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June 07, 2005

Mac OS X Intel?

What does Apple's plan to switch to Intel hardware in 2006 mean for my software? Well, I'll have to get a copy of the Intel building Xcode.

However, since Mathematica was ported from the ground up in two hours, I fear little that there will be problems. Unless of course, Apple has changed the InputManager framework, which I doubt. The "Rosetta" structure to translate existing apps from PowerPC to Intel seems fast enough. Though Apple not only requires at least select memberships, $499, to buy their transition kit, the kit itself is $999. This is, obviously, way too steep for me as a donationware author. Looks like you may have to wait until 2006 to see live versions of my software.

Whatever.

It is, however, amazing to see "Rosetta" running faster and more seamlessly than either Virtual PC or Classic. It would be seemingly quite easy to create a Wine-like kit for OS X-Intel allowing you to run Windows apps at near-native speeds. This would be, indeed, the killer feature. If the new version of OS X, Leopard, slated to ship at the same time as Longhorn doesn't include this functionality, Apple will be making a serious mistake. However, if they do, it could be the first seriously Windows-killing feature in a long time.

However, I sensed a sort of hopeful blind-jumpingness (perhaps like Lemmings?) in both Steve and the developers at the conference. This is a change of the biggest separator between Windows and OS X. In fact, this lowers one of the boundaries that truely defined "Mac" for the last 21 years. Will Mac survive this transition? I believe so, most definitely. And while I could be one of the lemmings, I think it is quite possible that this will be the strongest Apple has been in some time.

Why such a delay in any updates to the site, email, and software for a while? Multiple reasons. I moved from Greeley back to Denver and I plan to move into a friend's house. I also went on an unexpected trip to Boston (my friend Marcus couldn't go and had non-refundable tickets). I now am also ridiculously in-debt now to the credit card companies, so you may not see much of me for a while. I have to apologize, but working at a "real job" has to be my primary priority at this point. I will not stop working on AcidSearch or my other products, but the updates may be fewer.

Thank you to everyone for your unending support!

Posted by pozytron at June 7, 2005 03:37 PM

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