Check Out Apple's Supercomputer...

[KvHagedorn]

This is pretty amazing in more ways than one.

Apple's G4 Rollout

Steve Jobs claims this was meant to be the "Ultimate Photoshop Machine", and indeed it is much faster than the P3-600 in his demo (He didn't compare it with Athlon), but check out this link, where they sell them (on preorder) this is their top-of-the-line machine. G4 Store
What is this staring us in the face?? An ATI Rage! Blech! Some Ultimate Photoshop Machine! Matrox should take advantage of this machine and make a G400MAX to go in it. Apple is now using a form of AGP, so that's a plus.

Oh, and lest you pooh-pooh Apple, they sold 750,000 G3s in the first half of this year, and are targeted at the same people Matrox has always made their bread and butter: graphics professionals. Why doesn't Matrox team up with Apple for their high-end machine? Boy, do they ever need each other!

This thing looks so fast, I'm tempted to get one. But not with a Rage inside.

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Kind Regards,

KvH

[cputnam]

Gotta agree with you that the G4's (and even the G3's) look to be nice systems. Jobs has definitely turned Apple back around and on course.

I think ATi got the nod on the graphics given their infiltration of the OEM market. The Rage 128 isn't a bad card, just nothing to get excited over.

I dumped the Rage Magnum in favor of the OEM G400 SH. No regrets here.

Now, if Apple can get more software mfg's to port to that platform, then Intel/MS will have a run for their money.

[Holerith]

Apple Supercomputer - isn't that an oxymoron?


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Dean
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PDP-11, Dec-writer & ZD-11 Terminal Unit, RSTS-OS

[KvHagedorn]

Dude.. The new MAC OSX is based on BSD (Berkely UNIX). Let's see the government try to hack into THIS

If you ever had a good excuse to escape the tyrrany of Bill Gates, this is it.

Oh, and by the way, 2-3 times as fast as a P3-600? well, even if he's fudging, he's gotta have a pretty powerful box there.

Dontcha just love competition?

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Kind Regards,

KvH

[Gurm]

I'll believe it when I see it. They said the G3 was twice as fast as a P2. Well, if you put a G3-400 next to a P2-233, give the G3 256MB and the P2 32 MB, and then simultaneously double-click on Microsoft Word...

The P2 opens it in 30 seconds, and the G3 takes over a minute and a half.

Then if you open up Photoshop (so as not to be prejudiced towards Micro$oft), you'll find the P3 opens it in 45 seconds, whereas the G3 opens it in 2 minutes. Hmm... REAL fast. I don't care about synthetic benchmarks, Macs are still unusable.

- Gurm


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G. U. R. M. It's not hard to spell, is it? Then don't screw it up!
The word "Gurm" is in no way Copyright 1999 Jorden van der Elst.

[merchant2112]

i just took a look at the g4. nice looking case.

maybe apple should stop spending money on fancy cases and start doing things to catch up with intel, amd, matrox, nvida. and other hardware. then maybe jobs would have a real go at the hardcore gamer pc market.

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I think I need help. I'm not sure what do you think, do I need help?

[This message has been edited by merchant2112 (edited 09-06-1999).]

[Kruzin]

Hey!
Don't be dissin the Mac....they make the BEST doorstops in the industry.

[agallag]

I work at a large canadian bank, and one of the departments we support just decided to get new lending approval system. It's based on Mac G3s, with an OSX server. Really nice system, very pretty cases, etc. However, there's one little problem. No one, including us (tech support), has ever touched a Mac before. When they call with problems, we kind of go, uh, didja reboot it? Uh, did it go "bing" or "smash". Uh, i dunno, maybe you should call someone who cares...

[KvHagedorn]

I've always wondered why so many people who are used to Microsoft boxes have been so quick to give a knowing chuckle and dismiss the Mac out of hand.(Gurm actually gave some substantive comparisons) I think it's because once upon a time, everything ran on UNIX and it's what the hardcore computer people were used to, and they liked knowing all the tricks of the command line interface. Then came DOS, which was so similar, and the serious computer people immediately took to it. Plus, the word "Apple" made their box sound like such a toy

But, lest this degrade into one of those tired Mac vs PC debates, I was just suggesting that a machine which so many graphics people will buy should have a MATROX card in it. I couldn't imagine doing Photoshop on an ATI if I could get a G400. I just think it's a market Matrox would do well to explore. Are you listening, Haig?

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Kind Regards,

KvH



[This message has been edited by KvHagedorn (edited 09-06-1999).]

[Gurm]

KvH,

I used to own a Mac. I used to be a serious Mac geek. Back in the days of Mac Plusses and Mac SE's they beat the living snot out of 286's with EGA video. However, they have failed utterly to keep up.

Mac HARDWARE is wonderful, no matter what anyone says. But, at the risk of using a car analogy, it's like a Ferrari pulling a Tractor Trailer Truck.

The truck is the Mac OS. They need to ditch it and get a new OS. BeOS was running great on PowerMacs, I don't know why they seem to have ditched that platform (probably because Apple has squished all the clones).

And graphics professionals don't buy Macs more than PC's. That was true in 1992. Not 1999. Nobody I know who does graphics uses a Mac - or else they're laughed at by the rest of us.

- Gurm

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G. U. R. M. It's not hard to spell, is it? Then don't screw it up!
The word "Gurm" is in no way Copyright 1999 Jorden van der Elst.