The 970 and OS X

krytenkryten
Posted:
in macOS edited January 2014
When Apple later this year and next switches over to the 64-bit Power PC 970 platform I presume they will rewrite OS X for the 64-bit architecture. So my question is, what will happen with the old 32-bit OS X? Will they stop development of it? Then will everyone who has a 32-bit machine be permanently stuck with 10.(whatever)?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 4
    whisperwhisper Posts: 735member
    [quote]Originally posted by Kryten:

    <strong>When Apple later this year and next switches over to the 64-bit Power PC 970 platform I presume they will rewrite OS X for the 64-bit architecture. So my question is, what will happen with the old 32-bit OS X? Will they stop development of it? Then will everyone who has a 32-bit machine be permanently stuck with 10.(whatever)?</strong><hr></blockquote>

    I may be wrong, but I think that OS X is portable enough that they'd pretty much just have to change a flag or two and recompile it to get a 64 bit version. I would expect them to continue updating the 32 bit version as long as it remains that easy to change.
  • Reply 2 of 4
    rodukroduk Posts: 706member
    I think the switch over to the 970 will be a gradual process and the G4 will still be used in consumer machines for some years to come, just as the G3 is still used in iBooks today. If Apple wants to continue selling those machines, I think they'll need to continue developing the OS for them to some degree. OS X isn't currently in a finished state, and I'm not sure it ever will be.



    [ 02-25-2003: Message edited by: RodUK ]</p>
  • Reply 3 of 4
    costiquecostique Posts: 1,084member
    I heard that the move to 64 bits is relatively straightforward. The kernel is going to undergo certain changes, though.

    Since IBM guarantees full compatibility with old 32-bit code, I don't think many users will ever see the difference. Indeed, I don't have to ask my wife about 32/64 bits to know what she thinks.
  • Reply 4 of 4
    kickahakickaha Posts: 8,760member
    Apple started the migration to 64-bit clean code over a year ago. (Didn't notice, did you? )



    A 64-bit version vs 32-bit version isn't any different than a G3 optimized version vs a G4 optimized version. It's a simple compiler switch to convert the resultant binary. And, as has been pointed out, any 32-bit code will continue to run unaltered, without a penalty.



    So the same OS will continue to be developed for both 32- and 64-bit machines, and only the end binary will be different. You're not going to be left behind on 32-bit hardware.
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