Anil Gangolli

David Lazarus doesn't get it

David Lazarus doesn't get why anyone cares about the move to Intel-based Macs.

“Get over it,” he says.

Well here are my observations.

The processor. Serious users care about the speed of their machines. People continue to appreciate faster processors that can do more in less time, and they continue to do more things with video, photos, and music that rely on fast processors and fast buses to communicate with memory. The Power PC chips have been losing ground in this area for some time; while Mac enthusiasts love the usability and design aspects of the Mac, they’ve had to put up with slower processing for some time, with the continued risk of falling further and further behind. The move to Intel basically assures at least rough parity with the typical Windows-based Intel machines, which allows the Mac to excel where it does and not fall behind in raw power. This is the main reason to care.

Other more standard components inside. Macs will probably look more and more like your typical PCs inside, while Apple will probably push the envelope in just a few areas to retain a differential lead in the areas it has traditionally excelled in. This is good for a lot of users because it increases the chances that they will be able to find more components and add-ons that work with Macs.

An avenue for alternate OS-es and open-source innovation. Far fewer users will care about this, and MacOS enthusiasts will have trouble understanding this too, but running Linux on a Mac Mini for example, makes a lot of sense to me as a little closet server box. [PowerPC based Linux even on the G4-based powerbooks already exists , but I think that represents a step down in anything but the server-side arena.]

Technorati tags: Intel Apple Mac

Posted at 10:37AM Jan 14, 2006 in tech  |  Permalink