APPLE DROPS IBM FOR INTEL
Apple Computer Inc. said on Monday that it will shift to using Intel Corp.
microprocessors in its Macintosh computers, severing its long relationship
with International Business Machines Corp., which had supplied chips to Apple.
Ref. https://www.cnn.com/2005/06/05/technology/w....reut/index.htm
This is actually kind of disturbing. AMD has made better processors than Intel for years, yet everyone keeps going to Intel. This is because of the thought that Intel processors are just more reliable that AMD, at least thats the perception. But with Microsoft, Dell, and Apple backing Intel, it looks like AMD is going to remain second best for a while.
By the way, AMD is the first to release a true 64 bit processor for the home PC and for business servers. Intel is close to a year behind in their own development of a true 64 bit processor.
As a Mac user, I am split on this issue. It is true that IBM is slow at upgrading the speed of processors, but they brought out the true 64-bit G5 some time ago. The huge advantage is that since OS X is based on Unix, it is easily modified to take full advantage of the 64 bit processor, including multiple processors in the same machine.
I agree, AMD would probably have been a better choice. However, I hope that Intel is going to use a different architecture than the x86, which still has some of the inadequacies of the original 8086 built in. I don't know if AMD has the R&D to develop a completely new type of architecture.