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Sun Baked
Feb 29, 2004, 05:47 PM
Inquirer Article...Xbox 2 SDK released on cool Apple Power Mac G5s (http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=14407)

It comes to pass

By Paul Dutton: Saturday 28 February 2004, 15:59
WE'VE JUST got word that the Software Development Kit (SDK) for Microsoft’s forthcoming Xbox 2 has now been released to Developers.

As we reported earlier, IBM processors are indeed the Xbox 2 development platform of choice.

The big news to us is that the XBOX 2 SDK has been seeded to developers on dual Apple Power Mac G5 systems running a custom Windows NT Kernel.

The Apple Power Mac G5 is based upon two of IBM’s 64-bit Power PC processors and features ATi RADEON 9800 Pro (R350) graphics. However the R350 is believed to be an interim solution and will, in due course, be superseded by the forthcoming ATI R420.

Interestingly the SDK apparently also features an Apple logo on a side bar within the application.

What we don’t yet know is whether the custom Windows NT Kernel for the 64-bit capable IBM Power PC processors is 64-bit or 32-bit.

Though as ATI is so clearly behind with even its iAMD64 device drivers for both Intel and AMD x86-64 platforms, we suspect that it’s 32-bit.

Let us know if you know. µ


OutThere
Feb 29, 2004, 05:51 PM
Hmmm...That brings up a lot of questions that I didn't have before, and a lot more interest in the Xbox 2. I wonder if we're going to see something we didn't expect here...
crazzyeddie
Feb 29, 2004, 06:26 PM
Interesting... but I don't know how much i believe this. I mean, surely M$ could have used some other way to do this other than using Apple computers.
mac15
Feb 29, 2004, 07:20 PM
They could have used some other way but building another set of machines to builds on could prove expensive. They've gone with what works :)
superbovine
Mar 1, 2004, 01:22 AM
Interesting... but I don't know how much i believe this. I mean, surely M$ could have used some other way to do this other than using Apple computers.

this way was easier and probably cheaper in the long run. this acutally helps apple. if the SDK on the G5 are producing assembly code that runs on the same processor, i smell alot more games in the future on macs.
MoparShaha
Mar 1, 2004, 01:32 AM
What about DirectX? I know thats used on Windows games, but I don't know how it stands on the XBox platform. If XBox games used DirectX, there's pretty much no hope of it running on the Mac, unless MS ports it to the Mac, or just uses OpenGL.
MacsRgr8
Mar 1, 2004, 03:48 PM
What about DirectX? I know thats used on Windows games, but I don't know how it stands on the XBox platform. If XBox games used DirectX, there's pretty much no hope of it running on the Mac, unless MS ports it to the Mac, or just uses OpenGL.

That'll be the day:
XBox games using OpenGL!

That would really push the game developers to using OpenGL instead of DirectX.
IMHO DirectX not being available for the Mac is one of the main reasons why game many game developers are not developing for Macintosh, and why we have to rely on the (great!) efforts of Aspyr and Feral etc.