A lot of the problems, as far as gaming, should disappear after the x86 switch. That is, pc graphics cards should be able to work on macs without too much work on new drivers. Furthermore, all the endian-ness and memory addressing conflicts between PPC and x86 will no longer exist. The only remaining hurdle is DirectX, which will never be accounted for officially. Of course, if Apple keeps working on it's own kick-ass graphics support as well as tweaking OpenGL, it seems very possible that Apple will have a preferable (and perhaps open source) alternative to DirectX.
The last sentence is weird. Apple needs to make OpenGL (the graphics; corresponds to Direct3D) faster, sure. What do they need to tweak outside OpenGL that is graphics? On the other hand, to have a DirectX-equivalent, there is a need for lots of non-graphics components. There exist OpenAL (sound; corresponds to DirectSound) and OpenML (media; corresponds to DirectShow). Does something exist for cross-platform game controller input?
A lot of the problems, as far as gaming, should disappear after the x86 switch.
Exactly, because there won't be anymore Mac games after the Intel switch. Who will bother to port the games when you can install Windows (a copy of which lays around in almost any house with a computer) and run the Windows version?
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That is, pc graphics cards should be able to work on macs without too much work on new drivers.
I don't see why the Intel switch will simplify so much the driver problem, when the OS will be still OS X with all its graphics layers and technologies.
I don't see why the Intel switch will simplify so much the driver problem, when the OS will be still OS X with all its graphics layers and technologies.
It seems like people don't grasp the fact anymore that bits and bytes get reduced to signals that go over wires. Since x86's seem to have generally compatible peripheral buses, interrupt methodologies, DMA's, etc, there shouldn't be too much to porting a driver from Intel PC to Intel Mac. Consider the fact that you can run a PC video card on a Linux PC but not a Linux Mac.
Drivers are software that control hardware, after all. Daemons and APIs, which are often miscorrectly labeled as "Drivers" will still need to be ported, but generally these are WAY more portable than drivers since the dependencies are all in software.
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Originally posted by Splinemodel
A lot of the problems, as far as gaming, should disappear after the x86 switch. That is, pc graphics cards should be able to work on macs without too much work on new drivers. Furthermore, all the endian-ness and memory addressing conflicts between PPC and x86 will no longer exist. The only remaining hurdle is DirectX, which will never be accounted for officially. Of course, if Apple keeps working on it's own kick-ass graphics support as well as tweaking OpenGL, it seems very possible that Apple will have a preferable (and perhaps open source) alternative to DirectX.
The last sentence is weird. Apple needs to make OpenGL (the graphics; corresponds to Direct3D) faster, sure. What do they need to tweak outside OpenGL that is graphics? On the other hand, to have a DirectX-equivalent, there is a need for lots of non-graphics components. There exist OpenAL (sound; corresponds to DirectSound) and OpenML (media; corresponds to DirectShow). Does something exist for cross-platform game controller input?
Originally posted by Splinemodel
A lot of the problems, as far as gaming, should disappear after the x86 switch.
Exactly, because there won't be anymore Mac games after the Intel switch. Who will bother to port the games when you can install Windows (a copy of which lays around in almost any house with a computer) and run the Windows version?
That is, pc graphics cards should be able to work on macs without too much work on new drivers.
I don't see why the Intel switch will simplify so much the driver problem, when the OS will be still OS X with all its graphics layers and technologies.
Originally posted by PB
I don't see why the Intel switch will simplify so much the driver problem, when the OS will be still OS X with all its graphics layers and technologies.
It seems like people don't grasp the fact anymore that bits and bytes get reduced to signals that go over wires. Since x86's seem to have generally compatible peripheral buses, interrupt methodologies, DMA's, etc, there shouldn't be too much to porting a driver from Intel PC to Intel Mac. Consider the fact that you can run a PC video card on a Linux PC but not a Linux Mac.
Drivers are software that control hardware, after all. Daemons and APIs, which are often miscorrectly labeled as "Drivers" will still need to be ported, but generally these are WAY more portable than drivers since the dependencies are all in software.