If you're on an Intel Macintosh, you've seen the speed of Universal apps, and the impressiveness of Rosetta.  But when a yet-to-go-Universal app is on the larger side of the scale, you've probably noticed that it doesn't handle quite as well under Rosetta as it did on the G4s and G5s.  This is to be expected of course, as it is performing some serious emulation in real time.  However, if you're a Photoshop user on an Intel Mac, you're probably not the happiest camper in the park.

Adobe Systems has said that Photoshop would not go Universal until 2007.  This has a lot of users in an uproar.  How could it be so hard?  Steve said it was just a matter of checking the right buttons during the build.  Well, not quite.  Scott Byer is an Adobe engineer who explains some of the issues on his blog (linked below).  It's worth a read if you're in that unfortunate situation.

For now it seems sticking with a G4, or G5 as your Photoshop system is your best bet.  Besides, that way you can wait for the B hardware revisions to come along and get a more stable system about the time Photoshop is available in a Universal Binary.

Deborah Conrad who is the head of Team Apple inside Intel spoke with some reporters today.  It seems that while Intel raised a fuss at Apple's commercial referring to their chips living 'boring lives' inside PCs, they're quite enjoying the partnership.  Conrad says that while they're not looking toward putting their chips in the iPod at this time, they're quite excited about getting under the hood of future Apple gadgets.  Hmm, could that mean an upcoming, iPhone?  Or a tablet?  We can only wait.

Intel appreciates the Apple way of thinking.  They're enjoying a partnership that pushes them to new heights in technology.  I think we will all enjoy the results of that.

Here's your chance to be named the "Master of Vista" (a title Microsoft can't even seem to grab hold of) and earn yourself a crisp $1.  Since Windows XP is now running on Intel-based Apple computers, the next logical step is to set sights on Vista.  So the OSx86 project is offering up the hefty title and 100-penny bounty.

One dollar you ask?  That seems light by 10 grand or so, eh?  A community of 'hackers' suddenly went all una-bomber and stopped sharing ideas and thoughts with each other, so each could try to win the $13,000 on their own.  The free-flow of ideas and hacking tricks dried-up, and it was every man (or woman) for themselves.  By offering $1 the hope is that everyone will once again work together and use their collective genius to quickly knock this challenge down.

Here's a very interesting post on macrumor's forums about Windows running on Intel Macs. It seems that there is no driver for the fan while running under Windows. So while the processor gets hotter and hotter and hotter, there's no relief from the built-in fan. This could spell some BIG TIME trouble for your new Core Solo/Duo Macintosh.

The user who posted this was running it on their MacBook Pro. I'll assume - I don't know - that this fan driver issue is across the board for all Intel Macs, as they all utilize Intel's motherboards. There's an option of flashing the rom to support the fan driver, but then it won't be a mac based rom, and you'll have a very nice looking windows-only MacBook.

Something to think about.

On this special issue of MacBreak, Leo Laporte and Ben Durbin has demonstrated actually running a Windows XP SP2 on Mac mini with Intel Core Solo built in. The system ran as fast as on a genuine PC on the Mac mini in this video, with only some driver restrictions that limited its performance. But we are sure that the community will try to hack more drivers to make the Intel Mac run Windows XP better and better!

Running Windows XP on a Mac has been a dream for the Mac fans. Until recently, the high bonus hanging above by Colin Nederkoorn has finally been taken by Narf. Now this discovery/creation has unleashed the ultimate possibility Intel Mac, making the users having more choices when buying operation systems for their Intel Mac.

Download: [MacBreak Special - XP On A Mac mini]

So scarcely has the excitement worn-off that it is indeed possible to run Windows XP on an Intel Macintosh, and now the bootloader is available for the world to try.  The .zip file includes the bootloader to get your Windows XP install running on an Intel macintosh, as well as a lengthy how-to text file to walk you through it. 

Haven't yet tried it myself, as I don't have an Intel mac (yet) so let us hear your success stories.  Now that this is out there, I think it's high time I made a trip to the local Apple store for my new macintosh computer...

Download: [WinXP on Mac Bootloader]

An engineer from Apple Computer pointed out that we should not put much hope on easily running Windows on Intel Mac.

Although the Mac fans have been hoping that the incoming Windows Vista would be able to run on a Mac easier than the Windows XP, since Vista will be introducing the support of EFI (Extensible Firmware Interface) besides the normal BIOS support, Apple Senior Software Architect Cameron Esfahani said he only know that the EFI will be present only in 64-bit versions of the Windows Vista. However, the current Intel Macs are all equipped with 32-bit Intel CPUs. Also, he pointed out that the implementation of Mac's EFI doesn't have much legacy support for the Windows system.

Apple won't stop users from trying to run Windows on Macs, but users should not put any hope on Apple's support on this. And on the other hand, Microsoft has stated that the initial release of the Windows Vista won't have EFI support at all.

Microsoft must trembling in their collective hive booties. Any hopes for those of us that wanted to dual boot Vista and Mac OS X are going to have to find other ways to do so.

Basically, in order to dual boot Vista and OS X you need EFI ( Extensible Firmware Interface) support. EFI is basically the modern version of the BIOS (the part responsible for starting up hardware in a PC). Except EFI is 20 yrs newer, and the drivers for the hardware are stored there rather than being loaded by the operating system.

I'm sure it's no coincidence that Microsoft allows for EFI in 64 bit Vista, but not in the 32 bit version. Macs being of a 32 bit architecture won't allow Vista to boot. Go figure...

All hope isn't lost, I'm sure it's won't be too far out to see 64bit processors in Macs. It's just going to be a matter of when, but of course we'll discover that there will be some other reason that Vista won't boot.

Fresh from the Apple event today in Cupertino, this image shows the all-important new ports incorporated into the Intel Mac Mini, letting it function properly as a movie and music server in the home.



Â? and hereÂ?s the iPod Hifi, with itÂ?s black speaker grille removed. Notice the carrying handles on both cornersÂ?nice and chunky.

So, today is the day for AppleÂ?s new product announcements. WeÂ?ve been teased with talk of some Â?new, fun productsÂ? and rumors of video iPods, Intel Mac Minis, and all manner of the usual flights of fancy. But what happened over in Cupertino when the moment came?

First off, we have the Intel Mac Mini.  Available in single and dual-core processor versions, running much faster than the original PowerPC hardware, it includes version 2.0 of Front Row., and a 6-button infra-red Apple remote control. ItÂ?s exactly the same design, size and shape as the original Mac Mini.

The basic Intel Mac Mini will be $599, specs as follows: 1.5GHz Core Solo system with 667MHz bus, 512MB RAM, 60GB SATA hard drive and "Combo" DVD-ROM/CD-RW drive. The higher-level model will be $799: 1.67GHz Core Duo-based model features an 80GB SATA internal hard disk and 8x "SuperDrive" that can burn DVDs as well as CD-Rs.

Finally! This is what the Mac Mini should have been first time aroundÂ?a full-featured home media center. This new Mini is festooned with all the TV and hi-fi in/out sockets which were missing from the original, four USB 2.0 ports and gigabit Ethernet. The iLounge software incorporates the same Bonjour-based sharing technology as iTunes, letting you seamlessly share music, photos, etc between connected machines, even streaming iTunes TV shows from one machine to another (Steve Jobs demonstrated this by streaming content from a laptop to the Mac Mini).