Detroit Free Press’ Wendland: Apple MacBook Pro ‘the finest portable computer I have ever owned’
Tuesday, March 14, 2006 - 08:56 PM EST"The new 15-inch MacBook Pro laptop from Apple is the finest portable computer I have ever owned. It's just a little ahead of itself; software and hardware companies need to catch up," Mike Wendland reports for The Detroit Free Press. "...To really see the speed boost, you need software written to take advantage of the change in Apple architecture, software made to work with maximum efficiency on those new chips as well as the older PowerPC chips on the previous Apples. That software is being labeled as Universal -- meaning its underlying binary code works with both old and new... A behind-the-scenes Apple application called Rosetta translates... most other software written [only] for the PowerPC architecture and seamlessly ports them over to work with the Intel chips."
"But I'm making more of the software issue than I should. Already, there are 1,000 applications released on Universal, with more coming every day. Gail Nishimura, a senior product manager for Apple's Pro Portables, says the software industry wasn't expecting the Intel Macs until summer and their early release has just caused them to move up their schedule," Wendland reports. "It isn't just software, though, that needs to catch up with the MacBook Pro... PCMCIA has been replaced on the MacBook Pro with a faster, more efficient connection called ExpressCard. By next year, some industry experts say, 70% of all laptops will have an ExpressCard."
Wendland writes, "It's a mighty fine machine -- even as it waits for the rest of the world to catch up."
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Apple leads. The rest follow eventually. As usual.
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Hmmm. The MacBook Pro is 'the finest portable computer I have never owned'
Coincidence?