Apple to use Intel Chips, ending relationship with IBM

It looks like it isn't yet official. I'm hoping that they are not shooting themselves in the foot by doing this, the software rewrites will be a nightmare. However the heat and cost should make the IBook more attractive to more people. Taking 10% off their parts costs should help a lot too.

That's quite a rewrite considering their current chips and the Intel chips use different endian specifications altogether with one being most-significant byte first and the other least-significant. I suppose Mac OS now being UNIX based will help speed that development time, but you can truly expect this to be a few years like they said based on that alone.

On the other hand, can we get Linux, or even Windows, running on the PowerBooks in the future? That could not only lower hardware costs but open it up for more 3rd party and open-source software as well. And how about would they be x86 (or perhaps Itanium) based? All the speculation alone will create a nice buzz while we wait for the software rewrites I suppose.

Or finally maybe it's just another company competing to survive by taking a chapter out of the "Wintel" book. If you can't beat em, join 'em.

From the "Dual Life" comment it sounds like they have been rewriting the OS for a while. The 3-rd party people sound to be either very happy or very upset, there is a lot of work a head for them.
If it allows for more programs to run on the Mac though, or at least make the transition easier, it will be good for Apple.

It's official Apple will use Intel rather than IBM's PowerPC. In the words of Steve Jobs,
""Mac OS X has been leading a secret double life," Mr. Jobs told an audience that included thousands of software designers gathered in Moscone Center for the company's annual developer conference. "This isn't going to happen overnight. It will take a few years. By this time next year, we will ship Macs with Intel processors."
I hope this doesn't cause a new Mac schism.