Notes on Apple's Rosetta Technology

[Slammy]

me no like this transition anymore

I have to say that I agree. I am going to hold onto my powerbook and its thousand+ dollars worth of software that already runs well as long as possible. Otherwise what options do I have? Buy a "screaming fast" intel macbook pro that runs my current software poorly or not at all, forcing me to pony up for a whole new set of Adobe and Apple products? Then there are the dozens of smaller programs I use that will no longer work, or work properly. Heck, when I upgraded to 10.3 Retrospect stopped working, I had to buy a whole new version and the new version couldn't add to the old archives incrementally, it could only read them. My mind is imagining all the problems and incompatabilities that await this transition.
There are times when I think that the hardware and software guys are in cahoots. Thats right, I said it, cahoots.

 

[jimN]

people are with this! Apple not supporting their own pro apps and charging the user (again) when the reason for the upgrade is Apples own doing! Charging $200 is pure gangsterism. It feels like I've only just got settled after the last switch. I'm now making music rather than maintaining my software and system but it looks like another huge upheaval is on the cards. I also don't like how the PPC iMac is being made to be second best, thus aiding the migration to intel by the present specs balance. Why not put a 2.7 G5 in it and let people have a choice. It already exists and no doubt after such a long period of time there's one a bit higher. Perhaps even the ill fated 3.0!!

If you are running all of these apps then keep doing so on your current system. The release of a new model by no means compels you to upgrade and then crossgrade your software - it's not as if it stops working. When you actually NEED to update your system then likely as not new versions will be out and so the fee won't be an issue. They couldn't put in a 2.7 G5 because those things get too hot - haven't you ever seen th liquid cooling in the dual models. Granted they might have been able to push it to 2.3 but why fight progress. If you have an old iMac, then enjoy it, it still works.

Apple could perhaps have released aperture as a UB given they didn't release it until 5 months after the announcement and could have done preparatory work before hand if they had wanted to. That would have looked good - "by the way Aperture just works!" Either way this isn't gangsterism, just progress.

 

[jimN]

I have to say that I agree. I am going to hold onto my powerbook and its thousand+ dollars worth of software that already runs well as long as possible. Otherwise what options do I have? Buy a "screaming fast" intel macbook pro that runs my current software poorly or not at all, forcing me to pony up for a whole new set of Adobe and Apple products? Then there are the dozens of smaller programs I use that will no longer work, or work properly. Heck, when I upgraded to 10.3 Retrospect stopped working, I had to buy a whole new version and the new version couldn't add to the old archives incrementally, it could only read them. My mind is imagining all the problems and incompatabilities that await this transition.
There are times when I think that the hardware and software guys are in cahoots. Thats right, I said it, cahoots.

This is no surprise. We all new that the transition to a new architecture would cause compatability issues and from the outset people were taking the rosetta claims with a large pinch of salt. The majority of users do not use the pro-apps and will see sinificant speed gains in the software they do use. Photoshop will be more than usable under rosetta (and i expect will compare favourably with powerbook performance, just not with the old G5 iMac). The pro-apps will be rolled out in March, that's a month and a half away at the earliest (and february's a short month).

Now calm down dear, it's only a transition.

 

[MarcelV]

Guess that's the end of the line for that. Good ridance.

Don't share your opinion on that. I have kids that are almost 4 year old and a 2 1/2 year. Some of the games they play require Classic. When my little one will be 4, she wants a computer. She has made that clear since Santa didn't bring her one. She also wanted an iPod and camera. Not even 4. Yes, I am in trouble.... (Luckily Santa brought her an iPod Shuffle and a camera) Will buy her a Mac mini. I would have preferred to buy a new Intel based one (if that would be launched in time), but she would be very disappointed if she couldn't play her games.

 

[boombashi]

Apple has come out with these systems a full 6 months before they "said" they would. If you require native speed on FCP or Logic or something right this second, and don't have another system, by all means don't buy a MacBook Pro right now...Steve Jobs would tell you the same thing. There is no company that I have ever worked for that watches for a Stevenote and then rushes to be first in line to buy the latest Mac. Nope they buy when they need them and they buy what they need for the task at hand. If you require it for your bread and butter - Please don't buy it, and please shut up about it for the next 8 months.

If anyone was running OS X 10.0 when it first came out, you probably understand how frustrating it can be for a transition like this, but you probably also agree that this one will probably take 1/10 as long. I see 3rd parties jumping on this for quick support. If you remember Apple was "dead" when OS X first came out and people REALLY had cold feet about supporting that change.

 

[boombashi]

Apple could perhaps have released aperture as a UB given they didn't release it until 5 months after the announcement and could have done preparatory work before hand if they had wanted to. That would have looked good - "by the way Aperture just works!" Either way this isn't gangsterism, just progress.

I was a pretty suprised to find out Aperature wasn't built universal, and I kind of think they should just give that to people that just bought it and absorb the small loss. The other Pro apps I can see them charging an admin price for - you usually have to pay for upgrades. They will send you new disks which costs money, isn't FCP like 4-5 gigs, I doubt you will be getting that through the System Update. I think they have to recompile everything, I doubt they could just patch it.

 

[bretm]

Jobs announced that you can purchase universals of their apps like FCP for $49 if you trade in your discs.

Final Cut Studio doesn't run under Rosetta and it doesn't require a G5. How about any app that needs direct access to CoreAudio and OpenGL?

 

[bretm]

See my previous post. Its too soon to tell. Anyone who says anything at this point is pulling something out of an orifice of theirs. Give it about a week and someone will have Rosetta X-Bench scores up at which point we can surmise what that score is to other G4 hardware.

Yeah, but the computer you have is generally regarded as being as fast as a single 1.5 ghz G4 (there's a 50% performance gain on an extra G4 processor on apps that see it).

So, by Apple's specs, a new laptop with a duo core would be 4x faster than your current machine. And that's a laptop. We'll see what they put in the towers, but current G5 quads would be at least 4x faster (if not more) than your current machine. I think your apps would probably run just as well under rosetta.

 

[wmaney]

EYE TV Does Work ACCORDING TO ELGATO - I guess?

Someone was asking about whether Eye TV 2.0 runs on the new Intel Macs. The following is from the Eye TV FAQ at el gato:

"As soon as Apple released the Intel Mac development platform in 2005, Elgato has been porting EyeTV over to the new processor and system. It uses so much of the PowerPC platform to get the best performance (like AltiVec instructions), that the transition was far from trivial.

EyeTV runs fine in the Rosetta emulation environment and will run even smoother once the entire application is a Universal Binary. We are in the final stages of this process and are working on the final tweaks so that EyeTV 2 will be as perfect as possible for all new Intel Macs.

Thus, the free update for Intel Mac support will soon come to all current and future EyeTV 2 users, via the normal downloadable update."

Hope this helps

 

[Little Endian]

people are with this! Apple not supporting their own pro apps and charging the user (again) when the reason for the upgrade is Apples own doing! Charging $200 is pure gangsterism. It feels like I've only just got settled after the last switch. I'm now making music rather than maintaining my software and system but it looks like another huge upheaval is on the cards. I also don't like how the PPC iMac is being made to be second best, thus aiding the migration to intel by the present specs balance. Why not put a 2.7 G5 in it and let people have a choice. It already exists and no doubt after such a long period of time there's one a bit higher. Perhaps even the ill fated 3.0!!

I agree with you on the part that Apple should have given us more options. A G5 is not a viable option for a notebook but a better update to the last PowerBook G4 ore even another update to the PowerBook G4 with Faster processor, Video Card etc. would have been nice. The Cross Grade fees are annoying especially if you bought the application recently and are also in the market for a new machine. Having another PowerPC machine update would be nice for those wanting to avoid the transitional teething but want a new machine with good performance without having to Cross Grade or worry about things like Universal Binaries and Rosetta Performance. I say this because it will take time for everything to become Universal Binary and some Apps are heavily dependent on AltiVec native speed acceleration so a PPC would provide better performance for current apps and apps waiting to be converted.

The transition is being done in full force though to make the bumpy road faster for all of us that is what people call progress and since Apple will for sure not release another PPC notebook we will have to deal with it.

 

[Bengt77]

Gawd, let this be sarcasm.

Don't share your opinion on that. I have kids that are almost 4 year old and a 2 1/2 year. Some of the games they play require Classic. When my little one will be 4, she wants a computer. She has made that clear since Santa didn't bring her one. She also wanted an iPod and camera. Not even 4. Yes, I am in trouble.... (Luckily Santa brought her an iPod Shuffle and a camera) Will buy her a Mac mini. I would have preferred to buy a new Intel based one (if that would be launched in time), but she would be very disappointed if she couldn't play her games.

Gawd, let this be sarcasm. I really, really hope your whole post is sarcasm. Who in his right mind would ever grant his kid of such an age an iPod and a camera? And, even worse, who would ever buy his kid (not even four years old, as you wrote) it's own Mac mini? Sounds like very bad parenthood to me; not being able to deny your kid anything. Granted, I don't have any kids myself, but still... I've got many friends who do. And their shared consensus is that the way you seem to be treating yours, is absolutely not the way it should be done.

But then again... it was probably just some good sarcasm. Wasn't it?!...

 

[coreybox]

Hello All,

One concern of mine is the migration assistant. Im running a G4 Powerbook, and when the time comes that i upgrade how well will the migration assistant work? Surely not very well if some preferences/widgets/various programs that are not universal don't carry over.

Seems like it might be a nightmare trying to get your computer set back up just how you like it once you go intel.

peace,

corey

Gawd, let this be sarcasm. I really, really hope your whole post is sarcasm. Who in his right mind would ever grant his kid of such an age an iPod and a camera? And, even worse, who would ever buy his kid (not even four years old, as you wrote) it's own Mac mini? Sounds like very bad parenthood to me; not being able to deny your kid anything. Granted, I don't have any kids myself, but still... I've got many friends who do. And their shared consensus is that the way you seem to be treating yours, is absolutely not the way it should be done.

But then again... it was probably just some good sarcasm. Wasn't it?!...

If it wasn't sarcasm (which i don't think it was) i would suggest getting a used iBook if anything. A four year old in no way needs anything super powerful, and it would be able to run all the classic apps (or OS9 if you get an old enough one).

I also think a laptop would be easier for a child in that everything is right there, and they could play with it in bed or in the living room.

Im sure you could pick up one pretty cheap, or at least cheaper than a new mac mini package (monitor, keyboard, all the stuff you would need to set up a new computer station).

hope that helps

corey

 

[Peace]

Gawd, let this be sarcasm. I really, really hope your whole post is sarcasm. Who in his right mind would ever grant his kid of such an age an iPod and a camera? And, even worse, who would ever buy his kid (not even four years old, as you wrote) it's own Mac mini? Sounds like very bad parenthood to me; not being able to deny your kid anything. Granted, I don't have any kids myself, but still... I've got many friends who do. And their shared consensus is that the way you seem to be treating yours, is absolutely not the way it should be done.

But then again... it was probably just some good sarcasm. Wasn't it?!...

Give the guy a break..Everybody knows when a parent gets tech toys for their children they're actually getting it for themselves..

 

[Aeolius]

And, even worse, who would ever buy his kid (not even four years old, as you wrote) it's own Mac mini?

"its"?!? Sheesh...easy to spot those without children, eh? And, for the record, it's a tradition in my household to get a child HIS or HER first Mac when they turn 2.

 

[daveslc]

Why no Classic emulation?

Since Rosetta emulates applications built for OS X, and since 'Classic' was built for OS X, why can't Rosetta emulate Classic? Is there a software or hardware reason that Rosetta can't do this? If Classic can be run on a G5 that won't boot into OS9, why not on Intel?

There are many scientific apps that run on classic (yes, maybe the unpaid developers should update them), and others that are used by a variety of people (games, etc. - see previous posts). It is a shame that years and years of software development will be rendered obsolete. One of the great things about Macs has always been backward compatibility.

 

[mmzplanet]

My 4 year old has his own Indigo iMac G3. He loves his Finding Nemo game and the other preschool games on it. I see nothing wrong with getting a young one their own PC... I just dont see the need of a new mini. Go on e-bay and drop 100-200 and get an old iMac. I find that my 4 year old already knows how to navigate OS X a little bit and even knows more than many older people I know. LOL

 

[EGT]

me no like this transition anymore

Me agrees with you.

It will just take time, but fair play to all those who fork out for an Intel Mac now.

 

[Aeolius]

My 4 year old has his own Indigo iMac G3. He loves his Finding Nemo game and the other preschool games on it. I see nothing wrong with getting a young one their own PC... I just dont see the need of a new mini. Go on e-bay and drop 100-200 and get an old iMac. I find that my 4 year old already knows how to navigate OS X a little bit and even knows more than many older people I know. LOL

Fair enough. I supposes I should have clarified. I now have 4 children. The youngest ones got hand-me down iMacs

 

[DVK916]

Nothing wrong with giving a 4 year old child a new mac mini. I think it is perfect for a 4 year old. It is a low cost computer that is practically crippleware. If it breaks it won't be too expensive for a new one. A Mac Mini is something cheap that a 4 year old would appreciate.

 

[Flowbee]

Don't share your opinion on that. I have kids that are almost 4 year old and a 2 1/2 year. Some of the games they play require Classic. When my little one will be 4, she wants a computer. She has made that clear since Santa didn't bring her one. She also wanted an iPod and camera. Not even 4. Yes, I am in trouble.... (Luckily Santa brought her an iPod Shuffle and a camera) Will buy her a Mac mini. I would have preferred to buy a new Intel based one (if that would be launched in time), but she would be very disappointed if she couldn't play her games.

My 3 year old won't use our Mac unless it's running OS 8. I tried to upgrade to OS 9 last month and she threw such a tantrum (you should see the cute video). Anyway, I'm starting to worry about her reaction when she opens the new MacBook Pro I ordered for her. Luckily, it won't come until the end of February... maybe she'll have outgrown this phase by then.

 

[shawnce]

Final Cut Studio doesn't run under Rosetta and it doesn't require a G5. How about any app that needs direct access to CoreAudio and OpenGL?

Access to CoreAudio and OpenGL is supported under Rosetta.

 

[kylos]

Oh, this transition will be fine. I have two major apps that won't be supported right away, FCE and a classic version of photoshop. The translated version of FCE will likely cost less than the translated version of FCS, so I'm not too concerned about that. And those who end up paying more than $50 for upgrading non-studio-bundle versions of their pro-apps are getting not only an intel version but also version upgrades for a decent price. These machines so outperform ppc, it's ridiculous. It's likely any one individual will have 2 or 3 apps that don't convert at all, and most of those will be ported for free soon anyway. There may be a few issues, but mostly it will be fine. Some people will have too many processor dependent apps to convert right away, but I doubt many of those apps will charge much to upgrade.

 

[Will_reed]

this can only mean bad things for mac gaming

 

[Peace]

this can only mean bad things for mac gaming

How so ?

 

[Cubert]

My girlfriend's sister just bought a new Intel iMac (she's new to the platform). After reading that Rosetta won't work with PowerPC-based screensavers, I went to Apple's website to find Universal binary screensavers and I can't find any! Of course, the screensavers that will come with her iMac will be Universal, but I'd like to install more for her. I think Apple needs to update their website to clearly delineate PowerPC binary apps vs. Universal apps. If anyone has any advice on something I may have overlooked, I would appreciate it.

Cubert