As I wrote a little more than one month ago, I am considering buying a new development machine. Well no, actually I desperately need a new development machine soon.
Until today, my choice was firmly in the Apple camp, a 20″ iMac G5 to be precise. However, given today’s announcement, I think I need to review all the options again.
Here are some starting points:
- Price is not a problem.
- I have a distinct preference for OS X, but I could live with Linux. Windows is absolutely out of the question, though.
- I don’t have a monitor and a 19″ LCD model is the absolute minimum, so consider the price of it before saying that an Intel box is way cheaper.
Everything considered, I still think a Mac is the best choice. I expect the first Intel Macs to be laptops, since it is in this market segment that Apple is currently lagging behind in performance. A G5 is a cool-ass CPU and it will still be in two years from now. At that time, my iMac will have largely repayed itself and I could consider switching to a new Intel-based model, should the need arise.
The biggest doubt, however, is the following: will Apple still be around in two years, or will it fold when investors start selling Apple stock by the truckloads? I’m betting on the former, but I’m not qualified enough to judge.
Anyway, I’ll give you the option to make me change my mind, if you think I’m heading in the wrong direction. I’ve put up a poll in the sidebar (link) and you can also leave a comment.
But whatever happens, please Mr. Jobs, no “Intel Inside” stickers, OK?
Update: a pertinent quote from Dave Winer: “People who worry about an Osborne effect worry for naught.” Alright, since also 11 out of 12 participants to the poll seem to agree, and since I just got a nice offer for a discounted (79€ + VAT) 512MB memory expansion from a nearby shop, then I’m going to buy the iMac.
In spite of this announcement the new iMac still remains a very good choice, however you could also evaluate Sun Blade workstation based on UltraSparc IIIi and Sun Java workstation equipped with AMD Opteron.
I don’t understand why this would affect your decision. The machine you are considering hasn’t changed. It will still work the same as you anticipated for as long as you need to use it. Apple will still be around in two years. Why would investors sell Apple stock by the truckload? I thought the general consensus was that Apple would do well by moving to an Intel platform. Realize, too, though, that they have a complete hedge. OS X and the dual-binary applications will be able to run on both Power and x86 chips for a very long time. And, finally, realize that Apple is much more diversified than it ever has been with it’s investment in media with the iPod and iTunes Music Store.
i was thinking of buying a g5 imac too. many people say it’s still the right thing to do but will new software be coming to my imac when the intel-macs are released?
If I am correct in my thinking, all software from now on will be either created in Xcode, and will support both PowerPC and Intel, or it will be just PowerPC, and will run on Intel through Rosetta.
The way I see it, It’s still an advantage in terms of mac software and reliability to run PowerPC. This is why the pro line will continue to run PPC.
However the Intel machines will be cheaper, and plenty quick. You will find that some Applications will be very dodgy in Rosetta (think programs like Maya).
The opportunity to buy a G5 iMac for cheap? Snap them up.
Well, 6 months later (aftersight is better than foresight (sp?)), I hope your G5 is working out well. I’m going to buy one of the now available iMac dual core intel machines. Maybe it’s dumb to buy one so soon (could be design flaws etc), but I want an iMac (actually for my wife and I to share), and you can’t beat dual core…
This is fun! so many exciting things happening at Apple!
Apple finally realized that the PC architecture is superior and that even with all of its marketing hype, it just couldn’t keep up with Intel technology. Maybe now we can run a Mac O/S on an open inexpensive homebuild PC, instead of the “Leap Frog” looking i-cases designed to attract the “true believer.”