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OpenCL 1.0 Specification Completed and Released

AidenShaw said:
Meanwhile, all your MPEG-2 DVDs that you have now have been stuttering and skipping.... ;)

And if people think Redmond is asleep on the parallel computing front, you should check outApple's main advantage in parallel computing may simply be their "catchy naming department", as Microsoft embeds parallel computing in .NET itself....
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No of course they are not that's why circa 2009 they 've yet to implement control-s functionality for save as in their ie browser or EVEN (low and behold the superhuman task that is) saving in the backgroudh in internet explorer, so you don't just sit watching that little pain in the ass dialog box saving and waiting it for it to get done with it so you can resume with your browsing....brilliant, brilliant stuff...

I mean one thing that you could say for the guys at redmond would be that they are not asleep at all...:rolleyes: ...too bad they are immense morons though...
 
MacFly123 said:
I agree! I think we have past the tipping point and Microsoft is screwed in more ways than one.

Windows is their main source of revenue and is way behind and has a horribly tarnished reputation. So much so that now even possibly HP and Google are secretly making their own OSs. This is after people already are staying away from Vista like a plague and will be maybe even more afraid of Windows 7 because of that.

:D
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Microsoft Office and their Server platforms are Microsoft's main source of revenue. Windows is only a small part of their income that keeps a median income for them.
 
jackfrost123 said:
they 've yet to implement control-s functionality for the ie browser
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What do you think <ctrl>S should do in a browser?


jackfrost123 said:
...or EVEN (low and behold the superhuman task that is) saving in the backgroudh in internet explorer, so you don't just sit watching that little pain in the ass dialog box saving and waiting it for it to get done with it so you can resume with your browsing....
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I don't know what's wrong with you or your system, but when I have a "downloading" box running I can continue to browse in the other windows and tabs. Downloads are not single threaded in IE.

For spec compliance, traffic control and netiquette, IE normally allows two concurrent download threads - if you want more it's easy to raise the download thread count.
 
AidenShaw said:
Face it, most people won't get any significant benefit from OpenCL - because most systems don't have enough cores and GPU pipelines to exploit it, and because most applications won't be able to use it. (And on launch day, even those apps which could exploit it won't have been re-written yet....)

In the mid term, people using the maxi-tower with optional graphics cards for rendering will be quite happy. Eventually, when quad/octo core CPUs are common, and Larrabee embedded graphics is here, even the people with Apple consumer machines will see a boost for some apps.

So many people here are setting themselves up to be let down by 10.6.

And, by the way, if Apple is all about "innovation", why has it taken them so long to simply use the MPEG/H.264 hardware decoders that have been in the graphics cards all along?
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Wow...it sure sounds like Apple is innovating when it comes to OpenCL then huh? Apple is putting in place a technology that won't be used as much at launch, but as hardware and applications catch up to it, they will benefit.

Apple can't be perfect on everything....at least give them credit on OpenCL for looking forward to the future.

Now when(if) Intel gets Larrabee out to the masses, OpenCL will be there ready to be utilized. Although I'm guessing that even the new MacBooks with the NVidia chipset would benefit now.

I do think Snow Leopard will be much improved in overall performance for most machines. It's not going to be without it's bugs/quirks, but Apple is positioning themselves and their OS for the future. It's a nice step in the right direction.

Windows 7 on the other hand...well....I won't go there ;)

-Kevin
 
The transformation of GPUs from graphics-specific chips into a more general-purpose processor sort of reminds me of the time when CPUs were paired with a "math coprocessor".
 
Will this help CURRENT machines??

My biggest question is whether the new functionality of using multiple processors, when built into Snow Leopard, will help me with the current unibody aluminum MBP's who have two GPU's?? The one thing I'm not crazy at all about with these machines is the hurky way you need to reset the computer to use either the integrated or discrete GPU with no ability to switch 'on the fly'.

I mean that really sucks. If someone buys the new OS software and installs it in the current MBP, will they have more seamless transition between GPU's or would that require hardware changes too- ie would need to buy the next gen MBP??
 
MacGohil said:
OpenCL and Grand Central are single handedly going make Snow Leopard the best OS ever. With M$ scratching their heads, still trying to figure out how to patch the Vista and sell it as Windows-7 they are going to loose the race. Linux and OSX will emerge as two heavyweight OSs in next few years. M$ is history.
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Unfortunately, like most Mac OS X's better features, OpenCL and Grand Central need a Mac Pro to take full advantage.
 
This only further increases my excitement of 10.6.

Anyone else going to be waiting in line at the Eaton Centre in Toronto?
 
Now that it's ratified and released the question is how many and which GPUs can support OpenCL and how quickly will stable drivers come out. All DX10 and up GPUs can already do some type of GPGPU work even the S3 Chrome, so they should all work with OpenCL.

I wonder if the X1600 and X1900 will though. These really were the first GPGPUs available to consumers and were the first GPUs to accelerate things like video transcode with the AVIVO video convertor and Folding clients. Hopefully, Apple and ATI were smart enough to define OpenCL in a way so they can make an OpenCL driver for them given the number of Macs with X1600 (2 MBP and 2 iMac generations) and the X1900 in the Mac Pros.

And for drivers in general they should get out sooner rather than later. Microsoft isn't standing still on GPGPU and will be incorporating it in DX11. One major advantage OpenCL has besides being cross-platform, is that it's now released a year ahead of DX11 and Windows 7. They should capitalize on this time and release as many things as possible so there is an established base before DX11 gives people another option.
 
MacGohil said:
OpenCL and Grand Central are single handedly going make Snow Leopard the best OS ever. With M$ scratching their heads, still trying to figure out how to patch the Vista and sell it as Windows-7 they are going to loose the race. Linux and OSX will emerge as two heavyweight OSs in next few years. M$ is history.

I know there will be many of the opinion that most commercial / development houses still use Windows. But from the present trend and companies trying not to rely on flawed windows have already started to migrate to Linux and OSX. I work for a leading edge technology company and half of my companies computers are already using linux and osx for core development stuff.

For Apple to win, M$ does not have to loose..... Steve Jobs ====> coz M$ will eventually fall out anyways :p
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You are absolutely delusional if you think Microsoft and its Windows OS are going ANYWHERE. How many more decades are you people going to continue to say MS is failing? 90% monopoly, you're right no one uses it. Linux emerging as the heavyweight desktop OS? LOL. That is NEVER going to happen. EVER. Apple will continue to gain ground in the desktop market but please use some logic before commenting in the future.

Developer and programmer preference in an OS environment has nothing to do with the general population that makes up 99.9% of the market. Most people have been developing on Suns, SGI and every other variety of UNIX hardware since the dawn of computer.
 
Sexy!

Assuming MacWorld 2009 will be dope (which it will), I'm buying two new things starting in 2009: 1) New macbook pro with nathem--ooooooooh yea and 2) snow leopard for my macbook pro
 
Trip.Tucker said:
Ahh ye of little experience. I'll get you started here on your journey to understanding how a corporate works. Or any business for that matter.
1. Applying the way you as a consumer purchases a computer system or service or product should never ever be applied to a business entity. 2 very different ROI's. The initial cost is a very small part of the solution as a whole.

2. Development programs care very much about the frameworks and environments that are presented.

3. People liking or disliking change is irrelevant. Without change and a dynamic poise, a company is doomed to failure or a monotonous decline into obscurity.
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1.-) I didn't explain myself properly, I see. On one hand, I was talking about a company. Any company whose output is not directly related to computers (that is, they don't produce software, images, videos, etc), does not need a supercomputer: lawyers don't need a Mac, insurance companies don't need a Mac, Car makers only need Macs in the design & engineer section, etc. If all you need is Word, excel and PPT, you don't need a Mac. Actually Office for Windows works even better than for Macs. I you have to buy computers for your, I don't know, 100 accountants working with excel and you buy them iMacs instead of $600 Dells you don't know a word about business. You are wasting precious money you can use for something else. Full stop.

2.-) I didn't mix the needs of personal computer users with those of a company. My point is if OSX wants to have any significant presence in the market, you have to conquer the regular user market. Here it applies what I mentioned before.

3.-) Outside the US, Apple presence is basically insignificant and 99% ligated to companies or businesses. Regular people don't buy Macs for home.
Tell me how Apple is winning. I live in France right now and besides me, that I use the Mac for work (and another person working with me) I don't know of any single person owning a Mac. Even other people working with me own PCs to do the same job I do. The 10% market for Macs is basically located in the US.
 
ricosuave said:
For those doubters of Redmond's R&D projects out there, feast your eyes on this...:eek:

http://www.macworld.com/article/137391/2008/12/microsoft_softwear.html
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It must be one of their jokes. Microsoft employees really do have quite a good sense of humor about themselves and produces good videos even if Microsoft as a company doesn't.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WazA77xcf0A

I still find the oPhone pretty funny, and MS employees did a pretty good video for Vista SP1 too. Keep in mind these are MS employees making fun of themselves.
 
Macmel said:
In the real world, there's absolutely no chance that a company is gonna spend $1500 in a computer to do something that can be done with a $800 one from Dell.
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Actually, this is happening quite frequently at this time. I own a consulting firm and a recording studio. In both businesses we started moving away from the Windows Platform in 2006 when the Intel Mac Pros were introduced. Since that time we have completely moved to the Mac platform and now have no Windows machines in either company.

There reasons we made this move is multifaceted, however, the bottom line is that the Mac is much more cost effective as far as total cost of ownership and operation is concerned. First cost, which you quote in your post, is only a small part of the equation.

Dave
 
sweet

I hope SUN uses this to in solaris. i dream one day of having a power mac with an all ZFS drives (even the boot sector's for OSX and Solaris) and dual booting the both of them.. mmmmm give me warm fuzzies inside just thinking of it.
 
daveporter said:
Actually, this is happening quite frequently at this time. I own a consulting firm and a recording studio. In both businesses we started moving away from the Windows Platform in 2006 when the Intel Mac Pros were introduced. Since that time we have completely moved to the Mac platform and now have no Windows machines in either company.

There reasons we made this move is multifaceted, however, the bottom line is that the Mac is much more cost effective as far as total cost of ownership and operation is concerned. First cost, which you quote in your post, is only a small part of the equation.

Dave
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If I'm not mistaken the Mac Pros actually have the most value in their class. I don't think even Dell or HP offers a workstation with dual Xeons at the Mac Pro's price that uses 1600MHz FSB processors with DDR2-800 FB-DIMMs instead of cheaper 1333MHz FSB parts and DDR2 667 FB-DIMMs that are more common. Admittedly though, Apple skimps on the GPU.
 
Y'all are crazy if you think Windows Vista is a failure because people are scared of it. They were scared to death of XP too and stayed with Windows 98 and 2000 for YEARS despite how vastly superiour to 98 and clearly improved from 2000 Vista was.

EVERY Windows release gets the same thing - even Windows 95 way back. How short your memories are. Microsoft cannot release an OS people want to upgrade to. It never has.

In 2009 or 2010, Windows Vista should be much better accepted - the tipping point will be when Windows 7 is released and people want downgrades to Vista...

That's the Microsoft product cycle and always has been. Kinda a sad reflection on their inability to deliver a compelling feature set, eh?
 
commander.data said:
It must be one of their jokes. Microsoft employees really do have quite a good sense of humor about themselves and produces good videos even if Microsoft as a company doesn't.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WazA77xcf0A

I still find the oPhone pretty funny, and MS employees did a pretty good video for Vista SP1 too. Keep in mind these are MS employees making fun of themselves.
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I find it rather macabre that their humour is to the expense of every poor soul who's never dealth with computers and is forced via military coup and non standards some decades ago to suffer through their atrocious software. It's really not funny at, it's really the definition of unfunny. :eek::mad::rolleyes:

Man, 99% of humanity would love to go up to Redmond and woop their collective ass for the pain they have put us through all these years...
 
daveporter said:
Actually, this is happening quite frequently at this time. I own a consulting firm and a recording studio. In both businesses we started moving away from the Windows Platform in 2006 when the Intel Mac Pros were introduced. Since that time we have completely moved to the Mac platform and now have no Windows machines in either company.

There reasons we made this move is multifaceted, however, the bottom line is that the Mac is much more cost effective as far as total cost of ownership and operation is concerned. First cost, which you quote in your post, is only a small part of the equation.

Dave
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Total cost of ownership is definitely one thing companies always look at, while consumers won't. That's why the "half the price" iPhone numbers skyrocketed. It was actually just "half the initial price", but consumers don't always think that way.

You can buy a $600 Dell. You own it for 2 years, paying for antivirus/spyware solutions and tech support the whole time. You buy a Mac for $1200, own it for 4 years, with no antivirus and little tech support needed. Right there your cost per year is already better with a Mac. Not to mention you probably have more hair left after owning the Mac.

Want a backup solution for all the computers in your small business? Configure all the Macs in the office to back up their home folders with Time Machine to central storage. SO easy to set up, the boss could do it. With Windows ... call in a tech firm.

Macmel said:
1.-)
3.-) Outside the US, Apple presence is basically insignificant and 99% ligated to companies or businesses. Regular people don't buy Macs for home.
Tell me how Apple is winning. I live in France right now and besides me, that I use the Mac for work (and another person working with me) I don't know of any single person owning a Mac. Even other people working with me own PCs to do the same job I do. The 10% market for Macs is basically located in the US.
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Yes, but we're talking about the future here, not the present. I believe that Apple will have less than 50% market share and Windows will have greater than 50% for a long time, but those numbers are steadily going in Apple's favor.

Walk into any coffee shop in my small Idaho college town and you see a sea of glowing Apple logos, iPhones, and white earbuds. Its amazing how Apple's products still stand out even when they are everywhere. College campuses are teeming with Macs, and when they go off to start businesses or work in their fields, Macs are what they are going to prefer.
 
markie said:
Y'all are crazy if you think Windows Vista is a failure because people are scared of it. They were scared to death of XP too and stayed with Windows 98 and 2000 for YEARS despite how vastly superiour to 98 and clearly improved from 2000 Vista was.

EVERY Windows release gets the same thing - even Windows 95 way back. How short your memories are. Microsoft cannot release an OS people want to upgrade to. It never has.

In 2009 or 2010, Windows Vista should be much better accepted - the tipping point will be when Windows 7 is released and people want downgrades to Vista...

That's the Microsoft product cycle and always has been. Kinda a sad reflection on their inability to deliver a compelling feature set, eh?
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No you are wrong, people where not asking for downgrades to 2000 when xp were released, but they asking now because vista is such an overbloated mega flop, and their asking en masse. Maybe they were not so quick to adopt xp, but then again it didn't come for free right did it, so it's not much saying that they didn't adopt fast enough a product that came at an extra cost and with little real improvements. And rest assured they will correct their atrocities with 7 and now one will ever look back on this vista thing, because ms migh be a bunch of incapable types but the're is a whole lot of them, and even they at some point GET IT, some of it at least....:cool::apple:
 
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