Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
New Mac OS compatible?
- Thread starter al3000
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
The PowerPC came out in 1994 (or was it 93?), and all the OS releases up to 1998 still supported the 68040. So I think the PowerPC is safe for a while 
As Nermal says, Apple supported 68k for 5 years after it was phased out of the hardware line up. OS 9 is still supported in the way of Classic and its user base still builds apps for it (although I can't fatham why ). PPC will definitely be supported by leopard and I'm sure the next version will run on PPC too. The version after that (10.7?) I doubt will.. but then we're looking at 2010/11.
). PPC will definitely be supported by leopard and I'm sure the next version will run on PPC too. The version after that (10.7?) I doubt will.. but then we're looking at 2010/11.
SpaceMagic said:As Nermal says, Apple supported 68k for 5 years after it was phased out of the hardware line up. OS 9 is still supported in the way of Classic and its user base still builds apps for it (although I can't fatham why
A good perspective SpaceMagic. PowerPC equipped Macs will be alive and kickin' for years to come!
A good way to look at it!SpaceMagic said:As Nermal says, Apple supported 68k for 5 years after it was phased out of the hardware line up. OS 9 is still supported in the way of Classic and its user base still builds apps for it (although I can't fatham why
al3000 said:Hi all,
I just wondered, when Mac OSX Leopard (is that right), is released...will it be compatible with only the Intel macs? Sorry if this is a stupid question...I'm a newbie
Thanks
Well since Mac OS X.4 (Tiger) was just released a few months ago, Leopard won't be released anytime soon. According to what Steve Jobs said, Mac OS X.5 (Leopard) shouldn't be released until sometime in very late 2006, say November, or December of 2006. Typically Apple is able to update its OS every 18 months or so.
All of future OS X and OS X apps will be whats called dual binary, meaning it will run on both PPC Macs and x86 Intel Macs. This is why every OS X software developer has to recompile their OS X apps. Some have to do more depending on how lazy they were when they originally created their OS X app.
So I would get a new Mac today. Its certainly going to last you at least 4 to 5 years without a problem. I don't even see this eliminating older non-beige Macs. I have a couple of Macs without DVD players on them that have Tiger installed. All you need is a FireWire port and you can put the Mac w/o a DVD drive into target disk mode and then install it from a Mac with a DVD player. If your Mac doesn't have either a FW port or a DVD player, you can take the HD out and stick it in an external FW Case and then install it that way as well. So there are still ways to get Tiger and future OS's on non DVD/FW Macs.
I just bought a brand new 17" PowerBook G4 about a month ago. I personally do not want a first generation x86 Mac. I want my current PPC apps to work at full speed, not 85% emulation speed using Rosetta. For a new user, thats not an issue, but it Apple's Intel announcement shouldn't make you wait to buy a new Mac.