[X4U] Virtual PC question

[Stroller]

On Dec 20, 2005, at 8:13 pm, Eddie Hargreaves wrote:
>>
>> I, too, have heard the rumour that iBooks will be first, but I've also
>> heard a counter-argument that Intel's processors will be able to kick
>> the pants off a G4; would Apple release an iBook that was more 
>> powerful
>> than it's current Powerbooks?
>
> If you were a power user, using Photoshop, Final Cut, etc. on a 
> Powerbook,
> would you purchase an Intel iBook so that you could run all your apps 
> in
> emulation? Or would you wait for an Intel Powerbook, which would come 
> out
> later, when some of those pro apps have been made Intel-compatible?

Interesting question, but a good chunk of the market DOES buy blind to 
performance, or buys on promises of it. If, say, Adobe were at the 
presentation saying "we have a version of photoshop that'll run twice 
as fast on this as it did on last month's machines, and we'll be 
shipping it soon" then I'd think that'd make a significant difference.

It also depends upon what Rosetta's performance hit is, and what model 
of Powerbook you're upgrading from. If it's a 50% hit & Apple ship with 
a 2ghz processor then, considering 1ghz Powerbooks are only a year or 
two old, you may even get better performance in Rosetta than you did on 
your PowerPC.

There are also plenty of Powerbook users - the majority of those I've 
met, in fact, although I'm not saying that's representative - out there 
who buy high-end laptops not because they need it for a specific app, 
but because they just like the performance for multitasking... in fact, 
you mention them...

> Secondly, Apple has always used more than speed to differentiate 
> 'consumer'
> laptops versus 'professional' laptops. They probably won't have 
> FireWire
> 800, audio-in, Gigabit Ethernet, monitor spanning, may have less 
> maximum RAM
> capability and may use slower hard drives. Would current Powerbook 
> users be
> interested in such a machine?

Dunno. My 12" Powerbook doesn't have gigabit ethernet, and aside from 
the monitor-spanning - which I love but use occasionally - I don't use 
any of the other features you mention. Well, I use the drive speed, 
obviously, but I don't notice that... I'd really like higher resolution 
on my next laptop, but all these features could be put into an Intel 
Powerbook if Apple wanted to release that first.

I think one thing we've overlooked is how Apple wants to "drive" the 
market... how it wants the Intel processors to be perceived.... a 
second-rate chip that's associated with low-end machines, or one that's 
associated with only the latest models?

To be honest, I think your first comment, the first bit I quoted above, 
is most critical... maybe Apple are wiser than figure-orientated 
consumers like me, and maybe they'll release low-end Intels first ... 
but I was only commeting on what I'd read. I'm finding it interesting 
to speculate - although I've found other threads immensely irritating 
in the past - so what the heck?

>> The initial suggestion was that the Intel processors would be used on
>> the low-end models first, but I wonder if this wasn't somewhat
>> pandering to the entrenched "megahertz myth" belief
>
> It's because Apple specifically stated that the low-end machines would 
> be
> the first to receive Intel chips.

Yeah, indeed. But maybe they fibbed? I found it reassuring to know that 
the expensive G5 I'd so recently invested in wasn't to be superseded 
_just yet_, but over the past few months I've gotten adjusted to the 
idea of Intel Macs. I'll probably buy one just as soon as I can, at 
least a PowerMac or laptop model.

>> I believe ArcsTechnical did some performance tests with OS X
>> running on an Intel which were quite impressive.
>
> I haven't seen this and couldn't find a link by searching either
> arstechnica.com or using Google. Care to post a URL?

I can't find it, either. Looks like I fantasied it, getting my 
indicators from a bunch of other sources and reading between the lines. 
I still reckon OS X on Intel will perform great, tho', and stand by 
"kick ass" (hey! the L key is next to the K - that was nearly an 
unfortunate typo) in consideration of price-performance of high-end 
models.

Stroller.