Your PPC Machine isn't dead yet.

[nrd]

Everyone's panicking about the move to Intel. Your PowerPC Mac is not obsolete yet. First off, you have at least a year to save up for a new machine. Secondly, PPC will still be supported, even though it might be limited.*

Some thoughts:

• Your PPC machine will still be able to run new apps for quite some time. Mid-2006 doesn't mean your machine will be instantly dead.
• If you buy a new machine and keep your PPC machine, you will likely be able to use it as an Xgrid node (gigabit ethernet machines). That way, even if you no longer use it as your primary machine, the PPC and Altivec chips are still working for you.
• Your old machine can easily be a file, mail, or web server. My PMG5 is my primary machine and a pretty decent webserver as well.

There are people out there still using 68k machines for tasks, and they're incredibly out of date. Think different and use your machine for something else, even if it means eventually making the machine single-purpose, like a file server or an iTunes jukebox.

Teach your "old" Mac new tricks and extend its usefulness.

*Third party developers could just drop PPC, but if they're using Xcode, it's likely that the production of fat binaries will last quite a while.

 

[dodonutter]

Nicely put

 

[nrd]

Just an afterthought...

If you want, I can show you a project I'm working on that involves iTunes and Apache. I'm at work now, so I'm not free to post everything and go into detail, but here's the short of it:

Apache runs as 'www' and thus can't call Applescript because Applescript must be called as the console user. Multiple websites mention starting Apache as you. Bad idea! Huge potential security risk.

I created an intermediary that allows you to control iTunes via Applescript, called from Apache. If there is interest, I'll clean up the code tonight and post it.

A remotely controlled iTunes jukebox is just one more thing you can do with your Mac!

 

[James Philp]

My problem is do I buy a PPC machine soon - a £2500 system that I would want to last* at least 5 years (like the one I am typing on).

*By "last" I mean run the most recent version of the OS and all apps too.

 

[nrd]

My problem is do I buy a PPC machine soon - a £2500 system that I would want to last* at least 5 years (like the one I am typing on).

*By "last" I mean run the most recent version of the OS and all apps too.

Well, if we assume Leopard will be both platforms, and that because 50% of developers already use Xcode most apps will support both platforms, your new machine will last at least three, by my guess.

Three years from now, the new Quadra Mac 4.25 will be something you might want to replace your PM with.

(Personally, I'd buy an even older PM, like a Rev A/B G5, it'll still work in the mean time, and you'll probably be fed up with it by the time the new machines come out. This post is therapy for those currently with PPC machines, not those about-to-buy. I was pretty pissed about the Intel announcement as I just bought a new dual G5. But after thinking it over, I'll probably just get all the use out of it as I can. I have a 400Mhz AMD K6 running as a fileserver at my parents, so I'm used to squeezing old machines )

 

[deryk]

My problem is do I buy a PPC machine soon - a £2500 system that I would want to last* at least 5 years (like the one I am typing on).

*By "last" I mean run the most recent version of the OS and all apps too.

I bet it would last at least five years. Tiger runs on high end G3s from five years ago--of course not as smoothly as a newer processor.

Deryk

 

[topgunn]

My iMac is very fast at what I need it to do. I import my miniDV movies into iMovie, edit them, send the finished product to iDVD at which point I burn it. No matter what happens from here on out with future hardware and software updates, my machine will always do these tasks as fast as the day I took in out of the box.

Will future computers do it faster? Of course.

Will future computers provide more effects? Of course.

As long as I keep my current camera, DVD player and TV, will my iMac continue to make quality movies? Of course.

 

[mstecker]

Third party developers could just drop PPC, but if they're using Xcode, it's likely that the production of fat binaries will last quite a while.

Remember, there won't be any 3rd party developers NOT using Xcode. Did you watch the keynote? If you want to run on Intel, step 1: get to Xcode. Every developer who is still running on Metrowerks is right now scrambling to get their code up in Xcode. There is no 3rd party developer who will drop ppc. NOT ONE.

 

[nrd]

Remember, there won't be any 3rd party developers NOT using Xcode. Did you watch the keynote? If you want to run on Intel, step 1: get to Xcode. Every developer who is still running on Metrowerks is right now scrambling to get their code up in Xcode. There is no 3rd party developer who will drop ppc. NOT ONE.

Very true. I forgot about that one. The lifespan of PPC will probably be five years then, if not more.

Let's also hope that certain companies that develop Windows only software (*cough*ESRI*cough*) might be enticed to develop for the Mac, and possibly even release a fat binary!