Could soemone who has read some of the developer info please help clarify something for me... Will the new 'Mactel' achitecture be a new architecture using an Intel cpu, or will it be essentially what is being used in PC boxes already?
Phonetically similar to McIntosh, and rolls off the tongue better than "MacTel."
Well that's my opinion, at least. I guess it doesn't matter because Apple will go on calling their computers "Macs," although I'd be surprised if they kept the "Power" prefix on their pro lines.
There will be an x86 processor in a Mac, but Apple will try to be the only thing that can run the OS. You can bet your ass on that. Actually I've said in a few threads that It could be possible to get Mac OS running on another x86 box, but I have more doubts about that happening than I do believing it will happen. I think you may see some early workarounds getting some early builds that spawn from some developers buying these $999.00 developmental machines, but I doubt there will be any stable builds ever running on anything from anyone other than Apple, or an Apple licensee.
For instance. If Alienware were to approach Apple, or vice verse, and one wanted them to produce their workstations for x86 boxes while Apple concentrated on the consumer level market in house. That would be possible, but they would still be a specific hardware design that kept the OS inside I would think.
Also if anyone of these developers tried to do that it would breech their NDA, and Apple would probably be owning them, and their ass fairly shortly.
Won't any MacIntel box use OpenFirmware as current PPC Macs do ? and not BIOS.
Presumably this is how Apple will stop x86 OS X being ripped off and run in any old x86 box.
I sure hope so, I do not think I could stand going back to bios, I can not stand them. I think Apple will go to the OpenFireware, and I do agree with you anthonypalmer that this is Apple is going to prevent OS X running on old x86 or third party machines
Won't any MacIntel box use OpenFirmware as current PPC Macs do ? and not BIOS.
It will use a similar BIOS to current PCs. Sorry, I can't find the evidence to prove that at the moment, but it's somewhere on the Apple PDF of this fiasco.
Apple will most likely use their own chip-set for the new machines, meaning OS X will be the only operating system with compatible drivers.
That means no Windows on your Power^WIntelBook, unless Apple or someone else releases some drivers. It won't stop some knowledgeable people modifying OS X to run on their Dell PCs though.
I sure hope so, I do not think I could stand going back to bios, I can not stand them. I think Apple will go to the OpenFireware, and I do agree with you anthonypalmer that this is Apple is going to prevent OS X running on old x86 or third party machines
Macintosh computers using Intel microprocessors do not use Open Firmware. Although many parts of the IO registry are present and work as expected, information that is provided by Open Firmware on a Macintosh using a PowerPC microprocessor (such as a complete device tree) is not available in the IO registry on a Macintosh using an Intel microprocessor.
Presumably Apple will have some Mac-ish version of a BIOS on the Intel machines.
While there's reportedly a custom Apple ROM on the developer box that is required for Mac OS X to boot, I think it's highly likely that people will work out how to either
a) boot Mac OS X on a generic Intel box
or
b) boot Mac OS X in a virtualization environment under Windows or Linux on a generic Intel box.
Presumably Apple will have some Mac-ish version of a BIOS on the Intel machines.
While there's reportedly a custom Apple ROM on the developer box that is required for Mac OS X to boot, I think it's highly likely that people will work out how to either
a) boot Mac OS X on a generic Intel box
or
b) boot Mac OS X in a virtualization environment under Windows or Linux on a generic Intel box.
I figured they could get it to do it, but I have serious doubts about any stable, or finalized version of doing it.
How Apple plans on keeping people from loading OS X on run-of-the mill PC hardware is anyone's guess... The built-in DRM on new Pentiums is a likely method.
How Apple plans on keeping people from loading OS X on run-of-the mill PC hardware is anyone's guess... The built-in DRM on new Pentiums is a likely method.
I didn't check your link but you could design an onboard programmable resistor that held your rom which had it's own pin design that was attached to the motherboard, and was also Mac OS specific. That would do it all in one shot.
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Comments
MacIntel.
Phonetically similar to McIntosh, and rolls off the tongue better than "MacTel."
Well that's my opinion, at least. I guess it doesn't matter because Apple will go on calling their computers "Macs," although I'd be surprised if they kept the "Power" prefix on their pro lines.
For instance. If Alienware were to approach Apple, or vice verse, and one wanted them to produce their workstations for x86 boxes while Apple concentrated on the consumer level market in house. That would be possible, but they would still be a specific hardware design that kept the OS inside I would think.
Also if anyone of these developers tried to do that it would breech their NDA, and Apple would probably be owning them, and their ass fairly shortly.
Presumably this is how Apple will stop x86 OS X being ripped off and run in any old x86 box.
Originally posted by anthonypalmer
Won't any MacIntel box use OpenFirmware as current PPC Macs do ? and not BIOS.
Presumably this is how Apple will stop x86 OS X being ripped off and run in any old x86 box.
I sure hope so, I do not think I could stand going back to bios, I can not stand them. I think Apple will go to the OpenFireware, and I do agree with you anthonypalmer that this is Apple is going to prevent OS X running on old x86 or third party machines
Originally posted by anthonypalmer
Won't any MacIntel box use OpenFirmware as current PPC Macs do ? and not BIOS.
It will use a similar BIOS to current PCs. Sorry, I can't find the evidence to prove that at the moment, but it's somewhere on the Apple PDF of this fiasco.
Apple will most likely use their own chip-set for the new machines, meaning OS X will be the only operating system with compatible drivers.
That means no Windows on your Power^WIntelBook, unless Apple or someone else releases some drivers. It won't stop some knowledgeable people modifying OS X to run on their Dell PCs though.
Originally posted by iGrant
I sure hope so, I do not think I could stand going back to bios, I can not stand them. I think Apple will go to the OpenFireware, and I do agree with you anthonypalmer that this is Apple is going to prevent OS X running on old x86 or third party machines
The Universal Binary Porting Guide explicitly states that Intel Macs will not have Open Firmware:
Macintosh computers using Intel microprocessors do not use Open Firmware. Although many parts of the IO registry are present and work as expected, information that is provided by Open Firmware on a Macintosh using a PowerPC microprocessor (such as a complete device tree) is not available in the IO registry on a Macintosh using an Intel microprocessor.
Presumably Apple will have some Mac-ish version of a BIOS on the Intel machines.
While there's reportedly a custom Apple ROM on the developer box that is required for Mac OS X to boot, I think it's highly likely that people will work out how to either
a) boot Mac OS X on a generic Intel box
or
b) boot Mac OS X in a virtualization environment under Windows or Linux on a generic Intel box.
Originally posted by Mithras
The Universal Binary Porting Guide explicitly states that Intel Macs will not have Open Firmware:
Presumably Apple will have some Mac-ish version of a BIOS on the Intel machines.
While there's reportedly a custom Apple ROM on the developer box that is required for Mac OS X to boot, I think it's highly likely that people will work out how to either
a) boot Mac OS X on a generic Intel box
or
b) boot Mac OS X in a virtualization environment under Windows or Linux on a generic Intel box.
I figured they could get it to do it, but I have serious doubts about any stable, or finalized version of doing it.
How Apple plans on keeping people from loading OS X on run-of-the mill PC hardware is anyone's guess... The built-in DRM on new Pentiums is a likely method.
Originally posted by Gamblor
presumably, they'll use EFI.
How Apple plans on keeping people from loading OS X on run-of-the mill PC hardware is anyone's guess... The built-in DRM on new Pentiums is a likely method.
I didn't check your link but you could design an onboard programmable resistor that held your rom which had it's own pin design that was attached to the motherboard, and was also Mac OS specific. That would do it all in one shot.