Intel Inside. Fuck.
On monday, Steve Jobs turned my world upside down. He announced that Apple is intending to switch to using intel processors. So long PowerPC. Hello x86.
It has been rumored for a long time now that Apple always had a build of OS X which compiled on x86 chips. Monday saw confirmation of that rumor and a bold new direction for Apple.
It has taken me days to figure out how I want to blog about this. I am an Apple loyalist. My family has owned an Apple since the early 80s. I know where my Apple ][e is. I had an original Powerbook 140. It became the ultimate Civ machine for my brother. I bought the last of the Powerbook 190s. Imagine a world of 8 bit graphics. Nothing but shades of grey when the world was going color. I write this on my 1GHz TiBook, the one before the Aluminum ones. I love Apple. Always rooted for them.
It was more than Apple being not Microsoft. It was also about not being Intel. Remember Wintel is an insult in Mac circles. Now Apple has embraced the dark side. As if the megahertz war would not been won “not by a PPC chip.”
As software engineer and comp sci student, I have been exposed to x86 instruction set. It sucks compared to PPC. It is halfass backwards and inelegant. It also has to support a lot of older instructions from the 80s. The PPC chip was RISC. Gorgeous and nice instruction set.
I am mourning the loss of the chip more than I can imagine. Strange. Being an Apple loyalist means that you understand that Apple is more than just the computer, the OS, the box, the chip, but is a lifestyle brand. But to me the PPC chip is also part of the brand. Can I support Apple? Is Apple still Apple with Intel Inside?
Ars Technica sums up my feelings of the loss of the PowerPC chip. John Gruber is a good read to understand what needs to happen for Apple.
