My life on Intel

Tao of Mac

Posted by zbeckman - December 30, 2006 Comments 0

I’ve been meaning to write a piece on how I like my new MacBook Pro, now that I’ve taken the plunge and bought something based on Intel hardware. Today I finally got around to downloading the new Adobe Photoshop CS3 beta, which is a universal binary build, and the experience gave me a little motivation to talk about the new Intel Macs. That, and seeing the fun little “review” of Windows Vista by David Pogue.

So first off, the new Intel-based hardware is absolutely flawless, but that’s not really news. Aside from minor improvements in form-factor, it’s much the same, which is to say it retains the same quality and robustness that I’ve come to expect from Apple. The only negative that I’ve picked up on is the loss of the old PowerBook’s “quick change” battery act — you can no longer change batteries without powering off the laptop. Apparently this was a necessary compromise because of the new power requirements of the MacBook Pro. Otherwise it’s all upside: The included iSight camera, Bluetooth and wireless networking continue to emphasize Apple’s “it’s in there” attitude, one made all the more impressive whenever I compare the slim MacBook Pro shape to other similarly equipped systems. What’s more, the pricetag of $2,799 beats out the competition which lists at $4,235 by the time equivalent options are added.

Probably the best news — although, I hate to admit it — is Parallel’s Desktop. This lets me install and run Windows XP in a virtual environment at native speed (which is fast). Granted, I don’t need to use Windows-based programs too often, but when I do there’s no getting around it. On the rare occasion I stumble on a web site that requires Internet Explorer (and thankfully, this is becoming more and more rare as Firefox gains greater acceptance) I can start up Windows in a matter of seconds. The only other Windows-based tools I use tend to be development-oriented, such as Embarcadero’s ER/Studio, and now it’s as easy as 1-2-3 (and just about that fast) to fire it up.

Less to do with the new Mac line is the evolution of software on the Mac. As products such as Pages, Keynote, Merlin and Novamind offer greater and greater compatibility with Windows products I find myself opening up Parallels less frequently.

Another fantastic development is that Parallel’s supports Linux, so I can now do all of my development on a Mac. With OS/X’s support for Java and relative compatibility with Linux, it’s easy to do the actual development work natively — but when it comes to installation, testing and trying out third party Linux-built software, I can now fire up a copy of SUSE or RedHat on a whim.

I mentioned the new Photoshop CS3 beta release, a universal binary. First of all, I’d like to point out that OS/X’s ability to transparently run legacy (PowerPC) software is incredible. Over the past six months I’ve noticed the transition only occasionally, as upgrade notices arrive touting new universal binary builds. In point of fact, I had completely forgotten that Photoshop, Illustrator and the rest of the CS2 suite is still PowerPC software that runs just fine on my Intel MacBook Pro. So, when I got the beta invitation for a universal binary release of Photoshop, I jumped on it. The difference is definitely noticeable. Clearly, having an Intel-built application does make a difference — it loads faster, it runs filters faster and in general does have a snappier feel.

Overall, the MacBook Pro is a tremendous improvement over my old PowerPC Powerbook. I’m not sure I’d say it feels “twice as fast,” but pretty darned close. Recently a new model with up to 3GB of RAM became available too and that should make a huge difference for power users.

So, what’s the bottom line? I had originally planned on ordering a replacement for my dual processor PowerMac. I even had the system all configured and sitting in a shopping cart — but the fact is, I don’t need it. I’m using my new laptop more than I ever used the old Powerbook. I don’t need more speed or more processing power. It looks like my Powermac might be retired as a server, never to be replaced. As far as I’m concerned, the new line is a great success.