PowerPC
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The CPU from Apple's iMac G3 is powering NASA's Perseverance rover
When NASA's Perseverance guided itself to the surface of Mars on February 18th, it did so with the help of the same processor that powered the 1998 iMac G3.
Apple will reportedly replace Intel chips in Macs with its own in 2020
Apple has been manufacturing chips to use in its Macs for a while now, though the ARM-based silicon mostly backs up Intel's main CPUs during laptop "Power Nap" sessions. The company also makes its own silicon for iOS and Apple Watch devices. Now, according to a report at Bloomberg, Apple plans to replace Intel's Mac chips, starting as early as 2020.
Microsoft: No cross-platform play between Xbox One and Xbox 360
Don't expect any cross-platform play between Xbox 360 and Xbox One. That's what Microsoft Xbox UK marketing manager Harvey Eagle confirmed to Videogamer. "Because of the different architecture of the systems it's not possible. Your Xbox Live account on 360 will carry over to Xbox One. That same account will work on both platforms. The multiplayer won't," Eagle told Videogamer. The Xbox 360 is built on PowerPC architecture, while the Xbox One utilizes an x86 chipset – so no purchased games will transfer to the new system. The Xbox One was announced by Microsoft yesterday during its Redmond campus Xbox reveal event. The Xbox One is due to launch later this year. Xbox Live profiles and corresponding Achievements on Xbox 360 will carry over to Xbox One, which also bumps up the friends limit to 1,000.
x86'd: How PC architecture could push Nintendo out of the next gen
It didn't take long for console warriors, fanboys and a brutal media to take aim at Nintendo's Wii U. The fledgling system was relentlessly teased for its name (seemingly even sillier than that of its predecessor) and a list of specifications certain to be outdone by its competitors. The device's novel tablet controller stayed judgment for a short time, but it didn't last long -- a weak launch lineup, a slow operating system and software delays soured an already judgmental community. Wii U detractors eventually climbed atop their soapboxes to issue their final verdicts: Nintendo is doomed. A premature prophecy, perhaps, but one that became increasingly difficult to argue with: diminishing sales and third-party desertion set a negative tone for the Wii U's future. Dedicated fans (this editor among them) quickly fell into a defensive position, dismissing EA's abandonment of the platform with promises of Nintendo's own first-party wonders. Optimism reigns supreme. Still, with both Microsoft and Sony's cards on the table, it's clear that Nintendo is about to take another hit.
Xbox One not backwards compatible with 360 discs/XBLA purchases; Gamerscore does transfer
Microsoft's minty-fresh Xbox One will be unable to play Xbox 360 discs, nor will your multitude of Xbox Live Arcade purchases transfer to the new machine, our friends at Engadget have learned. The incompatibility is due to the fact that the Xbox One runs on x86 processor architecture, whereas the Xbox 360 ran on PowerPC. This fundamental difference in hardware architecture prevents the Xbox One from natively running Xbox 360 games, regardless of how powerful the thing may be. "We care very much about the investment people have made in Xbox 360 and will continue to support it with a pipeline of new games and new apps well into the future," a Microsoft representative told Engadget. Part of that investment will transfer, however: Your Xbox Live Gamerscore. Earlier this year, Sony also announced that its PlayStation 4 will make the jump to a processor built on the x86 platform.
Mac 101: How to tell if an older app will run on OS X Lion
If you have a lot of older programs hanging around on your Mac, chances are some of them may not work correctly (or at all) after upgrading to OS X Lion. Most programs put out in the last few years should at least launch in Lion, though it may be some time before they run well. However, there is a certain older class of application that won't even open anymore once you install OS X Lion: PowerPC-only apps. Before upgrading to Lion, it's important to know if you have any of these apps still hanging around, because they'll be useless piles of ones and zeros afterward. In 2009, Mac OS X Snow Leopard moved to Intel-only hardware and dropped legacy support for PowerPC Macs. Wisely (for the time), Apple kept support for PowerPC software as an option for Mac users running Snow Leopard. The PPC-enabling code translation technology, Rosetta, was an optional install for users who still needed the ability to turn PowerPC instructions into something the newer Intel processors could execute. It's been six years since the announcement of the PowerPC to Intel transition, and with OS X Lion Apple has basically said, "Enough is enough," and relegated Rosetta to the software dustbin. In fact, one of the reasons Lion is a smaller install than Snow Leopard is the absence of all that PPC compatibility code in system libraries (which were shipping as 'fat binaries' before, and are now slimmed down to Intel-only). The upshot for Apple is that's a lot less legacy code to worry about -- and unlike Microsoft's traditional approach, Apple is all about ditching backward compatibility for both hardware and software in the name of progress and streamlining. For a certain subset of users who are still running legacy PowerPC programs, however, it means transitioning to Lion may be inconvenient at best and financially ruinous at worst. Retro Techs has a list of software that won't run on Lion anymore because of its PPC-free pedigree, and there are some pretty big (though to be fair, pretty old) names on it. Adobe CS2 and earlier are dead programs walking in OS X Lion, which is why I said upgrading might be financially ruinous for some users -- updating to the latest version of Creative Suite can be defined as "cheap" only if you're one to complain about having to tool around town in your BMW because your Jag is in the shop. Quicken for Mac won't run on Lion either, and there really isn't a one-size-fits-all alternative to the program. Microsoft Office 2004 and earlier won't work under Lion, and neither will AppleWorks (remember him? Ha). Fortunately, Apple's iWork suite is a powerful (and inexpensive) alternative to both software suites. Unfortunately, if you had some classic games like Starcraft and Diablo II still hanging out on your Mac, you're out of luck under Lion. If running classic games like those are critical to your "workflow," you might be best served by tracking down Windows versions of them (and a version of Windows) and running them in Boot Camp or in a virtual PC. If that sounds like a huge pain (it certainly does to me), you might be better off keeping an older Mac around with Snow Leopard running on it so you can still run PowerPC apps, or if you're geekily inclined you can partition the hard drive on your current Mac and dual boot into Snow Leopard (unless you're buying a new mini or MacBook Air that ships with Lion -- they won't boot 10.6). Partitioning and running Snow Leopard on another partition will also work for applications like Office 2004, but the question to "Is it worth the effort to do that?" is almost certainly going to be "No." The easiest way to tell if you're still running any PowerPC applications on your Mac is to select "About this Mac" from the Apple menu, then go into System Profiler (now known as "System Information" in Lion, accessible by clicking on "System Report...") and check out the "Applications" list in the sidebar under "Software." Sort this list by "Kind" and take note of any apps you find that say "PowerPC" -- those apps won't run in Lion. Anything that says "Intel" or "Universal" is good to go. Alas, poor MarbleBlast, I knew him well... If you've been using Macs since OS 9 (in other words, for years and years and years), you might see another kind of app described as "Classic." Those apps haven't been executable on a PowerPC Mac since Mac OS X Leopard (10.5) and have never run on Intel Macs anyway, so chances are you found alternatives for those apps around four or five years ago. Hopefully all that made sense. One thing worth asking yourself is whether the advantages of upgrading to Lion outweigh the disadvantages of discontinued support for your legacy programs. If you find yourself in a situation where you're financially dependent on Adobe CS2, Office 2004, Quicken 2007, or Starcraft (it could happen), then you may want to keep Snow Leopard as your OS of choice.
PPC Macs 'likely' to be unsupported by Firefox 4
While it may not come as much of a surprise, it's still going to aggravate owners of aging PPC Macs that the upcoming Firefox 4 browser is probably going to drop support for the older architecture. Mozilla program manager Mike Beltzner noted that the next version of the open-source browser, currently in beta, is not working on PowerPC machines now and the update will not be automatically offered to them. Computerworld points to two separate technologies in FF4 that are standing in the way of a PPC build: the OOPP isolated plugin system, which prevents browser extensions from gumming up the works; and the JIT (just in time) compiler for the new JaegerMonkey JavaScript engine, which sounds like a drunken simian but is actually supposed to speed up JavaScript compilation manyfold. Neither have a functional equivalent on the PowerPC. It's not clear if the Camino browser, which does work on both Mac processor platforms and is based on the Mozilla Gecko rendering engine, will be able to update to the Gecko 2.0 platform that powers Firefox 4. In the same message thread, Beltzner allowed that developers could certainly work on a PPC version that left out the two problematic components, but that it most likely would not be allowed to carry the Firefox brand (which has happened before with custom optimized builds for specific architectures). He also pointed out that there aren't development resources within Mozilla to extend support for OOPP and the JIT compiler to PPC, and that outside help has not been forthcoming. [via Download Squad]
iPad misses out on Office romance, but gains a $900 app and more
Stephen Elop, el presidente of Microsoft's business division has stated that his company has "no current plans" to port its Office productivity suite over to the iPad. Contenting itself with a "wait and see" approach, the Redmond outfit isn't willing to completely close the door of possibility, but earlier hopes of seeing family favorites like Word and Excel on the iPad might have to be doused for the time being. Should that hamper the enjoyment of your new slate, you might want to console yourself with the extravagantly priced SiteClone Publisher, also available for the iPhone, which converts $900 of your hard-earned cashola into a tool that downloads data off particular sites while online, so that the user may access that content even without a connection. Doesn't sound worthy of a tenth of its price, but maybe the government and corporate entities it's aimed at will appreciate it more. Finally, Apple Insider is reporting whispers that Apple retail employees will be getting freebie iPads at some indeterminate point in the future, while NeoSmart has a particularly insightful breakdown of the differences between PowerPC, x86, and ARM CPU instruction sets. Hit up the links below for the full edifying experience.
Patch 3.3.3a should fix issues for some Mac users
A heads-up for our Mac users, although there's a good chance you've already been painfully aware of this if you play on one of the affected systems -- patch 3.3.3 has been causing major issues for some PowerPC and Tiger users, which have (hopefully) been fixed by the mini-patch 3.3.3a. S4d1K -- 3.3.3 Known Issues for Mac players We are aware of 2 critical bugs that are affecting users with specific configurations. #1 PowerPC G4/G5 users get disconnected after login. #2 Users with a MacBook Pro GeForce 8600M and 10.4.11 crashes after entering the world. We are very sorry and we are working on these issues and hope to fix them as soon as possible. UPDATE 5:10pm: We have a fix for both issues but it will require a client patch. We don't have an ETA for now. UPDATE 3/24 12:15pm: We are currently testing a patch. We want to make sure that we do not break the game for another group of people. We are doing everything to release this patch as soon as possible. source The patch in question is (we think) 3.3.3a. With the patch, many of the affected users are now reporting that WoW is playable again, but while monitoring the official thread on the issue, it's apparent that a lot of players are still having problems. We had several people drop comments on Adam's earlier post on the mini-patch -- did 3.3.3a work for you?
Retrospect 8.1 brings back PowerPC support, improves performance
EMC announced today an update to its popular Retrospect network backup software; version 8.1 brings back support for PowerPC-based workstations and improves performance for Intel-based Macs. Eric Ullman, director of project management for Retrospect, said that while older G4-based Macs will run significantly slower than their Intel-based counterparts, Retrospect 8.1 can at least back them up (a capability that was lost in the move from the legacy 6.1 version). G5s with multiple processors, however, can see performance gains of 10 to 15 percent compared to Retrospect 6.1. Intel-based workstations will also see performance increases of 10 to 15 percent compared to 8.0, and 30 to 35 percent compared to Retrospect 6.1. Other improvements, including updates to the user interface based on feedback from early adopters, are also included in the update. Ullman said that with Retrospect 8, EMC had "recommitted itself to the Mac market" and this update was the second part of a three-phase deployment of the completely-rebuilt Retrospect 8. Phase one was the initial release, supporting Intel processors; phase two now supports PowerPC processors. Phase three, according to Ullman, is slated for release "in the Snow Leopard timeframe," and is expected to include support for importing Retrospect 6.1 sets and configurations, among other improvements to performance and the client software. As Steve Sande mentioned, Retrospect's update comes on the heels of BRU Server 2.0, which added a new user interface and performance improvements. Ullman noted that BRU Server and Retrospect are fundamentally different, with Retrospect scanning more closely to prevent file duplication and save time copying files. Retrospect is generally less expensive than BRU Server, though their pricing structures and trim levels are a little different. The update is available now on the Retrospect website. It's free for Retrospect 8 users and Retrospect 6.1 users who purchased the product after January 14, 2008. For new users, Retrospect 8 comes in a variety of flavors ranging in price from $129 to $1,669, depending on the size of the network.
Apple will design its own tablet Mac chips
Rumors have been crisscrossing the Internet about actions by Apple that point tellingly to the advent of an Apple tablet, or some kind of outsize iPod touch. VentureBeat is speculating that Apple may use chips they have developed themselves in the imminent $800 tablet computer.Following some of the back story to the rumor helps it make a little more sense: in 2008, Apple acquired P.A. Semi for $278 million and for seemingly no reason, other than extremely valuable and talented staff (P.A. Semi's founder was a lead designer of the StrongARM processor). Nonetheless, Apple quickly put the team to work developing processors for iPods and iPhones. What no one knew at the time, VentureBeat says, is that Apple actually broke the team in half, with the other half working towards a chip for their upcoming tablet. The tablet is speculated to have only a touch screen with no physical keyboard, and Apple is said to be aiming the tablet at high-end users to avoid the endless need to undercut competitors like Asus and Dell on the lower end. Likewise, more in-house chips could mean lower manufacturing costs for Apple.The impending in-house Apple chips also may imply doom for Apple's chip partner of a few years, NVIDIA, with whom Apple was reported to have a tiff a few weeks ago. Because of disagreements over the way NVIDIA handled issues with faulty chips in MacBook Pros, there was speculation that Apple may drop NVIDIA from future models and return to AMD. Now Apple has added itself to the list of contenders that will vie for processor production. Both the China Times and MacRumors have said that Apple plans to release the tablet for the holiday season, and that it has placed orders with a few companies for components of the tablet. If this web of gossip and hearsay that we're hearing through the grapevine is to be believed, there are more than a few breakthroughs to be had on Apple's end, and the longing for a tablet by some may finally (finally) be put to rest.
OS 10.6: PowerPC officially left behind
It's not news. It was just less than a year ago that we initially announced that Snow Leopard would likely be Intel-only. Still, it was a report based off an initial developer's release of the software, and PowerPC users prayed that maybe it was a mistake. Maybe Apple would change its mind and toss a bone at these faithful users of Macs-gone-by. But, the emerging reality showed that Apple has left its PowerPC days behind. In February, we reported on how GarageBand's new Learn to Play feature was Intel-only. In addition to that, not every feature in iPhoto was available to PowerPC users. During that same month, we reported that even more G4 systems were being added to Apple's vintage and obsolete lists. Now the writing is fully on the wall for PowerPC users. The official release of tech specs for Snow Leopard indicates that it is an Intel-only release, meaning that if you do want to go past Leopard, you'll have to upgrade. There are still a lot of PowerPC users out there, and they're still very good machines... but are owners of older Macs going to be satisfied without the latest OS? Answer our poll or let us know in the comments: what does Snow Leopard mean to PPC owners? %Poll-31002%
Snow Leopard officially puts PowerPC Macs on endangered species list
It was just a day short of a year ago that we first got a bad feeling Snow Leopard was going to be end of the road for the PowerPC crowd. Now we know the truth, with Apple confirming Mac OS X version 10.6 will require Intel processors, cutting the cord on that rich lineage of alternative CPU support. From here on out it's Intel or bust -- until Apple finds a new silicon suitor it prefers, anyway.[Via MacRumors]
Freescale-powered LimeBook hits eBay for astronomical price
China's Tsinghua Tongfang has had quite the difficulty launching any of its Lime-splashed gear here in the United States, and while it has bothered to show up at CES the past two years, we're still waiting for the LimePC UMPC and LimeBook netbook to arrive in proper fashion. Evidently, one eBay user reckons that Americans really will pay anything so long as something's considered "rare," as the Lime OS-packin' LimeBook -- which was spotted in January in Las Vegas -- is being offered up for US delivery at $500. Yeah, 500 smackers for an unproven, practically unheard of Freescale-powered netbook with a 9-inch display, 512MB of DDR2 RAM, a 32GB SSD, WiFi, 1.3 megapixel webcam and the Linux-based Lime OS. Anyone feel like burning through some discretionary income in order to let us know what the feeling of ownership is like?[Thanks, Joseph]
Garageband's Learn to Play will run on a PPC... kind of
Good news for those of us who still have PowerPC-powered Macs lying around: while the new Garageband Learn to Play feature isn't actually designed to work with the old machines (part of Apple's switch to the new Intel chips), it apparently still does. If you've got iLife installed on your old Mac and double-click on the Learn to Play files themselves (hidden in /Library/Application Support/GarageBand/Learn To Play/), Mac.Blorge says that they'll work just fine. Unfortunately, you won't be able to buy new lessons from the store (people are still testing -- there may be a workaround here eventually), but if you want to play the ones you've got, they should work, even if playback isn't perfect.Additionally, if you want to try to do a little hex editing, you may be able to get iMovie '09 playing on a PowerPC Mac as well. That one's just dodging the PowerPC check, though, so there's a good chance that some things won't work right on the old machine. Either that, or Apple is just trying to build in random requirements to get us to upgrade. Conspiracy hats, anyone?At any rate, this isn't unexpected -- we're two years past the official switch, and of course at some point Apple had to move on with their new software. For the moment, you might get things working with a few tweaks, but eventually you'll have to look at replacing that old G4 if you want to run the shiny stuff.
IBM's Sequoia: 20x faster than the world's fastest supercomputer
Roadrunner? Pfff, your chart-topping 1.105 petaflops are laughable. IBM just announced its 20-freaking-petaflop Sequoia supercomputer due for delivery by 2012. While supercomputer speeds have steadily increased year-over-year, a near 20x jump in calculations per second since the last world ranking is unheard of, even if the system has yet to come on-line. Slated to spend its life simulating nuclear explosions, Sequoia will use 45-nm (PowerPC, presumably) processors with 16 cores per chip for as many as 4,096 processors per rack. That's a total of 1.6 million cores assisted by 1.6 petabytes of memory. Perhaps all this processing power might help IBM understand the futility of its Lotus Notes strategy.
IBM slaps Apple with a lawsuit for recruiting top chip designer -- like they were going to use him anyways
In broad, soap operatic strokes of the finest sort, IBM and Apple are at each other's throats over Apple's latest recruit: IBM's vice president of microprocessor technology development. Improbably named Mark Papermaster, the man in question is responsible for IBM's blade server division, and IBM is pretty sure there's a non-compete in there somewhere, especially with Apple's recent acquisition of PA Semi, a chip developer with PowerPC technology similar to IBM's -- IBM has filed lawsuits both against Apple in California (a state traditionally indifferent to non-competes) and against Papermaster in New York. We're not going to get into all the sordid details, but just because IBM and Apple are very, very angry at each other right now doesn't mean they're mad at you. Probably.
id's Hollenshead: Apple "has not followed through" on gaming
id software's CEO Todd Hollenshead met up with Kikizo for an interview recently, and the conversation turned, as often seems to do with id nowadays, to gaming on the Mac. Hollenshead was confronted with what his peers Gabe Newell (of Valve), and id's John Carmack had previously said about Apple, and he agreed that while "the Apple guys would probably frown to hear me" say so, it's true: Apple has stepped up on gaming before, and never "followed through" with their support.He doesn't paint an extremely dark picture -- he says that Apple did send engineers this time to promise their support for the future, and that developing on Intel architecture makes things much easier than dealing with the "weird PowerPC" setup. And in Apple's defense, we've seen more support for gaming out of them, both on the Mac and on the iPhone and iPod, than ever before.But so far, it's all talk on Apple's part, and we have yet to see indie games on the App Store and working day 0 releases from id and EA. Hopefully, Apple's following through this time, and those things are right around the corner.[via IMG]
Minefield offers custom builds of Firefox 3
If you think Firefox could run a little faster on your Mac, then you might want to download one of BeatnikPad's custom builds of Firefox 3. "Minefield" (previously known as BonEcho for pre-3.0 releases) is Neil Lee's custom build of Firefox. He is currently offering custom builds for: Minefield (Firefox) 3.0 for Intel Minefield (Firefox) 3.0 for PowerPC G5 Minefield (Firefox) 3.0 for PowerPC G4 Neil Lee has been offering custom builds of Firefox for many years now. They can make Firefox run a bit faster and smoother on older Macs. You can download them for free (though donations are accepted) from the BeatnikPad website.[via IGM]
Security Update 2008-004
Along with the 10.5.4 update, Apple has just released Security Update 2008-004 for users of Mac OS X Tiger (10.4). According to Apple, the update "is recommended for all [Mac OS X Tiger (10.4)] users and improves the security of Mac OS X." You can download this update for the following systems: Security Update 2008-004 (PPC) Security Update 2008-004 (Intel) Security Update 2008-004 Server (PPC) Security Update 2008-004 Server (Intel) The update is available through Software Update (Apple menu > Software Update) or by downloading the installer packages by clicking the links above for your system. Apple has provided a support article for more details on this update.Thanks to everyone who sent this in!
