How Can I Prepare for Mac OS X?

BC sent this letter on 11 Nov.: Apple has said, with no uncertainty, that non Apple G3s or newer will not be supported under Mac OS X. Now, it would take significant engineering resources to make Mac OS X work on a non-Apple supplied G3. It's not the CPU, nor the performance. Its the motherboard design and ROMs. Avie Tevanian, Apple's VP of Software, has stated that they might, if really pushed, support Mach 5 based Apple PowerMacs (8600/300, 9600/300, 9600/350) after the initial release of MacOS X. All other PowerMacs will not be supported with MacOS X, but will follow the 8.x and 9.x path. Remember, MacOS X has a completely different code base... so all new drivers would have to be written to each an every PowerMac out there. Apple is also managing a transition from Mach 2.5 plus extensions to their own Mach 3.x which further constrains resources. Apple no longer has the resources to support all those incompatible differences between all of those Macs that shipped before. It was a mistake to design and ship so many different models that required so many software changes to work (and subsequent patches upon patches to get them stable).

While MkLinux supports a variety of Power Macs including NuBus based ones, if you look closely, MkLinux developers have to deal with many incompatibilities and workarounds with each machine type. In certain configurations, MkLinux isn't stable, won't have a long uptime, won't deal with large amounts of RAM, doesn't have video hardware acceleration, doesn't deal with PCI slots right, etc. It runs, but not always correctly... not up to the standards that Apple would be held accountable.

In my opinion, it is foolish to purchase a G3 upgrade card. It's worth it to sell your old machine on the used market and buy an Apple labeled G3. The used market for Macs is very strong . . . it's actually possible to sell a 7300 or 8600 for almost the cost of an iMac or base G3 Gossamer unit.

Mac Daniel responds: As I said in my response to GD, unsupported doesn't mean it won't work.

First, as an information systems manager I've been buying Power Macs for four years because Apple promised they'd be able to run Copland - then never delivered it. But they kept promising that all Power Macs would be supported on the next great OS, the one with bulletproof memory management, better multitasking, and all those great features we now expect of Mac OS X.

Second, Apple doesn't support Mac OS 8.1 on the Mac IIsi, but a friend regularly uses it on one. And the don't support Mac OS 8.5 on upgraded Quadras or PowerBooks, but some resourceful owners have made it work.

So we have to presume that unsupported doesn't mean it won't work. You can talk motherboard designs and ROMs all you want, but it says nothing one way or the other about whether Apple will develop Mac OS X to work on earlier Power Macs.

Further, there are enough documented statements from Apple about the capabilities all Power Macs would have under the forthcoming great OS that, should they fail to deliver them in Mac OS 8.7 (or whatever they call the last version to support NuBus and pre-G3 Power Macs), they will have one huge class action suit to worry about as millions of Power Mac owners take Apple to task for misleading them.

Finally, in my opinion it is foolish not to buy a G3 upgrade card if your Power Mac doesn't have the performance you need to get your job done efficiently. Better to spend $400 to $2,000 and increase productivity 20-50% than keep spinning your wheels with a too slow computer.

LR sent this letter on 11 Nov.: ". . . but a friend regularly runs OS 8.1 on IIsi servers (he's a huge fan of Open Transport 1.3). And Mac OS 8.5 isn't supported on clones or PPC-upgraded models, but every report I hear says it works flawlessly on all the clones (hard drive bug excepted) and even on several pre-PPC Macs with PowerPC upgrades."

There's a difference between 8.5 running on clones and Mac OS X running on pre-G3 systems. Clones use the same motherboards as Apple. Each company made some variations (which accounts for the issues people have seen), but essentially they are the same as Apple machines.

A PowerMac 9500 has a totally different motherboard than a G3 system. Any operating system needs some support for each distinct motherboard, so an OS that supports a G3 won't automatically support a 9500.

"So I'm holding out hope that Power Macs and clones with PCI slots (and equivalent PowerBooks) will be able to run Mac OS X. After all, the 603, 604, and G3 all run the same instruction set. Unless Apple deliberately designs Mac OS X so it won't run with older CPUs or ROMs, unsupported may just mean no promises and less efficiency."

I have a 9500/132, and I don't expect it to run Mac OS X. While the 604 has the same user-level instruction set as the 750 (except for a few low-level instructions), this isn't the gating issue. The gating issue is the motherboard and the I/O devices it contains. I don't think Mac OS X will have any knowledge of pre-G3 motherboards, nor will it have drivers for the I/O devices on those earlier machines. I expect that it will not even boot on older machines.

"Your 7300 may be able to take a G4 daughter card."

Apple has said that older machines with upgrade cards won't be supported either. You will get the benefits of the G4 CPU, but you still won't be able to run Mac OS X.

"The G3 is not an industrial strength CPU like the 604e was. It is faster than the 604e, but it also has less capabilities (weaker math section, no support for multiprocessing)."

The G3 does have support for multiprocessing, it's just not as efficient. Not that this matters on the Mac, since the Mac OS doesn't make good use of multiple CPUs.

"So my advice, for the near future, is to hold on to what you have unless something comes along that makes a G3 card necessary. You've got lots of computer - and the longer you wait, the clearer the roadmap should be."

That's what I'm doing.

Mac Daniel responds: So far nobody has shown me any statement from Apple that pre-G3 Power Macs will not work. A thousand times they've said they won't be supported, but neither did Ford support the Hot Rod Lincoln - it still worked.

Apple's decision to support or not support a particular motherboard is theirs to make, but it will alienate a lot of people who bought first- and second-generation Power Macs based on OS promises that won't be fulfilled until Mac OS X.

Apple already lost one class action suit when it didn't produce the promised PPC upgrades for certain 68040-based models - the size of that will pale in comparison to millions of 6100, 7500, and 9600 owners joining to make Apple deliver on the promises of memory protection, multitasking, and all the other goodies promised in 1994.

As for the G3 and multiprocessing, it is only rated for use in single- and dual-processor configurations, not multiprocessing setups. And the overhead of two G3s coordinating their efforts makes for very inefficient dual-processing, whether under the Mac OS or another operating system.

But I'm very excited about the G3 - and will be disappointed if Apple doesn't demo it at Macworld or on January 24, 1999.