Alright slashdot geeks, let's talk.
Yesterday I saw this CNet article that looked like a lot of unsubstantiated rumour (though other news sources seem to be confirming this, as I saw on the front page of Google news Canada today) about Apple moving to Intel chips from IBM given how the G5 doesn't seem ready at all for laptop use.
And all the slashdotters, in true slashdot infinite-wisdom type stuff, decided that this means "OMG I CAN RUN OSX ON A PC."
This is not true.
Intel != x86, kids. True, they invented the instruction set, true they are the leading producer of the chips, but false if you assume that this is all they produce.
Nowhere does it say with any validity (there's some speculation in the article but it's as erroneous and misdirected as the /. posts) that Apple has any desire to move itself from the PPC chips. In fact, Apple would outright shoot itself in the foot if they did that. Why would anybody buy a $2500 Apple when they can get a comparable $1600 Athlon machine if they could just run OSX on the latter? Make no bones about it, even though OSX is a slick operating system, Apple is a HARDWARE company.
No, we're not seeing an x86 port. Intel is a processor company and they make plenty of chips that are not x86. If anything, this is just the same thing Apple did when they said "Screw you hippie" to Motorola and got IBM to build up the G5 for them.
Repeat after me:
This doesn't mean Apple will port to x86, simply that they're getting a company best known for making x86 chips to build their next generation of processors.
No more, no less.
Posted by ebbomega at June 5, 2005 03:49 PM