Filed under: Desktops, Software, Apple, Snow Leopard
OS 10.6: PowerPC officially left behind
It's not news. It was just less than a year ago that we initially announced that Snow Leopard would likely be Intel-only. Still, it was a report based off an initial developer's release of the software, and PowerPC users prayed that maybe it was a mistake. Maybe Apple would change its mind and toss a bone at these faithful users of Macs-gone-by. But, the emerging reality showed that Apple has left its PowerPC days behind. In February, we reported on how GarageBand's new Learn to Play feature was Intel-only. In addition to that, not every feature in iPhoto was available to PowerPC users. During that same month, we reported that even more G4 systems were being added to Apple's vintage and obsolete lists.
Now the writing is fully on the wall for PowerPC users. The official release of tech specs for Snow Leopard indicates that it is an Intel-only release, meaning that if you do want to go past Leopard, you'll have to upgrade. There are still a lot of PowerPC users out there, and they're still very good machines... but are owners of older Macs going to be satisfied without the latest OS?
Answer our poll or let us know in the comments: what does Snow Leopard mean to PPC owners?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
kelley said 3:51PM on 6-10-2009
Finally!!
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kelley said 3:58PM on 6-10-2009
Tired of PPCs eating our HD space :P
fr0stbyt said 4:31PM on 6-10-2009
Agreed.
Greg said 8:20PM on 6-10-2009
No, not "finally".
I upgraded my PowerMac G4 with some very modest upgrades. A GeForce 6200, a 1.4GHz G4, 1gb of ram, and 100gb of hard drive space, spread across 2 drives in a RAID 0 setup.
What this gives me, however, is better graphics performance than my Core 2 Duo MacBook.
If I had more money, I could have upgraded it to a dual core 2ghz G4, and a better graphics card, resulting in a computer that would be equal to consumer computers today.
So why should the PPC architecture left behind again?
Mark Bowman said 11:41PM on 6-10-2009
"What this gives me, however, is better graphics performance than my Core 2 Duo MacBook. "
Better 3D? Yes. Better video? No. Your G4 1.4 is woefully inadequate for HD content and much of the video on the web today. The G4 fine for what it is but it falls apart under todays applications and anything that has to do with HD.
And I also question why bother supporting the G4 for the OS when all of the app developers are going Intel only? It's time has past and while I think that sucks, that's just the way technology works.
And least you think I can't relate to your situation, think again. I love my G4 mini and use it to watch movies etc on my TV and can be often heard muttering about how unfair it is that Boxee doesn't support PPC.
Aaron said 3:53PM on 6-10-2009
My Dual 1.8 G5 with 2GB of RAM is still plenty fast for general web surfing, iTunes, iPhoto, etc. It is sad that I will not be able to upgrade it further. I know it's old, but for my non-professional work, it's plenty of machine...
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FightTheFuture said 4:20PM on 6-10-2009
also an owner of a dual 1.8 G5 with 4GB and ATI Radeon 9600.
for general use this machine will be great for years. it also made me enough money to pay for itself. but seeing all of the software and hardware features i'm missing out on - i'm happy to upgrade.
give your ppc to your parents people!
Jeff said 5:39PM on 6-11-2009
I'm also running a dual 1.8 GHz G5 with 2.5 Gig memory, and it's fine for my needs. I may upgrade OSx 10.4 to 10.5, but that's it. I may give up the latest and greatest, but I also don't have to drop a wad of money to replace a fully functional computer. I might feel different if I was a heavy graphics user or a gamer, but as a free-lance writer I don't need a Lamborghini of a computer.
Howie Isaacks said 3:53PM on 6-10-2009
I don't see a problem with this. I use a Mac G5 as a test server, but I can just replace it later with a Mac mini. Apple can't maintain support for PPC without leaving in a lot of legacy code. I am glad they're doing this.
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mabhatter said 12:52AM on 6-11-2009
where do you think that 6GB of space savings comes from?
Kento Ito said 3:54PM on 6-10-2009
If you have intel mac, it's time to upgrade! there's a place called eBay where they sell the intel mac for affordable price.
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Kento Ito said 3:55PM on 6-10-2009
correction, make that PowerPC.
Anthony said 3:55PM on 6-10-2009
So those of us who bought into the Quad G5s and 64 bit basically got shafted.
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bobby said 4:22PM on 6-10-2009
no, you just have no use for an os completely geared towards improving intel performance.
Quinn Taylor said 4:30PM on 6-10-2009
Only to the extent that, once Apple switched to Intel, you didn't see the writing on the wall and held onto the G5 rather than selling it off. PowerPC machines continue to work, just not with the newest, shiniest OS, "only Leopard", which is still far better than the alternatives. (Windows/Linux anyone?)
To understand some real benefits of leaving PPC behind, just consider the fact that point updates of every version of OS X have had to test updates for multiple platforms, but no more. Is nobody else seeing the upside there? Seriously, wouldn't it be nice for Apple to have the flexibility to get critical updates out the door more quickly? System updates that are potentially much smaller? Focus on fixes for Intel only, without distractions for such disparate chipsets? I'm totally in favor of the shift. I feel your pain, but the diminishing percentage of active PPC users is not reason enough to hobble future development. How many PPC Macs haven't even upgraded to Leopard, anyway?
SpinThis! said 5:33PM on 6-10-2009
So sell your G5 on ebay and quit complaining. G5s are still getting pretty good prices. I just ran a quick completed items search and late model dual G5 towers were still getting around $1000 or so. That's not half bad—proof that Apple hardware holds its value pretty well and there's people out there looking for the old stuff.
gib said 7:57PM on 6-10-2009
@ Anthony
I understand your computer is not "old", and can function perfectly with Leopard.
The thing is most (not all) PPC processors were not 64-bit, and most were not dual-core. Even if Apple were to rewrite the core applications for 32-bit, there would be no benefit to Grand Central or any of the other 10.6 functions. The difference between Leopard and Snow Leopard is based on using these differences under-the-hood. For Apple to build a version for PPC, even for the dual core, 64-bit versions like yours, there would not be any substantial gain in performance...
I had a couple G4s updated to Leopard with no problems. That's what I'd do if I were in your shoes.
Anthony said 7:47AM on 6-11-2009
I'm not saying we got shafted because Snow Leopard is intel-only. I'm saying we got shafted because we were sold a 64-bit machine but never provided with the software to take advantage of it.
andy said 3:57PM on 6-10-2009
I'd say my PBG4 is "decent". Calling it very good would be inaccurate. It just barely makes the cut for audio work these days.
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Alex said 3:55PM on 6-10-2009
Well, now I know why it's 6GB smaller.
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