Wintel...the end is near?

[allenb1963]

Microsoft's next-generation Xbox will ditch its Intel chip in favor of the same kind of chip used in Apple's Macs -- an IBM PowerPC processor -- IBM and Microsoft announced on Monday.

Hmmm....has Linux scared M$ so badly that they are actually going to put a G5 in the XBox? It's a point to ponder when you consider:

"It's a very big win for IBM. It's a clear change of direction for Microsoft, and it's a very unfortunate surprise for Intel," he said.

"There's quite a bit of irony here," he added, referring to the fact that it has always been assumed that Apple would move to Intel, rather than Microsoft moving to the PowerPC, a chip technology co-developed by Apple, IBM and Motorola.

Doherty said the PowerPC is very secure and boasts great graphics. "Intel doesn't have the security IBM does," he said.

WOW...M$ is actually concerned about security?? Evidently I wandered into a black hole last night and have become trapped in some sort of weird parallel universe or alternate dimension.

Now don't freak if you already have a first generation XBox...

Microsoft will use the Virtual PC technology it acquired from Connectix last year to provide backward-compatibility with the current generation of Xbox games.

Cool...but will the added drain on system resources affect game play?

I can't help but wonder if the next big XBox hacking challenge will be to get OS X to load on the new XBoxes...

Original article HERE.

[kr4y3]

WOW...M$ is actually concerned about security?? Evidently I wandered into a black hole last night and have become trapped in some sort of weird parallel universe or alternate dimension.

[phishphreek]

I can't help but wonder if the next big XBox hacking challenge will be to get OS X to load on the new XBoxes...

That'd be cool. I wouldn't have any probelm spending the $199 for a computer that will run OSX... at least it'll be a decent system and I won't be wasting too much money learning the OS.

[cwk9]

This isn't the first time Microsoft has done an OS on ppc. Anyone remember Windows NT (PowerPC Edition)
http://home1.gte.net/res008nh/nt/ppc/ntfaq.htm

[allenb1963]

Originally posted here by cwk9
This isn't the first time Microsoft has done an OS on ppc. Anyone remember Windows NT (PowerPC Edition)
http://home1.gte.net/res008nh/nt/ppc/ntfaq.htm

Wow...I had almost forgotten about that one...thanks for the reminder. This one goes a bit deeper though...M$ is putting the G5 into M$ hardware...virgin ground for M$ as far as I know.

One thing is for sure...if there are any security lapses in the G5 chips M$ will give the world a chance to find and exploit them.

[slarty]

Hey guys, it's pretty obvious what's going on there.

They're moving away from the Intel CPU because they feel it makes the box too easy to hack. They're worried about people finding ways to put consumer versions of Windows on it, etc.

Obviously M$ have no plans to install OS X on it - they will stick with their Windows-based OS. Anyway, Windows isn't as CPU specific as people seem to think - they ship consumer versions for ia32 and ia64 anyway, previously shipped ones for alpha, mips and powerpc.

I'm guessing that moving to a more sane boot process (i.e. not ia32) allows them to build their anti-hack hardware more tightly into the boot process, thus making it harder to chip.

I'm sure M$ don't give a **** about a handful of hackers putting Linux on their X Boxes - they're far more worried about the thriving "chipping" industry which enables ripped games to be played. The games are where they make the money (or not, as the Xbox is running at a loss), hence it is in their interests to ensure they aren't copied illegally.

Having said that, using a non-intel CPU hasn't stopped PS2s being chipped...