[quote]Originally posted by Luca Rescigno:
<strong>EDIT: People always get screwed. What's Apple going to do, quit selling the PowerMac G4 six weeks before the PowerMac 970 comes out just so no one gets overly pissed? Early adopters of the current generation of G4s will be just as screwed as those who bought a IIvx just weeks before the Quadra 650... the performance difference will probably be very similar. The Q650 was something like 3x faster than the IIvx, and the IIvx was a real piece of crap.
[ 02-27-2003: Message edited by: Luca Rescigno ]</strong><hr></blockquote>
Yes, the Quadra 650 was faster than the IIVX, but it certainly wasn't twice as fast or three times. We're talking about a 33MHz (I believe) 68030 vs. a 40MHz 68040. In any case, I've been livid once or twice concerning purchasing right before the next generation. I smartly purchased my Quarda 650 (which is still a good machine), but was infuriated over the fact my 8600/300 wasn't going to be fully supported by OS X, especially when the low end G3 that came out soon after was slower than my machine. But that anger soon dissipated when I learned years later OS X ran poorly on the beige G3. I wouldn't have been any better off.
Now, concerning the leap from G4 to 970, it's a different story. This is most likely the most significant watershed in Mac history. It's only real parallel one could cite would be from the 68040 to the first generation Power Macs. Yet, this is more significant because of the performance spike promised.
One positive thing is, for the Mac users under rocks with fingers stuck in their ears, Apple has set a precedent for protecting them. If you recall, there was a tradeup program post-MWSF 2003 for hardware bought something like a month or so before an upgrade. (Can't remember exact terms, but those details are close.) I think there's a good chance Apple will provide the same opportunity when the 970 Mac appears.
[ 02-28-2003: Message edited by: Big Mac ]</p>
<strong>EDIT: People always get screwed. What's Apple going to do, quit selling the PowerMac G4 six weeks before the PowerMac 970 comes out just so no one gets overly pissed? Early adopters of the current generation of G4s will be just as screwed as those who bought a IIvx just weeks before the Quadra 650... the performance difference will probably be very similar. The Q650 was something like 3x faster than the IIvx, and the IIvx was a real piece of crap.
[ 02-27-2003: Message edited by: Luca Rescigno ]</strong><hr></blockquote>
Yes, the Quadra 650 was faster than the IIVX, but it certainly wasn't twice as fast or three times. We're talking about a 33MHz (I believe) 68030 vs. a 40MHz 68040. In any case, I've been livid once or twice concerning purchasing right before the next generation. I smartly purchased my Quarda 650 (which is still a good machine), but was infuriated over the fact my 8600/300 wasn't going to be fully supported by OS X, especially when the low end G3 that came out soon after was slower than my machine. But that anger soon dissipated when I learned years later OS X ran poorly on the beige G3. I wouldn't have been any better off.
Now, concerning the leap from G4 to 970, it's a different story. This is most likely the most significant watershed in Mac history. It's only real parallel one could cite would be from the 68040 to the first generation Power Macs. Yet, this is more significant because of the performance spike promised.
One positive thing is, for the Mac users under rocks with fingers stuck in their ears, Apple has set a precedent for protecting them. If you recall, there was a tradeup program post-MWSF 2003 for hardware bought something like a month or so before an upgrade. (Can't remember exact terms, but those details are close.) I think there's a good chance Apple will provide the same opportunity when the 970 Mac appears.
[ 02-28-2003: Message edited by: Big Mac ]</p>
PPC4EVER
PPC4EVER
Also, the FSB scaling with the internal clock may prevent sub-linear scaling of performance. 
