Life with a MacIntel

29 12 2006
It's been about two weeks now that I've been using my new MacBook Pro. There are some definite upsides as well as downsides to life after the PowerPC to Intel switch.

The Good:

  • I can play World of Warcraft.
    Not necessarily Intel related. I've got a couple of co-workers who are rabid players of this MMORPG and got me into playing. Addictive.
  • Virtualization
    Because of the Intel architecture, I can run Parallels. This enables me to run other x86 native operating systems withinb virtual machines at about 95% native speed. No dual booting with Boot Camp necessary. Currently I have both Windows XP as well as Ubuntu Linux 6.10 running alongside Mac OS X. This stuff is just amazing.
  • Horsepower
    Remember the day that RISC vs. CISC mattered? When Apple had commercials showing the Intel bunny guys getting toasted by the PowerPC? Those days really are over. The Core2Duo blazes.
The Bad:
  • Intel Compatability
    Sure, Apple has done a more than admirable job of making PowerPC applications and libraries work on the new Intel hardware with Rosetta (seriously, it's damned seamless), but there is a definite performance hit when using it and there are a number of big software omissions that have yet to be Universal-ized. For instance, I am currently trying to build a PHP development environment on the MacBook, and everything works except for one thing: Oracle. Oracle provides the Instant Client libraries for Mac OS X, but only as PPC binaries! No Intel or univeral available. This means you absolutely cannot build PHP against them for OCI8 support, which is a prerequisite for me. Come on Oracle, get with the program. Thank the gods I can just build it all in my Linux VM. :-)
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08 01 2007
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29 12 2006
#1 Ryan (Reply)

It's strange to be on the other side looking for freeware that's now intel only. :-\
Comments (2)
29 12 2006
#1.1 Shawn Coomey (Reply)

Hey is your Mini an Intel box?
Comment (1)
29 12 2006
#2 Ryan (Reply)

Nawson. It's one of the last PowerPC ones they made. I meant it's weird looking for freeware, But finding some that's only intel based.
Comments (2)

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