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Isn't this like treachery?
 technofile
Al Fasoldt's reviews and commentaries, continuously available online since 1983

T h e   R o a d   L e s s   T r a v e l e d
What Apple's switch to Intel chips means


June 15, 2005


By Al Fasoldt
Copyright © 2005, Al Fasoldt
Copyright © 2005, The Post-Standard

   Earlier this month, Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced one of the biggest changes in Macintosh history -- a switch from PowerPC central-processing unit (CPU) chips to chips made by Intel. IBM and another company make the current Macintosh chips, and Intel is famous as the maker of most of the CPU chips used in Windows PCs.
   Here is a Q&A on the changeover.
   Q. Isn't this like treachery? For years, Apple has been pointing out that Windows PCs are inferior to Macs. Now Apple is capitulating to Microsoft. How could this happen?
   A. Apple is doing no such thing. Microsoft isn't involved in this changeover, and neither is Windows. It's easy to understand the confusion, however, since Intel chips are used in Windows PCs, and Microsoft is the company behind Windows.
   Basically, Apple is simply changing the Mac's engine supplier, if you think of computers the way you think of cars. The current "engine" works fine in most ways, but Apple wants more power, and it needs to switch to an Intel "engine" to get what it wants. The new Intel-powered Macs will run OS X just as they do now, except that they'll be faster -- in some cases, much faster.
   Q. But what about viruses? Spyware? Won't the Mac be flooded with this sort of stuff just as Windows is now?
   A. Not at all. Viruses and spyware are attracted to Windows, not to Intel chips. Macs will be just as safe and secure as they are now.
   Q. I called the Apple store to order one of the new Intel Macs and they told me there aren't any available. Why would Steve Jobs say Apple is switching to Intel chips if we can't buy any of these faster Macs?
   A. Apple wants everyone who creates software for Macs to start using new methods that take advantage of Intel's chips. Current software will run fine, but not as fast as software written (or rewritten) especially for Intel's chips. So developers of Mac software needed the advance notice. You'll be able to buy the first Intel-based Macintosh computers next year. The entire line won't be switched over for a couple of years.
   Q. If Mac OS X will run on a Mac that has an Intel chip, then it should run on my spare PC. It has an Intel chip. So I could just buy the new version of OS X when it's available and install it on my PC, right?
   A. Wrong. Apple's new Intel-chip version of OS X will run only on Apple's own Intel-based Macintosh computers. It won't run on PCs. Apple hasn't yet said how it will manage this limitation, but the new OS X probably will check for the presence of Apple hardware when it boots up. Without that special hardware -- which could be just an inexpensive chip soldered into the computer -- the computer wouldn't start up. Or it could use any other method; it's not saying.
   You'll be able to buy OS X for Intel Macs -- to upgrade your future Intel Mac, for example -- but you won't be able to use it on anything other than an Intel-based Macintosh.
   Q. Apple never came out with a G5-based PowerBook or iBook. Does this mean Apple is going to make Pentium-based laptop computers?
   A. You bet. Apple sells more laptop computers than it does desktop models. And Intel has cool-running, low-battery-drain CPU chips made especially for laptops. You can expect a new Intel-based PowerBook as one of the first new Intel-based Macs.
   Q. How could Apple suddenly switch like this? It's a little like discovering that your car-salesman uncle, the one who always said Buicks were better than Fords, is going to work for the Ford dealer down the street.
   A. That's what it seems like on the surface. But in fact Apple has had a secret version of OS X running on Intel-based PCs for years. Steve Jobs calls it "the double life" of OS X. Apple knows more about running Macs on Intel PCs than most of us could have guessed. So things should go very smoothly.
   Q. Windows runs on Intel-based PCs, and soon so will OS X. Does this mean I'll be able to run Windows on my new Intel-based Mac?
   A. You can already run Windows on your OS X Mac using Virtual PC. But the new Intel-based Macs will do it a lot faster. Microsoft has already said that it's working on a new version of Virtual PC that takes advantage of the Intel chips in the new Macs.