Yesterday Dan reported on the fact that G3 processors were slated to run Leopard, meaning that the OS was Universal. There would be no lack of support or difference in install disks for Intel Macs or PowerPC Macs.
Well, there’s been a bit of revising on the Apple website, which initially brought some confusion, but now has brought complete clarity. Over at The Apple Blog, Eddie Hargreaves points out that yesterday Apple had removed the famous sentence “From G3 to Xeon, from MacBook to Xserve, there is just one Leopard.” The removal of this sentence made it seem as though a marketing writer had messed up and there would in fact be no PowerPC support in Leopard. As Eddie put it:
If there was any question whether or not Leopard would support G3s, I think the removal of that sentence answered it ahead of next Spring.
But do not fear, shameless G3 owners, for Apple has corrected its correction. The 64-bit page now reads:
Leopard delivers 64-bit power to both Intel- and PowerPC-based Macs, so you don't have to install separate applications for different machines. There's only one version of Mac OS X, so you don't need to maintain separate operating systems for different uses.
Ahh yes, a final word. It seems as though Apple realized the confusion as well, and decided to settle the issue once and for all. Thanks for making our lives simple, Apple.
Huh? Fear not G3 owners? It says that Leopard will run on PowerPC and Intel Macs. In case you're unaware, G4 and G5 Macs are PowerPC.
should Apple announce no G3 support with leopard, you feel the disturbance in the force like a million screaming chips all crying out at once.
but it's a time that has come imo.
I think Leopard is a good place to end G3 support. Anyone with a G3 is 3 processors behind. Support for G3 could reduce some Leopard features. Obviously you can say that supporting even the 32-bit Core Duo could reduce Leopard features, as probably all Macs will be 64-bit by Spring, but I just feel like G4 is a good cutoff point for Leopard. It's all opinion.
I'm sure someone that knows more about the G3 and developing software could argue better, so ask them.