The big news at WWDC, aside from the forthcoming release of Leopard (the latest revision of OS 10) is the completion of Apple’s switch to Intel hardware. With today’s launch of the Intel Xeon-powered Mac Pro and Xserve, the last pieces of the puzzle have been placed on the board. This brings an end to Apple’s PPC-based products, and begins a new era under the Intel banner. On the bright side, these new machines are sure to bring a better performance per-watt than previous models. It will also be interesting to see what position Apple takes on virtualization now that their server line has moved to x86/x86_64 hardware.
Category Archives: Tech
Tie in 1st round of NSA/AT&T spy case
Other AT&T wiretapping suit dismissed
Last week, the Judge in the EFF case against AT&T overruled the government’s use of the state secrets priviledge. This week a Chicago court threw out a similar case brought against the company by the ACLU. While this might seem contradictory, it’s not. The ACLU had no hard evidence that their clients rights had actually been violated. The EFF case has physical evidence in the form of documents to support their case as well as at least one eye witness. In all likelihood, the case will eventually be dismissed on the basis of National Security, however it is good to see that the judge is willing to explore this case rather than dismiss it outright.
AMD/ATI merger confirmed
The rumors that have been circulating for a couple of months about an AMD/ATI merger would appear to be true according to some quotes posted on the [H]ardOCP website today. This isn’t all that hard to imagine. After all, ATI and AMD have a lot in common and would certainly both benefit from their shared experience. It will be interesting to see what new products evolve from this union and what, if any efffect this will have on product diversity in the graphics market.