Two questions

richiebee · Post by **richiebee** » Thu Jun 08, 2006 4:46 am

I had a quick look for answers here, but couldn't find them... if these things have already been addressed, could someone point me to a thread?

I've been asked to buy three iMac's to run DP 5. These are for classroom use, and chances are good money will not be available again for a long time to replace them. So value is important. I have been asked to buy them now even though classes don't start til September, but I'm reluctant to do so - I think that if I wait, the price will likley to be slightly lower and DP will be able to run on Intel natively.

So, two questions...

1. Does DP run on Intel now? I can't find anything on MotU's site about it.

2. If we were to buy non-Intel (if they're still available), are we likely to see support for G5 chips die before their time? I can't imagine any developer is going to want to support both Intel and non-Intel Mac software for a long period of time.

Anyone have any ideas?

Rich

Shooshie · Post by **Shooshie** » Thu Jun 08, 2006 6:14 am

MOTU has promised universal binaries (Intel/PPC dual code) in the 2nd quarter of this year. Old timers know to take that with a grain of salt. The update from OS9 to OS X was many months past MOTU's own revised deadline, with the only news from MOTU being a single press release that said "soon." So, it may be here this month, or it may not. If so, then you're good to go on the iMacs, but beware of "early adopter syndrome," the problem of dealing with the bugs of brand new code on a brand new machine with a brand new CPU.

On the other hand, buying the old PPC iMacs at this point dooms them to obsolescence in the not-too-distant future. It's a conundrum for sure, and nobody really knows the best path to take. If all goes well, then the Intel path would be the way to go. If there are delays, bugs, or other problems... well... who can say?

It's just the timing. It's not anyone's fault. This is just the abyss between two belle pastorales.

Shooshie

Saintmatthew · Post by **Saintmatthew** » Thu Jun 08, 2006 12:01 pm

I might add, if your school can find the G5 iMacs, it might be a good investment to do so. Although no two machines are identical, I've been running the bottom of the line g5 iMac for a year and a half now. Basically, it was the 17" 1.6 version of the first batch with 512 meg of 3rd party RAM I added. I'm still using it now with DP 5 with no glitches and it runs great. While they're headed towards "obsolescence" the system would run a stable DP 5 which would be good for a few years, no? Certainly until well past the point where the Mactel platform has stabilized.

Mr_Clifford · Post by **Mr_Clifford** » Thu Jun 08, 2006 6:54 pm

The Universal Binary versions of software run on both Intel & Power PC, don't they? I thought that was why it's called 'Universal'. In which case, even after all the software has gone to 'UB' you'll still be able to run it on your G4's, G5's etc.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong.