I don't see this as entirely suprising. I didn't think the intel move was anything to do with performance as opposed to a response to issues from Apple's existing chipset suppliers, with the possibility that coming to the x86 world using Intel is more likely to propell Apple firmly into the mainstream. It seems quite feasible, to me, that Apple is sacrificing a performance edge in favour of becoming easily comparable to other brands, at least for your average consumer (who doesn't comprehend a difference in processor architecture and thinks purely of the hertz).
On the other hand, these pirated copies of OS X, are they running smoothly? Are the hacks required in getting them onto non Apple systems causing the performance issues?
Of course I might be talking absolute balls
