techconc

linuxplatform said:

Fuchsia: is going to be a completely modular micro-kernel based OS (all well known OSes today run monolithic kernels).

I always appreciate when people make incorrect claims right up front.  That often saves a bit of reading... especially when it's a long winded post. 

Linux is indeed a monolithic kernel.  Windows, Mac, iOS use what is called a hybrid kernel (sometimes called macrokernel).  They are typically designed like a microkernel but keep some of the services in the kernel space for performance reasons.  You see with kernel design, there is a trade-off between stability and performance.  Microkernels are more stable because very little is in the kernel space.  Other services exist in user space.  If something fails with these services, it doesn't crash the OS.  However, there is a performance penalty associated with interprocess communications with this design.  That's why Linux is designed for maximum performance above all else which is why it's a monolithic kernel.  Windows and Mac kernels attempt to find a happy medium between these two extremes.  

linuxplatform said:

But please know this: not even Apple claims that their 5 nm A14 chip will outperform the 10 nm Intel i9 or even the i7. They merely claimed that the iPad Pro beat an unspecified MacBook (i9? i7? even i5?) on some internal tests. So keep these 3 things in mind.

Apple hasn't even acknowledged the existence of their A14 chip yet.  Do you realize that the A13 chip (single core performance) is within 6% of the fastest Intel i9 based core?  Do you really think the A14 won't exceed that?   Also, that's just the phone chip.  Apple also said they are coming out with a line of chips for the Mac specifically.

1. The MacBook Pro runs tons of heavy duty performance software that the iPad Pro can't run at all rendering that test worthless for people with serious computing needs.
2. The i9 isn't even Intel's most powerful chip. The Xeon, which goes in the Mac Pro, is.
3. Intel won't be at 10 nm forever. AMD is at 7 nm, after all, and is expected to reach 5 nm as early as 2021.

1. That has more to do with memory than processor performance.  The fact that we saw Maya running perfectly smoothly under Rosetta 2 emulation throws shade on your argument. 
2. In terms of single core performance, the fastest benchmarks recorded are from the Intel Core i9-10900K.  Yes, the Intel Xeon W-3175X is faster at multi-core performance.  However, the challenge here is to develop a fast core.  Sticking a bunch of them on a chip isn't the hard part.  
3.  TSMC is already coming out with their first 5nm chips with the A14.  They will likely be at 3nm by the time Intel is ready to move off of 10nm. 

AppleInsider said:

"We predict that Apple will launch new MacBook models including the new 13.3-inch MacBook Pro equipped with the Apple Silicon in 4Q20," he continues, "the new MacBook Air equipped with the Apple Silicon in 4Q20 or 1Q21, and new 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro models equipped with the Apple Silicon and all-new form factor design in late 2Q21 or 3Q21."

LOL... No inside information here.  I just don’t buy the rumor that Apple will introduce an Apple Silicon based 13” MacBook Pro in 4Q20 then introduce a new form factor 14” MacBook Pro in 1Q21.  That just doesn’t make sense.  

The common sense and more likely scenario is that we’ll see an A14x based MacBook Air that’s a 13” in 4Q20.  More powerful MacBook Pro models will arrive in 2021 based on Mac specific chips.

Natko said:

Firing Sinofsky was one of Microsoft’s stupidest moves ever. He was great leader and a visionary. This is where their downhill ride started.

He was fired because he was responsible for the Windows 8 fiasco.  Completely justified.  I'd trust Sinofsky from a technology perspective perhaps, but I not from a design / UI experience perspective. 

"As an example, he cites the transition to 64-bit computing on the consumer-level. Microsoft began the shift around 2003 and continues to support 32-bit to this day. Apple, on the other hand, started requiring developers to make 64-bit apps in 2017 and dropped support for 32-bit apps in 2019 alongside the release of macOS Catalina."

This comment is a bit disingenuous.  Apple started their transition to 64bit in Mac OS back in 2005 and only in 2019 did it drop support for 32bit.  Yes, that's better than Microsoft's record but not what Sinofsky appears to imply.