Timeline For Mac OSX PPC

[jericho53]

Has apple announced any plans for how long they will continue to release universal updates to their software? Just curious to know how much longer I can use my PowerPC macs. Thanx.

 

[grapes911]

Nobody knows. It will probably be long enough. But you can always use your current Mac. Just because Apple will no longer support it, doesn't mean it's going to stop working.

 

[jericho53]

So true, I still love my iMac G3 333mhz.

 

[MisterMe]

Has apple announced any plans for how long they will continue to release universal updates to their software? Just curious to know how much longer I can use my PowerPC macs. Thanx.

If Apple's Intel transition strategy were short-term, it would be evangelizing dual binaries. That is, separate application bundles for Intel and PPC Macs. Instead, it is evangelizing Universal Binaries with both Intel and PPC executables within a single application bundle. This is a long-term strategy. Once Universal Binaries are the norm, there is no reason to ever go back to single binaries. To the contrary, the concept can be expanded to include other processors from Intel and other foundries.

 

[Queso]

Has apple announced any plans for how long they will continue to release universal updates to their software? Just curious to know how much longer I can use my PowerPC macs. Thanx.

I don't think it's Apple that we need to worry about. I think towards the end of this year we're going to see third party developers start to release Intel-only software. Skype have already said this is going to happen, and Adobe are seriously hinting at it.

Providing you're happy with the features the PowerPC software gives you, it's not an issue. Use your existing Macs for as long as they work, or until you really feel you're missing out on the important stuff by not having Intel.

 

[MacsRgr8]

If Apple's Intel transition strategy were short-term, it would be evangelizing dual binaries. That is, separate application bundles for Intel and PPC Macs. Instead, it is evangelizing Universal Binaries with both Intel and PPC executables within a single application bundle. This is a long-term strategy. Once Universal Binaries are the norm, there is no reason to ever go back to single binaries. To the contrary, the concept can be expanded to include other processors from Intel and other foundries.

True, but IMHO it can only be optimized for either PPC or Intel.
I wonder what will happen to AltiVec instructions? Will Adobe Photoshop CS 3 be optimized for it? Or will it be optimized for, say SSE3, and thus it will run natively on a G5 Dual 2.7 GHz, but not as fast as on a Mac mini Core Duo....

I hope I'm wrong.

 

[jericho53]

If Apple's Intel transition strategy were short-term, it would be evangelizing dual binaries. That is, separate application bundles for Intel and PPC Macs. Instead, it is evangelizing Universal Binaries with both Intel and PPC executables within a single application bundle. This is a long-term strategy. Once Universal Binaries are the norm, there is no reason to ever go back to single binaries. To the contrary, the concept can be expanded to include other processors from Intel and other foundries.

I hope you are right. I would just be happy for apple to support ppc for 2-3 yrs.