of the 64-bit architecture of the G5 (from what I know). Will this be a similar process for the new Intel processors? If so, I don't think anyone will get left behind because of the move (even if it wasn't so, Apple's smart enough not to leave their PPC users in the dust).
-Chasen

The 64 bit thing was talked about... but never really implemented. Apps can use 64 bit addressing, but OS X does not.

 

[badmofo9000]

So,
The G4 is a PPC 32bit CPU.
The G5 is a PPC 64bit CPU.
The Intel Core Duo is an x86 32bit CPU.
The next intel chip is an x86 64bit CPU.

Windows Vista will be a 64 bit x86 OS, with 32 bit compatibility mode.

There will be two versions of Vista. A true 32 bit version and a 64 bit version which can run "old" 32 bit programs with a compatability mode.

 

[brettbolt]

It is, theoretically at least, possible to build a "really universal" binary application with PPC-32, PPC-64, IA-32, and x64 code, and a loader that will choose the appropriate code at runtime.

As a Mac software developer, I am already having a difficult time supporting 3 different versions of my program (OS 9, OS X PPC, and OS X Intel)! Trying to add 64 bit to the mix will make my brain explode

 

[shrimpdesign]

As a Mac software developer, I am already having a difficult time supporting 3 different versions of my program (OS 9, OS X PPC, and OS X Intel)! Trying to add 64 bit to the mix will make my brain explode

Wow, you support OS 9? You're a dedicated developer!

 

[Rocksaurus]

All that about Merom and I didn't see anything about an on-die memory controller like AMD's had for awhile now...? Anyone know whether or not this will be a feature?

 

[Counterfit]

It is, theoretically at least, possible to build a "really universal" binary application with PPC-32, PPC-64, IA-32, and x64 code, and a loader that will choose the appropriate code at runtime.

I could only imagine how big that binary would be (if there were lots of parts that had to use different code).

 

[brettbolt]

Wow, you support OS 9? You're a dedicated developer!

Yes, the current version 4.0 of my program ships with two separate executables (one for 9 and one for X). But version 5.0 (now in development) won't run on 9.