Intel Transition, MacBook Name, and Windows on Mac?

[dubbz]

If people do figure out a way to install the prodcution version of the Intel OS X, Apple will stop at nothing to make their Masterpiece a Mac only. i can imagine Apple impairing a Windows machine running OS X illegaly.

Meh. It's just software and It'll be cracked. It's not like Apple can come into people's home and disable their machines from running it.

It makes me proud to be a Mac user. Other people can only dream of having OS X.

Are you saying that other people can't buy Macs?

 

[MacNut]

The MacBook is a prototype that will be phased out when the permanent laptops are unveiled. If they are gonna announce a brand new intel laptop why change the name and have it look just like a PowerBook, it was a rush for today to distinguish the new lines.

 

[iEdd]

The MacBook is a prototype that will be phased out when the permanent laptops are unveiled. If they are gonna announce a brand new intel laptop why change the name and have it look just like a PowerBook, it was a rush for today to distinguish the new lines.

Maybe, but why did the imac (which has more similarities with its G5 ver.) not have a name change?

 

[redAPPLE]

That is exactlywhat I was thinking.

But what are they going to call the Power Mac?

Mac Pro?

if i'd get a MacBook. i would personally still call it Powerbook. eat that Apple.

 

[anthonylambert]

What the specs don't say...

Did anyone else notice that the specs for the MacBook Pro fail to mention battery life?

Also in a related issue they don't say whether Apple use the Centrino chipset I guess not. One of the major benefits to using it is battery life... I would guess that the latest machine doesn't complete with Centrino based INTEL portables.

Can anyone throw any light on this?

Anthony

 

[iEdd]

Are you saying that other people can't buy Macs?

No, he is saying only mac users can have os x.

 

[MacNut]

Maybe, but why did the imac (which has more similarities with its G5 ver.) not have a name change?

In the keynote Steve said "we couldn't fit a G5 into a PowerBook so i believe that the MacBook has a redesigned inside but they didn't have enough time to retool the case. The iMac was designed probably with the intent to be able to hold an Intel chip.

 

[iMeowbot]

In the keynote Steve said "we couldn't fit a G5 into a PowerBook so i believe that the MacBook has a redesigned inside but they didn't have enough time to retool the case. The iMac was designed probably with the intent to be able to hold an Intel chip.

But they did retool the case. It's all different dimensions. The year they say they spent on it would have been plenty of time to come up with a different look, if that's what they wanted to do.

A much more reasonable explanation is continuity. The new models will look and feel and act just like their predecessors, reassuring customers that the machines are still Macs just like last week's models. Apple did exactly the same thing with the transition from 68K to PowerPC.

 

[a456]

It's a good thing, but where is the FW800?

I guessing by spring or early summer the powerbooks will be a thing the past.
say goodbye to powerbooks and ibooks and PowerPC

MacBook makes sense, because everyone is now using the i prefix. They can't use the Mac prefix though, so it re-asserts some individuality. Where is FW800 on these MacBook Pros though? It is on the cheaper 15" PowerBook.

 

[Dr_Maybe]

All three + Colin McRae Rally 2005 for me

Colin McRae is pretty lame, unless you are looking for an arcade type game. I prefer simulation like racing games with realistic steering and physics etc.

But Richard Burns Rally is cool - too bad it's not available for mac.

 

[macidiot]

Would be the easiest way to run XP.

NO messing around with disk partations and the like.

On the Intel Powermac it could be even easier, just slap in a blank SATA hard drive and use that just for Windows XP.

Hold down "W" at boot for Windows and Bobs your Uncle.

Anyone else feel like PPC Powermac sales will carsh and burn now?

well I wouldn't want to do that, swapping out the hard drive each time I wanted to switch os's wouldn't be all that convenient, especially on an imac. As for the partitions, thats why I'm thinking to use an external drive...no need to worry about disk formatting structures. Too bad its just imac and laptop right now... neither are all that internal expansion friendly.

 

[JoeBeCrazy]

My Speculations: Mac name and New Inventions

I thought, however, that the designation would go lower case like the iPods, but apparently Apple went with Pro. Somebody proposed that Apple use Express for consumer line, but I think it's not that catchy. Mac Express, MacBook Express. Some say use Home, but that's not right either, because what if it's used at school? No, Apple will keep it simple like the iPod

I don't think i'm feeling you on the "Mac" names for all the computers. The "i" is always fitting for the watered-down professional (iLife, iWork, iCal). iBook seems to be set to stay. "i" applications and hardware seem to already group themselves to be a made for home/educational/small business and budget conscious system. They can't give that up.

The Ambiguouity of the MacBook "Pro" is simply trying to go with the naming of "final cut PRO" or "soundtrack PRO" or "Logic PRO". Apple seems like they are trying to take the focus away from the CPU. It's a good selling point, because PCs users are going to compare speeds and not compare purely about practicality and productivity. So the name won't obtain the type of CPU. Question is there going to be a "MacBook Express"?

I say the Desktop line would probably leave the "Power" because for (1) it is kinda cheesy if your really think about it and (2) no more PowerPC. So we probably would see MacDesk Pro, MacStation Pro, or MacStudio Pro.

Plasma Screens and Home Entertainment. If this is true, I really think Apple is not going to use their Mac name, because it's not a Mac...literally. Technically it is, but it's not going to function as a computer (namely "mac"). Also i think they'll make it elegant enough so that it won't sport the "i" name.

A little tangent: Apple is always going to gear toward Media instead of Office Machines. Notice their "i" is basically their Office end covered (ilife, iwork, ical). They've taken Music as their basis. I'm thinking they are copying the MTV route. MTV was about the music, then music videos, which fed on to film entertainment, movies, and now it's about reality shows. So thinking "Media" and what's been done... it won't be too long until we see handheld iChat Live or PodChat, a Wifi/bluetooth iPod, .... etc. Long live Apple. Can't wait til the next product.

 

[macidiot]

I'd wait if I were you even Steve himself said Photoshop doesn't run under Rosetta that fast, well fast enough for professionals anyway.

Besides why do you need a new Mac so bad? Your current one blown up or don't you own one at the moment?

Back on topic, like has been mentioned above the name Powerbook was coined in October 1991 in the Sculley era, even when Powerbooks used Motorola 68000's so nothing to do with PowerPC's.

My reckoning is Steve wants to get away from the names coined by his predecessors at Apple while he was away. Already gone after a few months in office were the Centris, Quadra and LC names and branding, along with Newton etc etc, and he probably wanted to get rid of Powerbook and PowerMac too maybe just that would've and is taking longer to do?

Just my slant on things of course?

I'm pretty sure Powerbook was around when Steve was there the first time. It was the name of the first real Apple laptop, the Powerbook 100. Actually, its widely considered the first modern laptop, period. There was an Apple portable before that, but it was really a luggable.

And the Centris, Quadra, and LC names were all gone before Steve came back. The only name he might have killed was Performa... I never followed that consumer line, so I don't know much about them...

 

[iMeowbot]

I'm pretty sure Powerbook was around when Steve was there the first time

He'd been gone a good 5 or 6 years before those came out.

 

[gedto]

Back on interesting topic:

It seems Schiller has stated clear that these new Mac Intel computers will be able to run Windows just fine. Isn't this a great added-value to the Mac?

 

[The Man]

Steve says that he wants Mac in the name, so iBook brand is going. And I think Steve is right on this.

iBook is a good brand, but Mac is a better brand. People should own a Mac in name. That's why PowerBook was also bad.

Look at the iPod, people. Every iPod is just an iPod. People get this. Even on an iPod mini, only iPod is inscribed on the case. iPod is iPod, the brand is clear. Mac should be Mac.

Think of it in terms of the first Macintosh computer. It was simply called Macintosh. Now currently, iMac is the Macintosh, like the iPod with video is iPod. iMac is hard to scrap as a brand, but everything else can be scrapped with ease. (I don't think iMac Mini and iMac Pro is an option)

So

iPod shuffle
iPod nano
iPod

iMac*
Mac Mini (instead of mini)
Mac Pro

MacBook
MacBook Mini
MacBook Pro

* Simply Mac would make no sense. See a conversation:

Person #1
Do you own a Mac?

Person #2
Yeah, I own a Mac. Shall I bring it with me?

Person #1
You want to lug a desktop to school?

You see, if iMac was called simply Mac, like the first Macintosh, people would confuse the Mac computer with the Mac platform. Do you own a Mac? No, I own a MacBook. So iMac is here to stay. Scrap everything else.

 

[VespR]

It's all well and good running Windows on a 'MacBook Pro' (hate that name). But windows can be quite funny when it comes to drivers. It's gonna be a bitch getting your isight to work. You're going to need to someone to write the software for it, which I doubt will happen.

To be honest I buy a Mac to get away from Windows. If I'm going to be switching OS's I still want my music collection there to listen to, movies etc and there's no way I'll take two copies of everything.

 

[nms]

here's what i think would make a better naming strategy:

take away "power" because they're not PPC. we still want the same catchy (stylish, imo) naming scheme...replace Power w/Pro

iBook
ProBook
iMac
ProMac

and the others?
iPod family
ProPod ooh,some sort of über PMP. or rename the mac mini to ProPod, and have it totall a media centric thing.
mmm..

too bad it's not real.

 

[VespR]

I liked what someone said up ahead about the x86 architecture.

iBook
xBook

iMac
xMac

etc...

I just don't associate the word 'Mac' with the laptop range. It's always been 'Book'

 

[iMeowbot]

It seems Schiller has stated clear that these new Mac Intel computers will be able to run Windows just fine.

Really, he said nothing of the sort. He said that Apple wouldn't mind if people got Windows to run on the machines. He didn't say that Apple have performed the necessary extra work to make it happen.

For an EFI-based PC to boot current Windows versions, some extra compatibility code has to be added to the firmware. It may be present, if Apple worked from existing reference code and left it in there, but we don't know yet. If it's not there (Apple wouldn't really need it for OS X), someone else will have to write it.

Isn't this a great added-value to the Mac?

I think that a hosted Windows (a la VMware) would be a lot more interesting, really. It would be a lot more likely to work well on current and future Macs too. Dual boot is clunky.

It's all well and good running Windows on a 'MacBook Pro' (hate that name). But windows can be quite funny when it comes to drivers. It's gonna be a bitch getting your isight to work. You're going to need to someone to write the software for it, which I doubt will happen.

It may not be so bad. The original iSight works with Windows, since it uses a fairly generic DV interface. If the new integrated ones (apparently connected via USB internally) are similarly generic, there could already be drivers out there for them.

 

[Stu-Duncan]

Mac vs Power is not important!!!

Will XP or Vista run on an Intel Mac? - Yes M$ just has to add a few more drivers.

Will OSX run on Windows hardware? - yes, but it won't be supported and won't include most of the drivers.

Net result: Mac Users think Vista is good - it will run on their Mac
Windows users think OSX is lousy - it won't work on their Dell

What is important is that for every 10 Intel Macs sold, M$ will sell 7 copies of Windows. M$ wins again.

Probably a good trade off for Microsoft to keep Office going for 5 more years on the back of all those extra Vista licences they are going to sell at "full" (not bundled) price.

 

[dubbz]

hProPod ooh,some sort of über PMP

The überBook, and the überMac.

 

[avus]

As industrial designer/technical illustrator who must use professional CAD/CAM softwares, Windows is so dominant in this field that I can't get away from it. I use Rhino3D, my friends from college years use Alias Studio, Solidworks and Pro/E, but we all grew up using Mac and never wanted to give it up. We had no choice but set up multiple machines running different OS.

So, this new era is really, really a blessing. I hope a third-party will be specializing in setting up dual-booting Intel Macs. I also want Apple to use Quadra or Fire as graphic card. Then, it can truly be called a PRO machine.

 

[nms]

The überBook, and the überMac.

überMacBookProPod with Video.

 

[Nermal]

Really, he said nothing of the sort. He said that Apple wouldn't mind if people got Windows to run on the machines. He didn't say that Apple have performed the necessary extra work to make it happen.

For an EFI-based PC to boot current Windows versions, some extra compatibility code has to be added to the firmware. It may be present, if Apple worked from existing reference code and left it in there, but we don't know yet. If it's not there (Apple wouldn't really need it for OS X), someone else will have to write it.

Yes! Somebody else gets it! I can stop tearing my hair out now