SolidWorks on my Mac in 2006

x86 hardware or not, the Mac OS is basically a BSD Unix descendant, IIRC. So, SW would still have to go through the painful porting process.

Dale Dunn wrote in news:Xns966E772331423daledunnatjamestoolc@65.24.3.139:

Sorry, I missed the part about dual booting. Scratch that. But...

I find dual booting to be an odd move for Apple. It seems to me that if every Mac can boot into Windows and go full speed, there will be greatly decreased incentive to develop for Mac OS. Unless, of course, I'm missing something.

Now, then, what would be just plain cool (if still wierd for the reasons above) would be if the Mac implementation of the x86 hardware takes advantage of the Vanderpool virtualisation stuff that Intel is developing. You could run both OSs concurrently, and they would be unaware of each other, except possibly for thinking they're on a virtual LAN together. It should be possible to switch between them (while running both!) with a special keystroke.

This could be very cool for Windows users too, because we could keep a very clean install of Windows for just SW, and another for every other destabilizing app. Run them concurrently, when one crashes, the other should be able to continue, because the virtualisation hardware keeps them independent.

AMD will be able to do this too. Their virtualisation implementation will be called Pacifia. As usual lately, AMD's integrated memory controller will give them some advantages. I think they're both planning to have this stuff ready in the next couple years, about the same time that dual cores, 64- bit, and Mac on x86 all start to get mainstream.

Interesting times.

I am not expecting to run SolidWorks on Mac OSX.

I'm just expecting to run SolidWorks in Windows, and flip over to OSX when I want to do so.

Bo

Now is the opportunity for VMWare to allow simultaneous Win and Mac OS's... Probably a major performance hit (video-accelleration-wise), unfortunately.

I am not going to hold my breath, but I probably won't buy new hardware until the new MacIntel boxes come out.

There is at least a good chance we will be able to run multiple OS's , though whether concurrently or not no one is going to specuate.

The design guys at Apple are just like the rest of us in design. They work on both platforms. If they have their way, I would guess we will get a real great machine that can do both OSs with ease.

Bo

I'm with you Bo - I would be very happy if I could run w1. OSX will not run on non-apple hardware (a good thing since I am sure their hardware solutions will be better and optimized for OSX)

1. They will do nothing to prevent Windows running on Apple hardware.

What will be interesting will to see is the new comparison model. Rather than the issue if Intel vs PPC, it will be more accurately OSX vs Windows. And one line of interesting speculation that makes some sense is that Intel has been frustrated that they have no showcase for advanced technologies because the Windows market is more conservative than the mac market in early adobtion. Since apple has a smaller market, it con do this more easily, and therefore offeres a win-win for both. Looks like the next two years will be fun!

Daniel

Daniel, you noted "1. OSX will not run on non-apple hardware", and the primary reason is that Apple will no doubt continue with their proprietary ROM chip on the motherboard which contains the hardcoded part of the OSX instructions.

Bo

Exactly. I think this is essential for them to do as a mac is the experience of both hardware and software.

Also interesting is that most of the developer comments I have read in the last day do seem to indicate that the software recompile is generally as simple as Apple are portraying it. That is certainly a positive thing. If you did not see it, you should look at the presentation by Jobs at WWDC as there is a lot of details not reported well in the media that you can catch in the actual presentation. There is an especially amusing part by the head of the company making Mathamatica and his experience recompiling for intel (I think it is about the 00:33:20 video mark).

This is certainly going to be interesting to watch as it develops in the coming year.

Daniel

So if we SolidWorks users want to REALLY protect their WindowsOS from crap & corruption, we will be able to buy a Mac and use it for the Internet work and flip it to Windows only for the SolidWorks uses.

Great - Bo

And we only need to do that until SW (or someone else) finally makes a decent Solid Modeler for OSX! Oh the joy...

Are you on 10.4 yet Bo?

Daniel

Tried it a bit at the Apple Store when I bought the upgrade, and will load it on my wife's iBook first.

Bo

Oh oh... does she know you are experimenting on her toys? :-)

I have 10.4.1 on one dual G4, and it is great. In fact, I find it hard to go back to my normal workhorse PowerBook Ti on 10.3.9. Not having spotlight and widgets quickly feels like not having exposé on the PC or pre 10.3... it becomes second nature to use and when it is not there... oh how you miss it! I will update my PowerBook when 10.4.2 is out - probably later this week or next.

Do remember to give it time to build the spotlight database after installation, which can take some time depending on what is on your drive - it will not be responsive until it is done. It really is brilliant!

Cheers Daniel

There are a few key applications I need to make sure work on 10.4 first before I switch including my 2D CAD program, PowerCADD, and then Photoshop, etc.

Bo

I was also waiting for Retrospect, and FontAgentPro. These are now updated, so I take the full plunge. Photoshop CS, Illustrator, InDesign, Acrobat have all worked perfectly for me. I do not use PowerCADD though

Are we very far OT toto? ;-)

Guess I should get back to banging on PR1 some more...

Daniel