eWeek says VMware to demo at WWDC
eWeek says that VMware will demo something a few hours
after Steve's keynote.
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1999216,00.asp?kc=EWRSS03119TX1K0000594
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1999216,00.asp?kc=EWRSS03119TX1K0000594
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Pentium III beats Pentium 4?
In a manner of speaking, anyway.
Did you know that the Core Duo and Core 2 Duo chips are actually much, much, much closer to a Pentium III chip design than the Pentium 4? Yep, the branch prediction technology in the Pentium 4 never paid off in the way Intel hoped.
The chip manufacturer went back to a never-released version of the Pentium III that had on-chip graphics and used that as the basis for the Core Duo and Core 2 Duo. And all the users in the world say "Thank God."
Did you know that the Core Duo and Core 2 Duo chips are actually much, much, much closer to a Pentium III chip design than the Pentium 4? Yep, the branch prediction technology in the Pentium 4 never paid off in the way Intel hoped.
The chip manufacturer went back to a never-released version of the Pentium III that had on-chip graphics and used that as the basis for the Core Duo and Core 2 Duo. And all the users in the world say "Thank God."
Will Apple "Sherlock" Parallels?
Remember when Apple created Sherlock, obviously modeled
after Watson? And then they introduced Dashboard and
Widgets which was very similar to Konfabulator. And
SandVox and iWeb?
Hate to say it, but Microsoft tends to buy companies or license software to include it (they learned from years of paying royalties for MS-DOS) which usually lets the creators profit from their work. Apple seems to "coincidentally" create similar applications, leaving the original developers shocked and struggling. (They did buy SoundJam and the programmers to create iTunes, so sometimes they acquire technology and the creators profit.)
So the question is: What will happen to Parallels? This is a key piece in the OS wars. VMware ESX Server kills in the enterprise - it's like magic - you see it working but you can't believe it, but you're senses tell you it's real. VMware had a version that supposedly allowed (note the past tense) OS X to run in in a VMware session until Apple said the equivalent of "don't go there." So VMware for the Mac (to run Windows) is looming. Parallels is out now and being very smart, business-wise.
Boot Camp is great for some uses but Parallels is the Intel Mac killer app for the next eighteen to twenty-four months. It makes the Mac useful and desirable in a corporate atmosphere, which is a market Apple hasn't cracked yet.
Think I'm kidding? Most of the programmers at my office are all talking about buying Mac laptops. One already did. Over 50% of the technical and networking staff are making similar plans. Most, like me, are waiting to see if Merom chips are put into MacBook or MacBook Pro laptops.
Why? Parallels. Need to run older Windows builds? No problem. Linux. Yep. Great looking laptops from Apple? We're in.
But wait. VMware GSX transitioned to VMware Server and it's now free. The disk format is going public. Longhorn, the next version of Windows Server, whenever it ships (don't get me started), will have built-in virtualization. And Microsoft is allowing multiple servers to run without killing companies with unreasonable licensing - that's smart, especially given the hot competitors who have a head start and good reputation.
I don't think Apple will announce a Mac OS X virtualization product in 10.5 Leopard. I just don't think they've had enough time to create this and I don't think they could keep it quite for as long as the development and test lead cycle would be for that product. They could buy Parallels though. If not, I predict they'll announce a hot key to toggle between Mac and Windows while using Boot Camp.
Apple needs virtualization inside their OS. Buying Parallels would be feature-smart for their OS. They will need to be mindful that if they do that, they're walking into a lot of competition but the potential rewards are huge.
Another key: Core 2 Duo (Merom, Conroe, Woodcrest) chips support virtualization in ways that Core Duo (Yonah) doesn't. A VM in Yonah can only mimic a single processor machine. Core 2 chips let VMs run as multiple processors in the virtual environment. And there are other important optimizations included as well.
It's a great time to virtualize!
Hate to say it, but Microsoft tends to buy companies or license software to include it (they learned from years of paying royalties for MS-DOS) which usually lets the creators profit from their work. Apple seems to "coincidentally" create similar applications, leaving the original developers shocked and struggling. (They did buy SoundJam and the programmers to create iTunes, so sometimes they acquire technology and the creators profit.)
So the question is: What will happen to Parallels? This is a key piece in the OS wars. VMware ESX Server kills in the enterprise - it's like magic - you see it working but you can't believe it, but you're senses tell you it's real. VMware had a version that supposedly allowed (note the past tense) OS X to run in in a VMware session until Apple said the equivalent of "don't go there." So VMware for the Mac (to run Windows) is looming. Parallels is out now and being very smart, business-wise.
Boot Camp is great for some uses but Parallels is the Intel Mac killer app for the next eighteen to twenty-four months. It makes the Mac useful and desirable in a corporate atmosphere, which is a market Apple hasn't cracked yet.
Think I'm kidding? Most of the programmers at my office are all talking about buying Mac laptops. One already did. Over 50% of the technical and networking staff are making similar plans. Most, like me, are waiting to see if Merom chips are put into MacBook or MacBook Pro laptops.
Why? Parallels. Need to run older Windows builds? No problem. Linux. Yep. Great looking laptops from Apple? We're in.
But wait. VMware GSX transitioned to VMware Server and it's now free. The disk format is going public. Longhorn, the next version of Windows Server, whenever it ships (don't get me started), will have built-in virtualization. And Microsoft is allowing multiple servers to run without killing companies with unreasonable licensing - that's smart, especially given the hot competitors who have a head start and good reputation.
I don't think Apple will announce a Mac OS X virtualization product in 10.5 Leopard. I just don't think they've had enough time to create this and I don't think they could keep it quite for as long as the development and test lead cycle would be for that product. They could buy Parallels though. If not, I predict they'll announce a hot key to toggle between Mac and Windows while using Boot Camp.
Apple needs virtualization inside their OS. Buying Parallels would be feature-smart for their OS. They will need to be mindful that if they do that, they're walking into a lot of competition but the potential rewards are huge.
Another key: Core 2 Duo (Merom, Conroe, Woodcrest) chips support virtualization in ways that Core Duo (Yonah) doesn't. A VM in Yonah can only mimic a single processor machine. Core 2 chips let VMs run as multiple processors in the virtual environment. And there are other important optimizations included as well.
It's a great time to virtualize!
WWDC '06 Banner pictures
Some interesting pictures of the banners at WWDC '06 -
see http://flickr.com/photos/66488342@N00/sets/72157594223273881/
From these pictures, you might conclude:
• The Mac Pro is using virtually the same case as the PowerMac G5.
• There is a shot of the left half of a MacBook Pro which looks unchanged - drat! I was hoping Apple would update the MacBook Pro case to be something more like the MacBook black. We'll see what happens with this one.
• Use of Merom, Conroe, and Woodcrest Intel chips - they are all 64 bit. Could Apple be eliminating the Core Duo chip entirely in favor of a full line of Core 2 Duo?
• The picture WWDC7 shows signs covered in black cloth - what could be under there?
• No full size iPod is shown in any spot on the banner. Does this mean that the full screen iPod video will be announced (very unlikely) or perhaps there isn't going to be anything significant announced regarding the bigger iPod (more likely)?
From these pictures, you might conclude:
• The Mac Pro is using virtually the same case as the PowerMac G5.
• There is a shot of the left half of a MacBook Pro which looks unchanged - drat! I was hoping Apple would update the MacBook Pro case to be something more like the MacBook black. We'll see what happens with this one.
• Use of Merom, Conroe, and Woodcrest Intel chips - they are all 64 bit. Could Apple be eliminating the Core Duo chip entirely in favor of a full line of Core 2 Duo?
• The picture WWDC7 shows signs covered in black cloth - what could be under there?
• No full size iPod is shown in any spot on the banner. Does this mean that the full screen iPod video will be announced (very unlikely) or perhaps there isn't going to be anything significant announced regarding the bigger iPod (more likely)?
Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard features (unconfirmed)
O'Grady's PowerPage has received information that these
applications have increased functionality in Leopard.
Spotlight 2.0, Dashboard 2.0, Safari 3.0, iChat 4.0, Automator 2.0, QuickTime 7.2, Mail 3.0, iCal 3.0, Address Book 5.0
The detailed information is here: http://www.powerpage.org/archives/2006/08/exclusive_leopard_feature_set_leaked.html
Spotlight 2.0, Dashboard 2.0, Safari 3.0, iChat 4.0, Automator 2.0, QuickTime 7.2, Mail 3.0, iCal 3.0, Address Book 5.0
The detailed information is here: http://www.powerpage.org/archives/2006/08/exclusive_leopard_feature_set_leaked.html