And you are talking about buying a $400 Dell
You are a riot my man!
You are simplifying what I was talking about. A $400 Dell (or whatever brand PC) has INTERNAL expansion. You can plug in several 1.5-2TB drives and not clutter your desk. And clearly, you have not actually looked at what $400 can get you as a starting point compared to a Mac Mini or you wouldn't make such a statement. Unlike the Mini, a $400 PC can be upgraded with a graphics card (you can even wait until they come down a bit if you're not in a hurry) and it's suddenly like an $800 PC was at the time you bought it. Minis have no internal expansion capability. I may be a riot, but I'm also right.
There are plenty of holes in the Apple product line, specifically a mid-range expandable desktop. But thems the breaks, unfortunately. We have to take what Apple gives us, if their computers don't suit you there really isn't an alternative (aside from maybe a Hackintosh). Not an ideal situation, but c'est la vie.
That's half my argument right there. Apple doesn't care about its lineup or its customers wishes. In some cases, this goes contrary to what might make them the most money, even. I think that has more to do with Steve Jobs' ego about what is "nice looking" (thin and gaunt?)
So wait, your PowerMac works fine? So why not continue to run it. You keep acting like Apple is "forcing" you to upgrade. As if the moment Snow
If you had followed the thread you would know my only complaint about the lack of Snow Leopard support has to do with developers dropping Universal binaries because Apple is dropping them. You should well know that many developers no longer support Tiger binaries period even though it's simple by comparison to do so. They cannot be bothered. In the Mac world, you are expected to upgrade. This is far less true in the Windows world, probably due to market share meaning more money for developers that can support everyone whereas people who don't buy new hardware in the Mac world are considered dead beats even by their fellow users, as this thread clearly shows.
So I ask you, what do you think you'd gain from SL? You wouldn't really benefit from anything in it, heck half the Intel Macs can't take full advantage (e.g. Open CL).
I would benefit by most software still supporting Universal binaries for another 1.5-2 years, which means PPC in this case whereas when I bought the Mac in question, it was Intel that lacked software and had to use Rosetta to run most software, at which point this PowerMac was as fast or faster for many applications. It wasn't an ideal time to buy Intel hardware back then either. Maybe it wasn't an ideal time to buy a Mac period, really. Many of those early Intel Macs aren't supported in Snow Leopard either (ATI X1600 Mac Pro comes to mind with no OpenCL support either). So I guess Leopard is their OS too? Too bad? Buy a NEW Mac Pro?
Snow Leopard is about cleaning up the OS and laying the foundation for the future with new technologies like Open CL and Grand Central Dispatch.
By cleaning up the OS, you mean erasing PPC support. Everything else can be done regardless of whether it's present or not, even if it offers little to no benefit to PPC users. Some new features would benefit everyone, regardless. Apple doesn't bother to install new GUI features in older operating systems, even if it's just something simple like "Put Back" for the trash can. They simply don't care.
These technologies are designed to take advantage of the multiple cores and threads that'll be in the processors of the future and the GPUs of the future.
You say that as if PPC machines never had dual or even quad CPUs. My 2001 PowerMac came with two CPUs. There was a 2 CPU 1.8GHz replacment upgrade for it as well. Grand Central would be useful there. Some relatively new GPUs can be retrofitted for it as well. The 9800 Pro I have in it is more powerful in some areas than what some of the Intel machines came with last year (Intel GMA 950 comes to mind). I mean it's fine to say PPC machines aren't new, but don't paint them into corners that t hey don't really fit into either. A few years ago ALL Mac users were putting down Intel and touting PPC. I find it ironic how quickly the tides turn. Personally, I don't care what's under the hood so long as it does the job. I do own an Intel Mac and an AMD powered PC as well, after all.
Because there IS NO LOGIC in your arguments.
That's funny coming from someone making even more illogical arguments. I've stated Apple's reasoning. It's money. But it's short-sighted if it harms long-term sales and/or alienates users. Clearly, they're betting that it will not and does not.
You expect Apple to forgo what is best for them, or the majority of their customers, and spend time and effort to develop an OS that isn't even of any benefit to you. Do you realise how uttery, UTTERLY stupid that is. Read it out. Think about it.
What I think is "UTTERLY stupid" is for a company to drop its market share in half for the simple act of not deleting code that was already there and fairly simple to move along. Their own development kit gives the code for free. I understand their motives. They think they can force early sales of more Macs. To some extent, they're probably right. But losing market share is bad news for someone who is already less than 10% of the market to begin with and this will certainly cut it back anywhere from 1/3 to 1/2 in the short term and who knows what effect it will have in the long term since Windows7 will be released in a similar time frame. What if some of their assumptions about PPC Mac users buying a new Intel one (remember hardware is where they make most of their profit) end up buying a PC for half the price with Windows7 instead. The situation was easily avoided for what they claim themselves is a minor OS release. THINK ABOUT IT. Oh wait, I forgot whom I'm talking to. BTW, I've got my solution (use this machine for another year and then build a Hackintosh or a PC). I'm talking about Apple here. You don't have to agree. I don't really care. Most fanatics believe Apple is always right even though their market share over the years tells a different story. But as long as they have cash RIGHT NOW that's all that matters. The next quarter. Forget 2-3 years from now.
You want Apple to spend time and resources making a PPC version of Snow Leopard. An OS that will be of no benefit to PPC users. Time and resources
You make two assumptions there and both are wrong. I'm sick of explaining it to people that don't listen, though. Believe whatever nonsense you want to believe.
I don't hate PPC users. I don't "wish" for you not to be able to run the latest OS. But I realise that, unfortunately, that's the way things have to be. Welcome to life. It's a bitch.
You seem to keep assuming I'm just a "PPC" user. Do you not see my signature? For goodness sake, I own an almost brand new Intel MBP! You act like it's "Us Vs. Them" or something when I'm talking about good long term business decisions versus short term gains. Just wait until the Microsoft ad comes up that states how expensive computers like G5 Quads have all their support ditched in less than 4 years while Microsoft stands behind whatever is capable of running their OS.
One thing is for certain. Snow Leopard will be MORE efficient (not less) than Leopard and so it would/could run faster on ALL Macs if Apple let it. They are choosing to artificially kill off PPC machines before their natural lack of CPU power dictates it. And they aren't doing this due to some lack of resources (They have $30 billion in petty cash for goodness sake! I think they can afford a few extra programmers. That line of reasonsing is NONSENSE). What they are doing is gambling reputation for support on the probability of new sales from older Mac owners to buy sooner rather than later. They are putting profit first and support last. Sadly, that is becoming Apple's mantra. The problem is that it reflects badly on their image they earned over the years of Macs lasting LONGER than the average PC, not shorter. They are now handing that chip over to the PC market where it WILL be used against them just as high prices are now. That is not stupid talk. That is a fact whether you like PPC machines or not as it does NOT just apply to PPC. Look at the lack of support for early Intel machines as well. Apple is saying we don't care if you bought a Mac a couple of years ago. Buy another one already dammit!
