Apple goes Intel. Why?, Apple Options

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Apple goes Intel. Why?

[lepetitmartien]

here is the post of a friend on Gaygeeks.org

Here's two interesting posts from the Vintage Mac mailing list on the Apple - Intel thing. Pretty interesting, I think.
ocdude38

Post 1:
Despite all that, the developer documentation that Apple released specifically says that the new platform will use a BIOS, not Open Firmware. Anand on http://anandtech.com covers some of this (http://anandtech.com/tradeshows/showdoc.aspx?i=2439). You can also download the documents for yourself and read them if you want. I breezed over them just to get an overview. As I said before this wil be VERY, VERY, VERY good for the Apple platform. Are you aware that the 128MB ATI 9200 Mac Edition costs $125+? The same card for a PC can be purchased for $39.99 at Newegg!!!!!!!! THAT is why BIOS based motherboards will be better than OpenFirmware. The chip makers should only need to produce one BIOS that will be compatible on any x86 platform when Apple starts using the new motherboards.

Post 2:
Apple's move to Intel designed chips caught me by surprise a much as anyone.
I was certain that Apple would use Intel to build PowerPC chips in the same
way Apple moved AltiVec to IBM designs.

The move to Intel designs for laptops designs make sense as the M series are
a superior design to desktop Pentiums (NetBurst, heat, hide design problems
with clock speed, yada yada)

The move to Intel for desktop machines seems foolish on it face until you
look at the time frame for their integration into the high-end Macs.
High-end Macs migrate to Intel LAST at the end of two years. What is
happening in 2 years at Intel?

That appears to be the timeframe for the release of a chip designed by a
very NON-Intel design team. Specifically, the old DEC Alpha team. If anyone
remembers DEC Alpha's they were the fastest processors available in the
90's. Consistently outperforming everything. 64-bit, multiprocessor from day
one with a very elegant, efficient design. DEC was, unfortunately, a
foundering company with a very 70's management style and vision. As a result
a superior chip design lost in the market place. Compaq knew even less than
DEC so the design team jumped ship. HP was even more clueless. For several
years now Peter Bannon and his old Alpha design team (over 300 of them) have
been working on Intel's next generation 64-bit designs. Their first design
for Intel, not-polluted by previous Intel in-house missteps, is planned for
a 2007 release. Interesting timing is it not.

Here is some background:

* "Intel's Tanglewood pumped full of DEC Alpha goodness"
* "Intel Appoints New Fellow"
* "Mister Tanglewood tapped as Intel Fellow"
* "Intel's 64-bit Man Appointed 'Fellow' Status"

Apple's high end machines may be running on an Intel CPU but it may be
unlike any other Intel cpu seen before. Designed by a team that has been
producing elegant, efficient designs (two words not used to describe Intel
designs) a more than a decade before IBM had a 64-bit desktop design.

I LOVE this post