iLife '09 begins move to Intel-only mainstream software from Apple

Does everyone forget that the PPC g5 processors are 64-bit?

the g4 was and still is a horrible cpu- and im typing this from a PB g4. :(

what is sad is now when buying a computer, you have to factor in only about 3 years of use before you may begin to suffer the 'cutbacks' that is happening with ppc- which is ridiculous. The intel chips runt osx a magnitude better than the g5 does- but even still the dual g5's on up are still magnificent beasts. if not for absolutely dismal flash performance- and yes, we can blame that on adobe (aghrghrhgrgrhgr!!!!), there wouldn't be a reason to upgrade to an intel besides the odd piece of software(premiere? who cares?) and straight up rendering power. still runs final cut studio like a champ.

As someone else said, this is the first time in recent memory that apple does not have a machine that i want to buy. air? crapola for real work. macbook&mb pro's? i hate the unibody design, and glossy screens are pure ass. and lol, if i can only afford a mac pro....i'd be happy as all hell. so 'stuck' with a pb g4(aka cs2 and internet laptop) and a sweet g5 box that cannot run an increasing amount of cool software...what is a mac an to do :(

Yes, I'm sorry, but I find glossy screens completely unusable, and yes, I've tried them.

Aside from the fact that it's like looking into a mirror, the main thing I use my desktop system for is photography. Glossy screens are not suitable for this purpose because accurate color is basically impossible to achieve. Hardware calibration has a hard time dealing with glossy screens, and even if you succeed, the screen reflects any color in the environment, messing the whole thing up again. And that's only if you manage to see past all the reflections to actually use it.

The glossy screens are an absolute, total show-stopper for me. Apple's monitors used to be great for photographers; now, they are at the bottom of their class.

Pretty much everything is requiring Intel processors now (Netflix Watch Instantly, Boxee, etc.) Guess I'm gonna have to replace my PowerBook G4 sometime this year, whether I can afford it or not. And it seemed like a surefire investment 4 years ago... :s

• Up leo isn't slower at all on my Quad. [@ Vandil]
• I am not super excited about 10.6 not being PPC [It's not released yet so who knows if I'll be racing in to get a new Mac Pro or just hohum] Depends on the enclosure I guess.
• I was down that Garage Band music lessons weren't PPC, but from the looks of them it's all memorization and not actually music lessons. You Tube has that for um.... free. [Not the same quality nor paid actors...er I mean artists]
• When I got my Quad I knew it might be the last PPC. That didn't stop me. Almost three years to the day the machine is still a tank. Runs better then most of my friends iMacs. [HD video editing and Aperture] 12GB of Ram might have something to do with that.


All and all I think it's Leo and Alex L. from twit that call it the Apple Tax your gonna pay it every three to five years if you want to stay current so just accept it. The alternative Windows 7.

Oh and before you get uppity at me for 'blindly' supporting apple's guaranteed advanced obsolescence plan keep in mind come 10.6 my Quad will still do everything it's doing today. And with more stability then it's Intel counter part. So suck it up princess.

-J

Anyone with a PPC Mac can attest that Leopard runs slower than Tiger on the same Mac. Maybe it's all the extra Intel code bloat or simply that Leopard is the first version of OSX to no longer include code to run fast on PPCs.

That was the first nail in the coffin.

So definitely expect PPC support to drop with 10.6. On the plus side, the software updates will be smaller again without the PPC code bloat.

@Christina Warren I completely agree. I think that even if Apple do waste time and money making Snow Leopard run on PPC it will be simply to allow third party apps to run (Delicious Library). Any optimisation will be entirely 64-bit. The world doesn't need those original white MacBooks, Core Solo Mac minis or worse of all, 17" iMacs anyway. They don't handle enough RAM or have 802.11n either.

"the backend stuff is optimized for Intel (and Intel 64-bit, so Intel Core Duo machines are likely SOL)"

Learn to play can work on PowerPC. See,

http://blog.clawpaws.net/post/2009/01/31/GarageBand-s-Learn-to-Play-feature-on-PowerPC

Snow Leopard is to be Intel x64 only, so yes, that would be the direction they are moving in.

Well that sucks a fat one, doesn't it? I'm not ready financially to buy a new Mac yet. Ugh, if everything shifts over too quickly I'll probably end up having to use a Windows PC again, which wouldn't be cool :(

i'd still like to know if when this is installed on snow leopard it will become 64-bit native. anyone?