The End of the Road
Apple has finally drawn the line in the sand. There will be no more Mac OS X upgrades for PowerPC-based Macs. Mac OS X 10.6 “Snow Leopard” will only run on Intel machines. We all knew it was coming, but it’s a sad day nevertheless. This means that PowerPC Mac users are facing more limited upgrade options. Eventually, developers will stop releasing universal binaries that run on Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard. When that happens, Mac users can:
- Buy a new Intel Mac and run the latest Mac OS X compatible applications
- Install Linux and run free alternatives to the current commercial software
- Keep using what they already have installed
Some people are claiming that PowerPC users are being left out in the cold. While that may be true from an Apple-centric perspective, it is far from reality. PowerPC still has significant support in the OSS area. And remember that your PowerPC Mac is still 100% as useful as it was on the day you bought it – it hasn’t lost any features since that day.
That said, this could be an excellent opportunity for hobbyists, collectors, and other curious individuals to pick up some PowerPC hardware for cheap. Be on the lookout for those cast-offs, folks!
