Re: How many times must Apple make such DRASTIC architecture changes?

[Shawn Hearn <srhi@comcast.net>]

In article <1OIpe.17401$QX1.14703@fe06.lga>,
 "Bible John" <john.doggett@x-files.gov> wrote:

> I believe this latest move to Intel was the 4th drastic change by Apple in
> their history.  Correct me if I am wrong but the first MAJOR architecture
> change was from the Apple II/IIgs or whatever to the Macintosh 68K.  I
> believe at this time Apple II's and their software and possibly hardwrae
> would not work on a 68000 Mac without a a) Emulator, or b) Processor card.
> Today one can get a emulator (as I do on my ibook G4), but one cannot
> install a Apple IIgs CPU in a Mac.

Nope. For quite some time the II/IIgs and Mac coexisted. This was not
the first major architecture change in the Macintosh. How can you have
a change in a hardware platform that doesn't even exist yet?

> The second major architecture change came in 1994 when Apple moved from the
> 68000 CPU to the IBM PPC CPU.  Hardware would still work in the PPC Macs,
> and over 90% of 68K apps would work on a PPC.  Even today I run many 68K
> apps on my ibook G4.

This was the first CPU design change.

> The third major architecture change when they moved from their old World Mac
> to their New World Mac with OSX.  The new world macs are way different, as
> well as OSX.  OSX is based on Unix, and far more powerful than the classic
> mac os. But I have to wonder if Apple originally wanted Unix to be their OS,
> when the first Mac was designed. I have noticed that OS 8.1 can read Unix
> formatted disks, but I wonder about OS 7.  Was a Unix os part of apples
> original plan?

Nope, the move to Tiger was not a hardware change; it was a OS change. 
Tiger runs on both G4 and G5 processors.

> And the last major change happened recently with this move to the Intel x86.
> Funny after all these years, PC's have remained x86, and  even a new PC
> being sold today can run many DOS applications.  Granted they cannot use all
> DOS apps, but certainly a much higher percentage of apps than what a OS
> Tiger user can of Apple II apps.  And for those that cannot use a DOS app,
> can crate a dual boot partition with DOS 6.22 or whatever on a newer Windows
> XP PC.

The move to Intel processors in the second hardware design change. If 
you stop comparing apples with oranges, you will get an accurate count.