Not Sure I Want to Move
I am hearing a lot of favorable things about the Core Duo iMac from a performance standpoint but it’s also obvious a lot of folks did not think their purchase through and blindly took the word and look of various Apple marketing mechanisms. Now they’re finding out that mouse drivers, scanners, some printers, and software don’t work. In some cases, there are workarounds or Universal Binary Versions will be coming. But what do you do for those applications that you know won’t be updated?
For instance, I have a copy of Adobe’s Live Motion 2 I’d like to learn and use. That product has been dropped from the Adobe line, so there isn’t going to be any Universal Binary update. (In fact, there isn’t going to be a Universal Binary update of any of Adobe’s products; we’re going to have to buy the next versions to get them.)
Think about it. If I stay where I am (with my 2.0 GHz G5 iMac) I don’t have to upgrade any software and I can take my time learning and using the software I have. Not to mention the peripherals I have. But if I move to an Intel iMac, then every piece of software I own except for the Apple applications I routinely update will have to be run under Rosetta or replaced. Live Motion under Rosetta is no more likely to run well than Photoshop CS2 does.
Secondly, there’s this whole thing about running Windows on a Mac that is somewhat surprisingly now problematic. Virtual PC does not currently run on an Intel Mac, and I do have a need to run some Windows applications on my PowerBook when traveling. I’m one of those who was hoping to dual-boot Windows and OS X on the new machines; and at least for the moment, that’s not something easily done. If I stay with PowerPC, then I can at least run Windows under Virtual PC. It’s not fast, but it does get the job done.
I’d love to order a MacBook Pro. But I have a moral objection to paying $2000 for any notebook, and there’s no way the machine can do what I need it to anyway if I can’t dual boot it. I’ve thought a lot about buying a refurbished 15 inch PowerBook G4 and giving my 12 inch to my wife, but I don’t want to go there either because of the presence of the new Intel powered machines. So, the Intel thing has created a form of buyer’s paralysis; and I doubt if I’m the only person suffering from that disease. A long desired purchase of Filemaker Pro is also being delayed because of the whole G5/Intel dilemma. The disease is spreading.
I’ve followed Apple through too many transitions in the short time I’ve been an Apple user (since 2001). Combine that with similar transitions I performed in the PC world when moving from Windows 95 to 98 to XP, and you can hopefully understand why I’m tired of it all. The move to Intel for Apple will more than likely be a good thing overall. But it’s a move I find myself too tired both emotionally and financially to be willing to make. The Apple motto for some time has been “It just works”; and I’m at a point where that’s exactly what I want my computer systems to do.
For instance, I have a copy of Adobe’s Live Motion 2 I’d like to learn and use. That product has been dropped from the Adobe line, so there isn’t going to be any Universal Binary update. (In fact, there isn’t going to be a Universal Binary update of any of Adobe’s products; we’re going to have to buy the next versions to get them.)
Think about it. If I stay where I am (with my 2.0 GHz G5 iMac) I don’t have to upgrade any software and I can take my time learning and using the software I have. Not to mention the peripherals I have. But if I move to an Intel iMac, then every piece of software I own except for the Apple applications I routinely update will have to be run under Rosetta or replaced. Live Motion under Rosetta is no more likely to run well than Photoshop CS2 does.
Secondly, there’s this whole thing about running Windows on a Mac that is somewhat surprisingly now problematic. Virtual PC does not currently run on an Intel Mac, and I do have a need to run some Windows applications on my PowerBook when traveling. I’m one of those who was hoping to dual-boot Windows and OS X on the new machines; and at least for the moment, that’s not something easily done. If I stay with PowerPC, then I can at least run Windows under Virtual PC. It’s not fast, but it does get the job done.
I’d love to order a MacBook Pro. But I have a moral objection to paying $2000 for any notebook, and there’s no way the machine can do what I need it to anyway if I can’t dual boot it. I’ve thought a lot about buying a refurbished 15 inch PowerBook G4 and giving my 12 inch to my wife, but I don’t want to go there either because of the presence of the new Intel powered machines. So, the Intel thing has created a form of buyer’s paralysis; and I doubt if I’m the only person suffering from that disease. A long desired purchase of Filemaker Pro is also being delayed because of the whole G5/Intel dilemma. The disease is spreading.
I’ve followed Apple through too many transitions in the short time I’ve been an Apple user (since 2001). Combine that with similar transitions I performed in the PC world when moving from Windows 95 to 98 to XP, and you can hopefully understand why I’m tired of it all. The move to Intel for Apple will more than likely be a good thing overall. But it’s a move I find myself too tired both emotionally and financially to be willing to make. The Apple motto for some time has been “It just works”; and I’m at a point where that’s exactly what I want my computer systems to do.
posted by Andy Foster at
5:26 AM
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