[icibaqu]

this question is admittedly motivated somewhat by yesterdays intel annoucement re: mac's future. still, fact remains today that depending on how you configure them you can get a mac-mini w/ 20" cinema, keyboard, mouse for a couple hundred dollars difference than you can get an iMac (mini being the less expensive option).

but the imac has a much bigger HD and better graphics card, etc. etc. etc.
but the mini will likely be amongst the first wave of those with intel.

so the question is then how long is the life-span of an imac you get today. is it reasonable to think you could legitimately keep it for 5 years from now? i know the mini would be replaced before then, and that's sort of the point cuz you can either get a mini update or whatever headless mac maybe they've introduced, or if you have more money a powerbook, and you've still got the screen. easier to spend 500 than 1700.

thoughts?

[Krypton]

The transition to Intel will take at least three years, and you can realistically expect PPC machines to be run current software for a good five years after that.

Of course, I imagine there will be smaller developers who chose to go Intel only fairly quickly as is true of Tiger only apps now (e.g. QuickSilver).

[jokell82]

Originally Posted by Krypton

The transition to Intel will take at least three years, and you can realistically expect PPC machines to be run current software for a good five years after that.

Of course, I imagine there will be smaller developers who chose to go Intel only fairly quickly as is true of Tiger only apps now (e.g. QuickSilver).

Requiring the latest software is a bit different from requiring the latest hardware. I use Quicksilver on a Mac that's 3+ years old now, and a family member uses it on a mac that is 4 years old as both of our machines can run Tiger just fine. However if the developers were to say "Oh we're only going to support the current line of macs" they'd lose 95% of their users.

[icibaqu]

i'm reading around on the change with my own question in mind and it really doesn't seem like the switch will make too much of a difference in these terms. it will for the laptops though, and so for me i can visualize needing portability in a few years -- at which time a laptop would be nice and it'll also be nice to already have the 20" display. looks like i'm going mini....

...i think.