it’s been some time since the introduction of the first intel based mac systems started shipping. first it was the imac, next came the mac mini, and starting to trickle into the market is the macbook pro. oddly, the only universal versions of apple software beyond the operating system, was ilife and iwork. now, almost three months after the mac+intel adventure, general purpose applications like final cut studio, aperture, and logic are scheduled to arrive on the apple scene.
from reports, the rosetta technology is effective in translating the powerPC code into intel core duo speak, but the performance has not been up to snuff with native algorithyms. of course, safari, mail, ichat AV, itunes, and ical work great, and the expectations of final cut studio and announced features of aperture 1.1 on intel will live up the the partnership apple and intel made last june 2005. we all want the transition from G5 RISC to core dou X86 heritage.
the next generation of chips, based on the intel core microarchitecture look even better, as they will integrate rich x64 architecture, industry leading performance per watt specificiations, and bring the intel processors on par with AMD opteron and athlon processors. intel might have been a little late to the 64-bit party, but with the juggernaught of resources and engineering gusto, late 2006 will be the time apple+intel shines.