[trampled_underfoot89]

hello everyone,

I was just wondering, with the upcoming Mactel processors, will these computers have the same problems as PC's do? such as viruses and bugs that affect the PC (will they now affect the mac's - with Mactel processors)?

thanks
Matt

[Bryson]

Well, essentially, no. Viruses are written for the Operating System, not the system itself.

Some might argue that the MacIntel transition may make it more likely that virus writers will turn their attention to Macs, but that's "one level removed" from your question.

[trampled_underfoot89]

oh really? well... i hope they dont do that.

[Ghostnine]

when you say "PC's" i assume you mean Windows... since other OS's that run on x86 platform aren't as affected by viruses/malware/spyware as Windows currently is

ex. Linux, *BSD... etc.

there are exceptions to the rule when the virus is designed to exploit a flaw in the actual hardware, but those are RARE...

the move to Intel procs isn't going to make OSX any more or less vulnerable than it already was... its gain in marketshare would increase it's attention, thats *if* it gains marketshare.

[BarracksSi]

Nah --

"It's the OS, stupid!", as they say. Linux is usually run on the same hardware as Windows, but it doesn't have nearly the security problems.

The OS runs the machine, not the other way around.

[scrouds]

Although, any windows compatablility layer you install will have those problems . And people will be more willing to run them because for the much faster speeds then a full emulation layer has.

[Ghostnine]

Originally Posted by scrouds Although, any windows compatablility layer you install will have those problems . And people will be more willing to run them because for the much faster speeds then a full emulation layer has.

no, becuase a compatibility layer is just that, a layer, and doesn't affect the host system... why haven't linux users who run IE via wine had any problems?

[trevo]

(Not my area so please correct me) but there will be a change in software when apple moves over to intel. Will this change anything at all?

[Ghostnine]

Originally Posted by Matt O'Keyes (Not my area so please correct me) but there will be a change in software when apple moves over to intel. Will this change anything at all?

in the way things look and act? no, but all software will have to be compiled for x86 platform instead of PPC, thats all under the hood... and the average end user will never know the difference

[faramirtook]

Cocoa is high-level code, so a bit of tweaking and a recompile is all that's necessary for most apps. Carbon apps and apps that are in CodeWarrior will take longer to be universal. FreeBSD (where Darwin comes from) is mainly run on x86, so its possible that a speed boost may come of it. I doubt there will be any loss in performance.

[Jerman]

Originally Posted by Ghostnine no, becuase a compatibility layer is just that, a layer, and doesn't affect the host system... why haven't linux users who run IE via wine had any problems?

Don't Ogres have layers just like onions? Oh, onto the real question. Can't say I have heard too terribly much about Code Warrior. Is this another development tool for OSX? (Quite obviously I am assuming so).

[Brad]

Metrowerks CodeWarrior is a big one that's been around forever. I'd be amazed if anyone that's done any decent amount of programming hasn't seen it once or twice. It's a Classic Mac IDE, Mac OS X IDE, Windows IDE, Linux IDE, Palm IDE, Playstation IDE, GameCube IDE, Game Boy IDE...

Heck, Apple itself used CodeWarrior for many years. If you ever hear about things in reference to "PowerPlant," that's a part of the old Mac version of CodeWarrior. The early versions of Finder for Mac OS X, for example, were PowerPlant apps.

[Kickaha]

Yeah, arguably Metrowerks saved Apple's bacon during the 68k -> PPC transition. Apple didn't have tools for developers at all, to speak of, and Metrowerks stepped in. CW was Mac-first and for a while Mac-only, then it went cross-platform with Windows, then... everything. Since then, it's suffered on the Mac a bit, as Apple switched to MacOS X and Metrowerks had a hell of a transition of its own to make... but by then, the Mac was only a small part of their business. So now it's kind of getting left behind, which is sad, in a way.

I used to be a CW junkie, even got my NT-based group in '95 to switch to it instead of Visual C++.

Then I ran across Interface Builder on the NeXT, and haven't looked back. XCode has finally started maturing to be an IDE worthy of replacing CW, and things are pretty spiffy now.

[Ghostnine]

Originally Posted by Jerman Don't Ogres have layers just like onions? Oh, onto the real question. Can't say I have heard too terribly much about Code Warrior. Is this another development tool for OSX? (Quite obviously I am assuming so).

dunno... never met an Ogre...

anyway, seems to still be a lot a strange misconceptions going around with the move to a different processor platform... just to reassure people, the world isn't going to end