Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Compatibility with Intel change....

M

Malus

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jul 19, 2005
299
0
Ok, well I have a G5 imac, and with this whole Intel change I was wondering if there will be any compatibility issues. How long will developers make their software compatible for both Power PC and Intel processors? This is probably a stupid question and has been asked already but I couldn't find it when I searched...unless I missed it o_o

Thanks.
 
Probably 10 years or so. Apple encourages their developers to write in Cocoa so it's easier to create universal binaries of their apps. From what I gather, the transition from 040 to PPC was pretty seamless, and with Rosetta filling in the gaps, I don't think PPC code on Intel will ever really go away.
 
Well, the switch to Intel won't be complete until mid-2007 at the earliest. And it's at that planned point when all Macs will be Intel. I doubt that'll stop developers from continuing to produce their Universal Binaries to enable both chips to run their software.

I'm not at all worried about compatibility.
 
mad jew said:
Well, the switch to Intel won't be complete until mid-2007 at the earliest. And it's at that planned point when all Macs will be Intel. I doubt that'll stop developers from continuing to produce their Universal Binaries to enable both chips to run their software.

I'm not at all worried about compatibility.
Click to expand...
I'm not worried about compatability either.

There are enough Macs out there that software vendors would be losing enough business by cutting off PPC binaries too soon. Expect new/updated PPC software to be developed until at least 3 years after the last PPC Mac model has been discontinued.

Another thing to watch for is when Apple stops releasing new versions of Mac OS for PPC. This will be an indication that PPC applications will stop being developed. Although you might get bug fixes for a while after this happens.
 
I agree as well - I don't think there's anything to worry about. After the dust settles, the whole transition will not be complete for 2 more years, essentially, so until then (and for some time after that) you'll have nothing to worry about. And by then, it'll be time for you to buy a nice new shiny Intel iMac! :eek: :cool:
 
How many times...

How often are people going to ASK this question...????

Jobs has announced the "old" systems will be supported for quite some time and numerous threads have already been written on this topic...
 
Maybe PPC will come back into fashion for Apple by that time ;)

2009 - Apple announces the transition from x86 to PPC. "We think Intel Suck" says Jobs, but we have created something 'new' called a Universal Binary so that Intel systems will be supported long after the switch.

2012 - Apple announces the transition from PPC back to Intels x86. "We think IBM Suck still" says Jobs, but we have these Universal Binarys so that the old PPC systems will be supported for at least 2 more years...

2013 - Apple announces the transition of the transition from x86 back to PPC. "We think Intel still suck too." Universal Binarys are now standard and will never die cos we just cant quite make up our mind. Infact we have an option for the 64bit Itanium just incase...

2014 - Apple announces that IBM and INTEL are working on the PPC-x86 Uber Chip. "We think Intel and IBM suck - but maybe they can suck less together" dont worry PPC and x86 systems will be supported by Universal Binarys.
 
RobHague said:
Maybe PPC will come back into fashion for Apple by that time ;)

2009 - Apple announces the transition from x86 to PPC. "We think Intel Suck" says Jobs, but we have created something 'new' called a Universal Binary so that Intel systems will be supported long after the switch.

2012 - Apple announces the transition from PPC back to Intels x86. "We think IBM Suck still" says Jobs, but we have these Universal Binarys so that the old PPC systems will be supported for at least 2 more years...

2013 - Apple announces the transition of the transition from x86 back to PPC. "We think Intel still suck too." Universal Binarys are now standard and will never die cos we just cant quite make up our mind. Infact we have an option for the 64bit Itanium just incase...

2014 - Apple announces that IBM and INTEL are working on the PPC-x86 Uber Chip. "We think Intel and IBM suck - but maybe they can suck less together" dont worry PPC and x86 systems will be supported by Universal Binarys.
Click to expand...

2015 - Apple says, "Screw you all!" and moves to AMD. :cool:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back