jdm7 said:
I've only become aware of the core image issue through this thread. Does this mean that one would not be able to make use of all the transitions in Keynote on a mac mini? Would someone be willing to test?
Every Core Image effect, that is accelerated by the GPU, should have a corresponding effect that can be done by the main CPU.
It's just that some effects can both be done in realtime by a given CPU and a GPU, but the GPU version might have higher quality or look cooler in some way. I would expect a screen transition to fall under this category.
On the other hand, some effects are meant to be quite fast, or subtle, just as a quick user interface feedback, like the ripple in Dashboard. In this case, sometimes the CPU can't do the full effect in realtime, so the choice of doing a degraded variant becomes pointless, so nothing is done at all.
Of course, if I were you I would still get confirmation about you specific question about Keynote, but I doubt that something like page transitions would not work with Core Image. I suspect that there will be new transitions that will look flashier with GPU acceleration, but will show up regardless if done by the CPU.
The kind of thing that I, personally, don't want to miss out on, by getting a Mac mini that doesn't have a Core Image supported GPU, are:
1. I don't want to miss out on the stupid little flashy tricks like the Dashboard ripple. I want to be able to "nonchalantly" show those off to PC users
2. I want to be able to do lightening fast image manipulation, whenever some image editor, or hell even iPhoto, can take advantage of Core Image.
3. I suspect that Core Video, which is built on Core Image, will enable us poor G4 bastards to be able to view videos that otherwise only Dual G5 people can view. This alone would add years of use to a computer.
