Poll: Will it affect you if Apple abandons the PowerPC in Snow Leopard?
Posted by Dennis Sellers 
Jun 16, 2008 at 1:05pm
There are reports that Mac OS X 10.6 (“Snow Leopard”), due in about a year, will be for Intel Macs only—in other words, no PowerPC support So in this week’s poll we’re asking “Will it affect you if Apple abandons the PowerPC in Snow Leopard?” You can find the poll at the right hand side of the page, below the “Macsimum Opinion” section.
In our last poll we asked if you were happy with Apple CEO Steve Jobs’ keynote announcements at the 2008 Worldwide Developer Conference. Fifty-two percent of you said “yes,” 20 percent said “no” and 28 percent said “sorta.”
“Macsimum News” is a proud supporter of Planet Gumbo, which feeds the hungry. We urge you to help them in their efforts.
Macsimum News has a presence on Facebook. Why not sign up? Log in to Facebook, go to Groups and type in Macsimum News to get there from here.
Intal user are left out also Says:
Intal users with 32 bit cpu’s will probably left out in the cold also. Even if the powerPC family will have enogh power for long time, the greadiness of apple “R...” fruit company will kill of hardware that they sold a year ago. So all the “trust” that was in apple is totally gone, who can trust a company that don’t care for thier customer, just how to #### out thier money and then leave them.
Posted on June 16, 2008
Seth Says:
I bought the last G5 model before the Intel switch, due to an impatient client at the time, and couldn’t wait the extra few weeks. I’m buying a 17” MacBook Pro to finally get myself an Intel, but cannot afford a new desktop as well. I usually upgrade to the latest versions, but like to have all my computers running the same general system configurations.
The short of it....yes, it would #### if they left out the PPC users with Snow Leopard.
Posted on June 16, 2008
Harvey Says:
By the time Snow Leopard comes out, the youngest PowerPC computer will be four or five years old. Anyone who truly needs Snow Leopard (as opposed to Leopard) by that time probably also needs a new computer.
I don’t think anyone is going to be inconvenienced.
Posted on June 16, 2008
rwinters Says:
I have a Quicksilver G4 PPC desktop and a PowerBook G4. The newest is the laptop and it is 3 1/2 years old. Without the new operating system they will serve me fine. I also just purchased a new MacBook Pro so no, I will not be upset.
Posted on June 16, 2008
Rico Says:
No effect on me, they already locked out my iMac G4 with 10.5, so I’ll have to stick with Tiger a while longer.
Posted on June 16, 2008
BDK Says:
My PowerMac has 2 dual core processors and still has plenty of life left in it. It’s not even 3 years old yet! Developers are only now developing applications to take advantage of 4 cores. PPC needs to stick around for one more version of OS X. ESPECIALLY a version that is going to take advantage of all the cores.
Posted on June 16, 2008
Jeremy Kline Says:
No. My PowerBook G4 (Titanium, 800Hz with DVI) was already left behind by Leopard. I upgraded to to an Intel MacBook Po in September, in part, in anticipation of Leopard.
I replaced my iMac G3 266 Blueberry with a first generation Intel iMac two years ago. My wife’s iBook G3 was maxed out with 10.3 Panther. My PowerPC machines are just the occasional spare machines, collecting dust. As long as all the Intel machines are supported by Snow Leopard, I won’t complain.
Posted on June 16, 2008
Jack Says:
I would prefer Apple not to bother providing PowerPC support in Snowleopard. Keep it clean and make it a solid base for 10.7.
Posted on June 16, 2008
abz Says:
I think I’ll be affected (2 G4s and a G3) but having read RDM’s post, I don’t think this would be the case. Even so, I would rather OS X 10.6 or 7 to have a clean slate and better optimisation for future sake. Snow leopard as I understand it, wouldn’t be much difference from what Leopard currently is which my G4 is already running so no, I’m not bothered. I’m due to replace my G3 anyway so it would be a good reason too cometh this January.
Posted on June 16, 2008
JohnK Says:
Personally I won’t be bothered as I switched to a 17” MacBook Pro when the Intel version came out two years ago.
Snow Leopard won’t come out for another year. By that time PPC Macs will be pretty old. Moreover, from what we know Snow Leopard will look like Leopard. So if you’re using a PPC now with Leopard then you will still be up to date after Snow Leopard comes out. You just won’t get some of the acceleration available to Intel users. That seems fair. Your applications will still work and you can still exchange data with Snow Leopard computers; at least that’s how it looks now.
Posted on June 17, 2008
John Wallace Says:
So, just what do PPC users want from Snow Leopard?? The only new feature to speak of is Exchange support. Other than that, the PPC doesn’t have the balls to take advantage of the changes. Snow Leopard sets the stage for the next gen CPUs and display technologies. Apple is full speed ahead. Their software development is designed to support their HARDWARE sales. Get on board with an Intel processor or be left behind.
And speaking of hardware sales, they will likely be doing some cool new hardware to take advantage of what Snow Leopard has to offer. The time to dump those PPCs is not now, but a year from now when SL ships.
Posted on June 17, 2008
Lavode Says:
No, I’m still using 10.3 on my G5 PowerMac and iMac. The only things I’m keeping up to date are my MacBook and MacBook Pro.
Posted on June 20, 2008
Ion_Quest Says:
My iMac G5 has plenty of life left. Apple’s long term support has become an industry joke. Dropping Classic on PPC Macs was unnecessary. Support the G4 and G5 Macs for a few more years Apple.
Posted on June 20, 2008
Mark Bakken Says:
No, I am done with apple. I will get a quad core PPC from Terra Soft. Thank you.
Posted on June 20, 2008
Gui Says:
Honestly, my Powerbook G4 is still stuck with Tiger and probably always will until I decomission it. No feature in Leopard justifies the lack of Classic Mode. My upgraded G4 Cube dual-boots 9.2.2 and 10.5.3, but it is already in the limits of its upgradeability.
Posted on June 20, 2008
Article Information
Comment on this Article Print this Article Email this Article Digg This
Contributor
Dennis Sellers
Dennis has been a newspaper editor/reporter (seven years) and teacher (seven years). He has over 4,000 magazine, newspaper and online articles to his credit. He has also covered the Mac and tech industries for over a decade for such online publications as MacCentral, MacMinute and now MacsimumNews.
jdb4mac Says:
Nope, I’m already transitioning my computers over to mactel machines. By the type Snow Leopard is out, I’ll have only a couple of G5 PowerMacs left. And for what they do, Leopard will be sufficient.
Posted on June 16, 2008