Apple offers sweet discounts, upgrades Series: TECH TIMES COMPUTER BUYER'S GUIDE SOUTH PINELLAS Edition

• Published in: St. Petersburg times (Saint Petersburg, Fla. : 1921)
• Main Author: Lampkin, William
• Format: Newspaper Article
• Language: English
• Published: St. Petersburg, Fla Times Publishing Company 13.11.2000
• Subjects: Workman, Jim

Power Mac G4 desktops: Apple says the 500MHz G4 processor in its professional desktop systems runs on average 2.2 times as fast as an 800MHz Pentium III, but Motorola's G4 chip has been stuck at the 500MHz mark for more than a year, while Intel has increased the Pentium's speed to more than 1 gigahertz. To compensate, Apple put two processors in its 450MHz and 500MHz G4 systems. Only a handful of applications, most notably Adobe Photoshop, benefit from the processor double-whammy, but with the arrival of Apple's next- generation operating system, Mac OS X, next year, all "native" applications will see the benefit of having two processors onboard. Mac OS X: Apple's next-generation operating system, Mac OS X or "10," won't be released until 2001, but a preview beta version was released in September. In addition to a new look, Mac OS X will be speedier (because it can run on multiple processors), more reliable and crash-resistant, Hallmark says. "It's a tremendous change." Apple says all iMacs, iBooks, G3 and G4 desktop systems and G3 PowerBooks (except for the original G3 PowerBook) will run Mac OS X. The test version of Mac OS X required 128MB of random access memory. As with all prerelease software, the system requirements are subject to change when the final version is released. Some reports say the final version won't need as much RAM. Also, the operating system may run on older Macs, though Apple says it won't support it. Standard features include: 400- or 500MHz PowerPC G3 with 1MB backside L2 cache; 64MB or 128MB RAM (expandable to 512MB); 14.1- inch TFT active matrix display; 8MB video RAM; ATI RAGE Mobility 128 video controller; 10GB, 20GB or 30GB hard disk; DVD-ROM; 24-bit VGA video output port; S-video output port; two built-in speakers; internal microphone; stereo audio input/output jacks; hot-swappable expansion bay; PC Card and CardBus slot; infrared (irDA) port; Kensington cable lock slot; keyboard lock.