by Anton Shilov
07/19/2005 | 03:12 PM
Software developers, who currently work with Apple Macintosh computers that feature Intel processors inside, claim that the new Macs running Pentium 4 chips is, at least in some cases, faster compared to current Power Mac computers based on IBM Power 970FX processors, which Apple calls G5.
<%BANNER[article]%>“It’s fast… Faster than [Mac OS X] on my Dual 2.0GHz Power Mac G5. In addition to booting Windows XP at blazing speeds, the included version of Mac OS X for Intel takes as little as 10 seconds to boot to the desktop from when the Apple logo first displays on screen,” an anonymous source among software designers told AppleInsider web-site.
Apple provided software developers computers powered by Intel Pentium 4 660 (3.60GHz, 2MB L2 cache) processors, equipped with 1GB of dual-channel PC2-4300 DDR2 SDRAM and based on Intel 915G core-logic with built-in Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 900 graphics engine.
The kit for developers comes bundled with a lot of different software that was designed for both PowerPC and Intel processors. In order to run applications originally developed for PowerPC-based systems developers and, eventually, end-users have to use Rosetta software, a special seamless dynamic binary translator that is designed to run unaltered PowerPC applications on Intel processors-based Macs. Those, who have experience Rosetta seem to be pretty much satisfied, reports AppleInsider.
“Taking a universal binary and timing its startup in Intel native speed versus its startup when opened via Rosetta results in a slowdown, but not as much as one would think. The apps run at about 65% to 70% of their normal speed,” a source is quoted as saying.
If the information is correct, those, who adore Apple’s Macintosh computers as well as Mac OS X operating system will probably enjoy enhanced speed provided by future Intel processors as well as will not find it hard to use existing software designed for running on IBM’s processors on next-gen Macs that use Intel’s chips.
In early June, 2005, at its Worldwide Developer Conference, Apple announced plans to deliver models of its Macintosh computers using Intel microprocessors by mid-2006, and to transition all of its Macs to using Intel microprocessors by the end of 2007.
Apple Computer did not comment on the news-story.