| Re: Dual Core Apple "MacBook", and RSI's Mac Intel plans [message #47033 is a reply to message #46974] |
Tue, 17 January 2006 08:16   |
Wolf Schweitzer
Messages: 21
Registered: October 2001
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Junior Member |
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Gianguido Cianci wrote:
> IDL 6.3 will not be tested or supported on the
> Mac for Intel architecture.
Thanks for this update!
After an Apple developer told me 1 1/2 years back, indirectly, "not to
wait" for a fully 64-bit OS, and after one could sense the reluctance on
RSI's side, I don't regret having abandoned Apple for workstation
strength computing.
Most importantly, working on X11 isn't THAT different from working on
Linux or AIX. We talked about "hard reasons" to buy OS X based machines
recently; real (hard) reasons to us OS X are not Open Office 2.0, web
browsing, e-mail, web-based mySQL/pHp-packages, statistical software or
The Gimp (they all are available / run on Windows or Linux cheaper and
faster) - but mostly entertainment or creative sound packages such as
iTunes, Reason 3.0 Synthesizer Software. So for such, or for any other -
irrational - reason, I definitely love OS X.
As my G4 Powermac is getting extremely "old" in that it doesn't keep up
with the computing speeds that I need in IDL for some applications, I
now run IDL 6.2 on a Suse Linux 10 / AMD-workstation at home, and the
performance is simply great. Dynamic frequency scaling makes the
workstation perform with a minimum of ventilation noise otherwise as
processor frequency is scaled down on idle. I got myself that Fujitsu
Siemens Celsius v830, and it's a great machine. You really get more
hardware options (your choice of AMD Opteron processors, up to dual 280;
up to 32 GB RAM; 4 drive bays; several bays for slot/tray loading
drives) - where Apple doesn't offer nearly that much for even DOUBLE the
price on their G5 powermac platform. That RSI seems to support Linux /
AMD 64-bit in the foreseeable future was a great decision that suits me
just fine.
Conversely, no notebook of any brand really says "power programming
enabled", so all they can be used for is solving some smaller problems.
For now, that's done on existing investements without sweats
(Powerbook). For at least 2-3 years, PPC based Macs will be still widely
supported, so I quite honestly don't see why there should be a
particular big pressure "right now". Right now, one could also consider
the Centrino Duo notebooks by Dell (up to 1920 x 1200 pixels resolution,
better than any notebook Apple sells), or the Acer Travelmate 8200 (up
to 4 GB RAM, better than any notebook Apple sells).
It is really to be hoped that we will see Apple's OS X on Fujitsu
Siemens, Dell or Acer, on IBM replacing AIX, within the next 2-3 years.
If not, we hope at least for KDE to continue to be user friendly.
Wolf.
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