[Ti] Mactel powerbooks coming...when?

[Chris Olson]

On Nov 15, 2005, at 5:40 PM, Shawn King wrote:

>> All new software will have to be written for the INTEL machines...
>
> No, it won't. It most likely will be but it doesn't *have* to be.

Every developer of software for the Mac does not have x86 dev boxes  
right now.  There are countless open source projects, private  
developers, and hobbiests that develop high quality software for the  
Mac compiled on PowerPC.  Most of these volunteer or low-budget  
developers simply don't have the money to buy a new dev box, and they  
develop the bulk of the third party software for Mac.

An example is Ed Peterlin, the man who compiles the OS X port of  
OpenOffice and NeoOffice/J.  Ed doesn't have a x86 dev box and he's  
not going to buy one because he donates his time to the OpenOffice  
project for Mac support.  So unless somebody donates an x86 Mac to  
Ed, we're going to loose OpenOffice on Mac.

For at least two years after introduction of the x86 boxes you'll be  
"safer" on PowerPC from a software standpoint because the x86 thing  
is a moving target.  But that's just my opinion.

-- 
Chris

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