already has optimized some of the code in its veteran Photoshop program Quark Inc. releases a 64-bit compatible version of Windows, not expected until the end of this year.Īpple's version of Mac OS X for the G5 isn't fully 64-bit compatible, but allows for applications to utilize many of the G5's abilities.Ĭombined with major improvements to the rest of the machine's innards, the G5 actually makes the Power Mac a match for computer work stations that can cost twice as much.Īccording to Apple Vice President of Hardware Product Marketing Greg Joswiak, resource-intensive programs such as 3-D modeling, music creation and video editing software profit from the power of the G5, even before developers optimize their code for the new chip.Īdobe Systems Inc. have developed 64-bit processors of their own, but putting them in desktop PCs won't make sense until Microsoft Corp. Though other 64-bit processors have existed for years, they've been used primarily in servers and high-end work stations rather than in personal computers. Though of little benefit to such common tasks as word processing, a 64-bit chip greatly accelerates activities that call for the manipulation of very large files, such as video editing.Ī 64-bit chip also can access vastly more system memory than a 32-bit chip, which only can access up to 4 gigabytes. Simply put, a 64-bit chip can process data in chunks twice as large as a 32-bit chip. ![]() Though the 64-bit G5 is part of the PowerPC family of processors at the heart of the Macs since 1994, it's a significant technological leap over its 32-bit predecessors, the G3 and G4. ![]() ![]() The G5 chip that gives the machine its name is, in fact, IBM Corp.'s PowerPC 970, developed with Apple over a year-and-a-half. Putting aside the debate over whether Apple Computer Inc.'s Power Mac G5 is "the world's fastest personal computer" as the company claims, the machine blows away any previous Mac.Ĭlearly the Power Mac G5, which Apple will begin shipping by the end of the month, marks a milestone in the computer's evolution.
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