Intel Mac's What now?

[Danzsupreme]

Ok so the intel mac's are out and everything is shifting to Intel in 06.

Now what do us Powermac users do? Sit and wait for our machines to be useless, is it worth selling by the time REV. B's come out.

I know its computers and technology, but i was hoping for my laptop to keep ticking for another 8-10 years.

 

[miloblithe]

Realistically, no laptop is going to function adequately for 8-10 years. That's pretty unrealistic for a desktop.

I remember using my 1993 Centris 610 on the internet in late 1998. Painful.

For the realistic 4-5 year lifespan of your computer, it'll all be fine. Over the years, there will be new software that your computer won't be able to run (see Aperture), but it will be able to do everything it does now at the very least.

 

[Danzsupreme]

Realistically, no laptop is going to function adequately for 8-10 years. That's pretty unrealistic for a desktop.

I remember using my 1993 Centris 610 on the internet in late 1998. Painful.

For the realistic 4-5 year lifespan of your computer, it'll all be fine. Over the years, there will be new software that your computer won't be able to run (see Aperture), but it will be able to do everything it does now at the very least.

Yea but regards to internet, in '93 the powerpc's weren't designed to handle what the internet as we now know it. Who would of thought

 

[Ugg]

Ok so the intel mac's are out and everything is shifting to Intel in 06.

Now what do us Powermac users do? Sit and wait for our machines to be useless, is it worth selling by the time REV. B's come out.

I know its computers and technology, but i was hoping for my laptop to keep ticking for another 8-10 years.

How did you come up with 8-10 years? I can't imagine anyone realistically expecting a computer to last that long. 4-5 is a realistic number.

Powermacs will not be useless. Apple has a pretty good track record of supporting old OSs. I can still run OS9 on my Rev D PB. OSX was introduced in 2001 so that's not bad. This time around, the Universal Binary program will make things much easier than the OS9 to OSX transition.

What's the point in selling? Are you happy with what you have? If so, then don't sweat it. You've known for quite some time that Apple was going to introduce new Intel Macs so it's hardly a surprise. Are you just grumbling for the sake of it?

 

[miloblithe]

Yea but regards to internet, in '93 the powerpc's weren't designed to handle what the internet as we now know it. Who would of thought

You're kind of proving my point. Additionally, in 1993 Macs were powered by Motorolla 680x0 processors. My Centris had a 68LC040, or what was the second from the top of the line (it was the top of the line minus its FPU, I believe). PowerPCs didn't enter the Mac lineup until March 1994.

8-10 years is just too long for this industry. Perhaps the pace is slowing, but not that much.

Think of it this way, you're asking this computer to work today:

PowerBook 5300

CPU: PowerPC 603e 100 MHz
Bus Speed: 33.3 MHz
Onboard RAM: 8/16 MB
RAM slots: 1
Maximum RAM: 64 MB
Level 1 Cache: 16 kB data, 16 kB instruction
Expansion Slots: 2 Type II or 1 Type III PC Card

Screen: active matrix 10.4"
VRAM: 512 kB
Max Resolution: 16 bit 640x480

Hard Drive: 500/750 MB
Floppy Drive: 1.4 MB SuperDrive

ADB: 1
Serial: 1
SCSI: HDI-30

Minimum OS: 7.5.2
Maximum OS: 9.1

Introduced: August 1995
Terminated: Late 1996


edit: and keep in mind, that's top of the line. The cheaper laptop of the day was still a 33Mhz 68LC040.

 

[Eidorian]

I can slowly slink by running iCab and Audion similtaneously on my Power Mac 8500/1500. That's surprising for a 10 year old machine. Then again I have 8.6 and 160 MB of RAM on it.

iCab is a great browser for older machines. It includes CSS and RSS support.